THE LEGENDS of electronics: Denon; the Japanese company founded by the American Frederick Whitney Horn in 1910!

One might think that Japan would only have made its mark long after the Second World War of 1939-45. After all, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Sony, to name but a few, have only made their mark here since the 1970s. The key word here is 'noticed', because innovation has always been the order of the day for these industrious, disciplined and dignified people. This is the story of Denon, a company dedicated to excellence for 110 years that has been and still is a major player in our music reproduction industry.

Few audio manufacturers can match Denon's legacy. In 1910, an American-born businessman, Frederick Whitney Horn, founded the "Nippon Denki Onkyō Kabushikigaisha" in Yokohama, Japan. At the beginning of his career in 1896, Horn was a Yokohama-based importer of recording equipment and machine tools for making recording tubes. One thing led to another and in 1907 he decided to establish a business manufacturing recording equipment and producing "records". Later, in 1909, he pioneered the development of records by setting up a factory for this purpose. In addition, he opened a recording studio to fully integrate his commercial offer.

Through various mergers and name changes, not to mention numerous innovations in professional and consumer audio, the company finally became Denon in 1930, as it is known today.

It was also in the '10s that Frederick W. Horn launched his company "Nippon Phonograph Co" which later became Nippon Columbia Co known today as Columbia Music Entertainment Inc. It was the division that owned the first recording studio in Japan.

Its first product was called the Nippononophone in relation to the Gramophone of the American inventor Emile Berliner who in 1894 introduced the principle of a round disc to reproduce sound instead of the wax cylinder used at the time, which was not very resistant to wear. Interestingly, the playing of music at home, a first in our history, preceded the advent of the radio by several decades! The 1910 Nipponophone

So Mr. Horn's businesses were diversified in the production of recorded works and materials for listening to them afterwards, he was a man of great vision!

Returning to Denon, the company was originally called Denki Onkyō Kabushikigaisha, which means "Japan Electric Sound Company". (Japan Electric Sound Company).

The trick to the DE-NON name proposed in 1930 was the first three letters of "Denki" and the first two of "Onkyo*" Note that Onkyo in no way refers to the actual company of the same name, Onkyo meaning "sound" in Japanese and Denky "electric".

DENON logo 1930

A 110-year tradition of innovation.

If Denon is one of the most popular audio companies in the world today, it's because of a relentless tradition of research and development of ever more advanced and daring products. You can rely on it, you will always have access to the most advanced technologies available for the time, surveys have proven a very enviable family retention rate: children buy what their parents have appreciated from the brand!

Did you know that?

1939: When magnetic tapes did not yet exist, Denon introduced a portable disc recorder for the nascent radio industry. It was with one of their devices that the voice of the Japanese emperor conceding war was recorded in 1945. This was the first time in history that the Japanese heard their emperor.

Japan's first disc-type recorder DENON TPR-14-C

1951: Launch of the "long-playing" LP or commonly known as the 33 rpm record. (Columbia division)

1953 The first professional tape recorder for the radio industry.

1958 : Launch of the 33 1/3 rpm stereophonic record.

1959: In a shift to the consumer side of the new personal audio system industry, the first Denon audiophile reel-to-reel recorders appeared.

1963: One of the jewels in the crown of the brand, the vinyl record player cartridges were introduced. Even today Denon produces cartridges that are popular with music lovers...

1964: It is now possible to buy Denon 4-track cassettes.

1971 The production of a now complete range of audio equipment, including record players, cassette players, amplifiers, radio tuners and loudspeakers.

1972 Launch of the 8-track cassette!

1977-80 : The company receives several awards including Billboard magazine and the Montreux International Festival for its technical contribution to the arts.

1981: Launch of a professional CD player a year before the format itself was released by Sony-Philips in December 1982.

1984: Launch of the CD-ROM for computer use.

1993 Launch of the double CD player and the Mini Disk for professional use by DJs. Remember that at that time, the vinyl record had almost disappeared...

1999: Launch of the first THX home theatre system.

2001: First 5.1 channel mini hi-fi cinema system.

2008: First universal Blu-ray DVD-Audio, SACD player.

2014: introduction of the HEOS range, connected products similar to Sonos, but which interconnect with the entire range of wi-fi receivers.

2018: Launch of the world's first 13.1 channel amplified receiver. Still in production, it confers the highest possible number of active speakers according to the Hollywood master tapes!

What does Denon offer today?

Today, Denon focuses on the same interests as it did at its founding: artistic audio reproduction. It touches on everything from headphones to amplifiers to record players and cartridges for them.

The best DENON products in 2021-22

AVR-X8500HA The world's first 13.1 channel 8K cinema receiver.

DENON HOME (HEOS) Home = sound bar and wi-fi speakers

PMA1600NE High power amplifier.

DCD1600NE Universal CD player sacd / dvd-audio.

DPN800NE Hi-rez network drive.

DP450USB USB disk drive

DL103R Hi-rez moving coil cartridge

AH-C820W Compact headphones.

AH-D9200 Full-size headphones.

DENON HEOS DRIVE 8-output network amplifier 

A word about HEOS.

Denon launched a new range of connected products in 2014 which it called HEOS, this was the higher fidelity answer to the much loved Sonos brand. Gradually the technologies were integrated into the regular Denon range so that it was decided in 2020 to move to a single marketing under the Denon name and present the products under a single name with the common feature of HEOS technology. Simply stated, all Denon connected products include HEOS in their feature list.

The last word.

Another manufacturer's profile. My goal is to share with you my passion for the best in the home entertainment industry. Sonxplus Chambly has a long tradition of excellence, refusing to offer what is fashionable to make more money in favour of proven quality products. In any case, products that prove themselves year after year always end up selling more! Once a fan adopts them, they usually come back and recommend them to their friends. Doing our job well with honesty and conviction will always be our goal. In Chambly since 1991, in business since... 1955!

A new season is fast approaching so...

Stay tuned!

- Christian.  Hi artist, thanks for everything.