is a Japanese
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
company started in 1910 by Frederick Whitney Horn, an American entrepreneur. Denon produced the first cylinder audio media in Japan and players to play them. Decades later, Denon was involved in the early stages of development of
digital audio
Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...
technology, while specializing in the manufacture of
high-fidelity professional and consumer audio equipment. Denon made Japan's first professional disc recorder and used it to record the
Hirohito surrender broadcast
The was a radio broadcast of surrender given by Japanese Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa) on August 15, 1945. It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese Government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender o ...
. For many decades, Denon was a brand name of
Nippon-Columbia, including the Nippon Columbia record label. The Denon brand came from a merger of Denki Onkyo (not to be confused with the other
Onkyo) and others in 1939. In 2001, Denon was spun off as a separate company with 98% held by
Ripplewood Holdings
Ripplewood is an American private equity firm based in New York City that focuses on leveraged buyouts, late stage venture, growth capital, management buyouts, leveraged recapitalizations and other illiquid investments.
Ripplewood was founded ...
and 2% by
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
. In 2002, Denon merged with
Marantz to form
D&M Holdings. On March 1, 2017, Sound United LLC completed the acquisition of D+M Holdings.
History
The company was initially named , which was shortened to Denon. The company is actively involved with sound systems and electric appliance production. Later the company merged with other related companies and as a result of this the company name became Denon.
There followed a number of mergers and tie-ins over the next few decades as firstly the company merged with Japan-US Recorders Manufacturing in 1912, and then in 1928 the brand "Columbia" was introduced when the company became Japan Columbia Recorders. A further change of name occurred in 1946 when the company renamed itself Nippon Columbia.
The Denon brand was first established in 1947 when Nippon Columbia merged with Japan Denki Onkyo. D&M Holdings Inc. was created in May 2002 when Denon Ltd and
Marantz Japan Inc. merged. On March 1, 2017, Sound United LLC completed the acquisition of D+M Holdings.
Today, the company specializes in professional and consumer home cinema and audio equipment including A/V receivers, Blu-ray players, tuners, headphones, and wireless music systems. Denon is also known for high-end
AV receiver
An audio/video receiver (AVR) is a consumer electronics component used in a home theater. Its purpose is to receive audio and video signals from a number of sources, and to process them and provide power amplifiers to drive loudspeakers and ro ...
s and
moving coil
A magnetic cartridge, more commonly called a phonograph cartridge or phono cartridge or (colloquially) a pickup, is an electromechanical transducer that is used to play records on a turntable.
The cartridge contains a removable or permanently ...
phonograph cartridges. Two M-series models, the Denon M31 and M30, were the most successful radio hi-fi's in the mid-2000s. Since being released to the
micro hi-fi
Micro may refer to:
Measurement
* micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6
Places
* Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S.
People
* DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer
* Chii Tomiya (都宮 ち ...
DAB market, they have received several awards in Europe.
Product timeline
*1910 Manufacturer of single-sided disc records and gramophones.
*1939 Launched first professional-use disc recorder for broadcast industry and disk cutting lathe.
*1951 Commenced sales of Japan's 1st
LP records
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
.
*1953 Launched professional-use tape recorder for broadcast industry.
*1958 Introduced sales of stereo records.
*1959 Commenced production of open-reel audio tapes.
*1962 Introduced Elepian series of electronic pianos.
*1963 Developed the
DL-103 phono cartridge.
*1964 Started sales of
audio cassette
The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...
tapes.
*1971 Started producing hi-fi audio components, including turntables, amplifiers, tuners and speakers.
*1972 Introduced the world's first viable 8 channel digital recorder.
*1977 Awarded US
Billboard magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
's "Trend-Setter Award for outstanding contribution to the industry".
*1980 Awarded the 13th Montreux International Diplome d’honneur technique award.
*1981 Developed a professional-use CD player.
*1984 Unveiled the
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
format.
*1988 Introduced range of AV amplifiers to product range.
*1990 Awarded three component awards at Paris hi-fi show. Introduced lineup of Headphones.
*1993 Developed the twin deck DJ CD player DN-2000F. Other early models are the DN1000F, DN2000F and the DN2500F. Denon also made the world's only twin
MiniDisc
MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio.
Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year fo ...
player designed for DJ use.
*1994 Awarded European Audio Innovation of the Year.
*1999 World's first THX-EX home theater system (THX Extended to provide fuller surround sound).
*2001 Produced first Mini system with 5.1 surround sound.
*2002 Denon link technology developed for improved digital connectivity.
*2004 Launch of world's first consumer product featuring HQV (Hollywood Quality Video).
*2006 Denon introduces the 1.5m long AK-DL1
CAT5 Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...
cable. It was not until mid-2008 that it caused controversy because of its high price ($499) and the company's claims that the cable is "designed for the
audio enthusiast," and would "bring out all the nuances" in digital audio signals transmitted over it, despite the fact that even the most poorly made ethernet cable would deliver identical quality for digital audio over a similar length.
[Barry Collins]
The £250 Ethernet cable
PC Pro
''PC Pro'' is one of several computer magazines published monthly in the United Kingdom by Future plc. Its headquarters is in London. ''PC Pro'' also licenses individual articles (or even the whole magazine) for republication in various countri ...
News, 13 June 2008
*2007 Denon releases the AVP-A1HDCI Pre-Amplifier and matching POA-A1HDCI Power Amplifier set which marks the company's first additions to a new line of high-performance custom-focused components.
*2008 Denon announces the world's first Universal Blu-ray player capable of DVD-Audio and SA-CD playback.
* 2012 Denon introduces new headphone line with iOS lifestyle apps. Headphones are separated into different lifestyle groups as follows: Exercise Freak headphones (for sports/fitness use), Globe Cruiser headphones (for travel), Music Maniac Headphones (featuring a Flat EQ) and Urban Raver Headphones (providing enhanced bass performance).
* 2014 Denon has ventured into wireless multi-room sound systems. Recently it has launched its new set of wireless speakers named as HEOS by Denon. These have been launched as HEOS 3, HEOS 5, and HEOS 7 speakers.
* 2015 HEOS by Denon added on to their wireless multi-room sound system by launching the HEOS 1 and HEOS Go Pack, along with the HEOS HomeCinema
* 2016 Denon Introduced HEOS into the Higher X-Series Models. For HEOS by Denon series 2 for all the speakers have launched now they feature Bluetooth and High Resolution Audio.
* 2017 Denon Introduced HEOS into the S-Series (AVR-S730H/AVR-S930H) and all the X-Series Models now have HEOS. HEOS by Denon launched the HEOS Soundbar, HEOS Subwoofer and the HEOS AVR.
* 2018 Denon introduced the world's first 13.2 channel audio/video receiver with the introduction of the AVR-X8500H / AVC-X8500H at the
Consumer Electronics Show
CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
(CES) in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
.
* 2020 Denon introduced the first 8K HDMI 2.1 compliant channel audio/video receivers with their AVR-X line starting from AVR-x2700h, AVR-x3700h, AVR-x4700h, and AVR-x6700h. Denon has also announced that they will allow hardware upgrades for AVR-x8500h for 8K features.
See also
*
List of phonograph manufacturers
This is a list of phonograph manufacturers. The phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone, record player or turntable, is a device introduced in 1877 for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.
Phonograph manufacturer ...
External links
*
{{Japanese Electronics Industry
Japanese brands
Audio equipment manufacturers of Japan
Headphones manufacturers
Phonograph manufacturers
Audio amplifier manufacturers
Consumer electronics brands
Japanese companies established in 1910
Manufacturing companies established in 1910
1939 mergers and acquisitions
2001 mergers and acquisitions
2002 mergers and acquisitions
2017 mergers and acquisitions