Old thread, but wanted to add something for those who might be interested. i spoke with Denon today and this the AVR-X8500H does have 15 channels, the last two do not have any amplification built in, but if an external two channel ( or two channels of any amplifier) are used to power them, it will indeed work with a 9.2.6 system setup. I will soon be confirming this is so in my new setup.