Denon Marking Centennial With Special Edition Series

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 8/22/2010

Mahwah, N.J. - Denon willcelebrate its 100^th anniversary with a limited-edition series ofseven hand-tuned audio products that will be available November 1 through 40hand-picked dealers in the U.S., the company announced.

Executives who unveiled Denon's 100th anniversary limited-edition line to the U.S. press were, from left, Denon senior sales and marketing VP Phil Cohn, D&M chair Yvonne Hao, D&M CEO Jim Caudill, and D&M Americas sales and marketing president Bob Weissburg.

Five of seven 100th anniversary products are (counterclockwise from top left)the DCD-A100 two-channel SACD/CD player, 2x80-watt PMA-A100 integrated amp, DP-A100 direct-drive turntable, AVR-A100 9.2-channel AV receiver, and DBP-A100 universal Blu-ray player, all at a suggested $2,499 each.

Jeff Talmadge, Denon's director of product development and systems integration, demonstrates the 100th anniversary turntable, CD/SACD player, and integrated amp to the press at Denon's Mahwah, N.J., offices.

All products, most of which are two-channelproducts, were designed "to capture the essence of Denon and its ongoingmission," said Bob Weissburg, Americas sales and marketing president for Denonparent D&M Holdings. The products showcase the brand's "design integrityengineering heritage" and the company's century-old legacy of innovation andcraftsmanship," company literature added.

Denon has been building homeaudio electronics longer than any other Japan-based company, having beenfounded Oct. 1, 1910, as Japan Recorders Corp. by American Frederick WhitneyHorn.  The company's first home audioproduct was Japan's first gramophone.

The anniversary collection goeson sale worldwide on November 1, supported by a consumer promotion programwhose details will be released Oct. 1. The products consist of the DCD-A100two-channel SACD/CD player, 2x80-watt twin-mono PMA-A100 integrated amp,DP-A100 direct-drive turntable, AVR-A100 9.2-channel AV receiver, and DBP-A100universal Blu-ray player, all at a suggested $2,499 each. The DL-A100 hand-woundturntable cartridge and AH-A100 over-ear headphones round out the lineup at$499 each.

Denon will team with dealers authorizedto sell these products to create "a unique marketing campaign to driveconsumers" to stores "through advertising, contests, giveaways, and in-storeevents," the company said.

All products come with Denon's first-everfive-year warranty, and all will be available for a limited period because thecompany is making limited quantities available for sale worldwide. The headphones,turntable and cartridge will be available for 12 months, and the remaining fourproducts will be available for six months.

 Also because production quantities will belimited, Denon limited the number of authorized brick-and-mortar and on-linedealers to 40, all of which have committed to carrying all the products fortheir entire lifespan, said Phil Cohn, Denon senior sales and marketing VP. Thechosen dealers represent "a good selection of audio enthusiast dealers who arethe right targets and have the right customers for this type of product," hesaid.

 The dealers' names will be released at theCEDIA Expo, where Denon will erect a dedicated display for the products, hostan anniversary party, and announce details of a global "100 days of Denon"consumer promotion campaign that begins Oct. 1.

The 100^th anniversarydealers were selected based on their commitment to a minimum set ofmerchandising requirements, which Denon will reward with stepped-up support.

Requirements include the sale anddisplay of all seven products for their entire lifespan because "each productrepresents some part of our legacy," Cohn told reporters during a preview ofpreproduction models here at Denon offices. Other requirements include themerchandising of all products together in a dedicated area, the purchase of oneproduct for display and one to stock, and use of Denon-supplied content forpromotion.

Online-only dealers andbrick-and-mortar retailers that operate on-line stores must also place on theirhome page an anniversary banner that clicks through to a landing page featuringa Denon story line, imagery and logos provided by Denon. Sales of all productsmust also be restricted to the dealer's web site with no third-party orghost-site marketing.

In return, dealers get a varietyof support, including giveaways, support for in-store events, enhancedpositioning in Denon's marketing and public-relations campaigns, enhancedpositioning of dealers on Denon's web site, and a display program that reduces theinvoice cost of displayed products by 25 percent and extends payment terms tonet 180.

The products, all of which carrya 100^th anniversary logo badge, include the DP-A100 turntable withglossy dark-brown wood cabinet and mechanical elements from highly regardedturntables in Denon's past. The moving-coil cartridge is based on ahigh-performance model in production since 1964.

The PMA-A100 integrated amp isDenon's first two-channel integrated amp in years, featuring the company'spush-pull output. The high-current model is also equipped with phono preamp anddual power supplies, one for each channel.

The CD/SACD player, Denon's firsttwo-channel SACD player in years, features 32-bit/192kHz digital-to-analogconverters (DACs) that also convert digital PCM signals from devices connectedto its digital inputs and to its USB iPod/iPhone input. It also decodescompressed MP3 and WMA music files, using compressed audio restorer circuitryto improve their sound quality.

The headphones feature piano mahoganyfinish.

The two home theater products inthe limited-edition series are the universal Blu-ray player, which also playsDVD-Audio and multichannel SACD discs, and a 9.2-channel AV receiver. Both comewith proprietary HDMI Denon Link 4 connections to minimize jitter when audiosignals are carried over HDMI.

The product's boxes will includea brand book, which outlines the company's history, and a signed certificate ofauthenticity from the chief production engineer responsible for the product.

The company began promoting its 100^th anniversaryearlier this year brochures, in-box thank-you cards, merchandising,advertising, and a Denon microsite.

The campaign highlights a 100 years of firsts, including the first professionaldisc recorder in 1939, the first sales of stereo records and stereo systems inJapan in 1951, the invention of the first PCM recorder in 1970, the firstconsumer-use CD player in 1982, and first audio component with DolbyDigital/THX 5.1 decoding.