Verdict: Masses of inputs coupled with sublime sound quality.

Denon's cryptically named DHT-1356XP is designed for home cinemas rather than PCs, but with 5.1 analogue inputs, seven stereo analogue inputs, four S/PDIF inputs, and Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, it's well equipped for both environments. Input switching, an FM radio and plenty of DSP options are accessible via the luxurious receiver unit, which also houses amplification for the five satellites.

All of its inputs are on phono sockets (with the exception of optical S/PDIF), so you'll need three sets of stereo mini-jack to dual-phono cables to wire it up to a sound card. When using the 5.1 analogue inputs, the only sounds that emanate from the subwoofer are those piped to it on the subwoofer channel. The front, rear and centre channels are reproduced only by the dinky satellites, which can't emit adequate bass on their own. However, you can get around this by using bass redirection in the sound card's settings if it's provided. Signals sent to the digital or stereo analogue inputs employ the subwoofer for all bass signals. The subwoofer has its own mains power input and an auto-sleep function that saves scrabbling around on the floor to switch it off. Unfortunately, this means that there's no bass for the first ten seconds after sending music to the system.

The 1356XP displayed superb clarity without over-emphasising higher frequencies in the way that the Logitech sets do. Surround sound was reproduced with pinpoint precision, and music sounded rich and balanced. However, the subwoofer is underpowered compared with the other high-end systems on test, and it failed to reproduce deep sub-bass and limited the maximum overall volume. For this reason, games and DVDs didn't sound as exciting as they did on the S750, Z-5450 or Z-5500 sets.

The 1356XP is a great value system, but for PC setups, Logitech's Z-5500 makes more sense. However, if your PC is in the living room, the Denon's ability to switch between masses of inputs while simultaneously switching between four composite video sources make it an easy way to integrate your PC, home cinema and hi-fi.

• Multi-GPU graphics - 20th June 2008
• CPU water cooling - 17th June 2008
• Hard disks - 20th March 2008
• Audio hardware - 29th February 2008
• Graphics cards - 24th January 2008
• CPUs - 21st December 2007
• Motherboards - 13th November 2007

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