At a special reception held last week at its American headquarters in Mahwah, N.J., Denon Electronics announced seven Limited Edition home-entertainment products to commemorate its 100th anniversary.

Founded in October 1910 by American entrepreneur Frederick Whitney Horn, the company known as Japan Recorders Corp. was responsible for Japan's first phonograph and Japan's first professional-use disc recorder. The company name was changed to Den-on by the late 1930s. In 1945, Denon equipment was used to make the first-ever recording of Emperor Hirohito's voice. This was a great honour for Denon, even though the message was Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. This was the first time the voice of a Japanese Emperor had ever been recorded.

"The goal for our 100 year celebration is to release limited-edition product that is a true reflection of our engineering and design heritage," stated Doug Griesbach, President D&M Canada. "These are products that will be timeless and a true testament to our legacy for innovation."

A microsite showcasing Denon's legacy of firsts launched earlier this week at www.denon100.com. When asked why the limited-edition products did not reflect the current popularity of MP3 capability and iPod docs, Griesbach quickly pointed to the timelessness and the purity of music rather than following latest trends when developing legacy product.

The limited special-edition Denon Anniversary Product Collection includes the PMA-A100 integrated amplifier (MSRP: $2,499 USD), Denon's first two-channel product launch since 2002; the DCD-A100 CD/SACD Player (MSRP: $2,499 USD); the DP-A100 direct-drive turntable (MSRP: $2,499 USD) and matching DL-A100 Cartridge (MSRP: $499 USD). This cartridge is based on the best-selling original model introduced in 1964, which has sold in excess of 750,000 units.

In the home-theatre capegory, Denon's Limited Edition flagship AVR-A100 9.2 Channel A/V Receiver (MSRP: $2,499 USD) features a special-edition block condenser, high-grade speaker terminals and cast iron footings for stabilizing sound quality. The DBP-A100 Universal Blu-ray Player (MSRP: $2,499 USD); and AH-A100 Over-Ear Headphones (MSRP: $499 USD) round off the limited-edition lineup.

All A100 products will be available beginning in November 2010 at select special anniversary Denon dealers, which have yet to be announced.Griesbach confirms that the anniversary product will be available at 10 to 12 dealers across Canada, who will be accountable for offering the whole limited edition line. The headphones, turntable and cartridge will be available for 12 months while the integrated amp, AV/ Receiver, Blu-ray and CD player will be available for four months.

Participating dealers will be announced during next months CEDIA Expo in Atlanta in the Denon 100th Anniversary themed booth. All marketing initiatives commence October 1st under the "100 days of Denon" consumer awareness campaign.

All Denon A100 anniversary products come in special packaging with, for the first time in Denon's history, a five-year warranty and signed certificate of authenticity from the chief Denon production engineer who handcrafted the product. Also included is a detailed Denon "brand book" that explores the company's history. "Each A100 component is finely tuned and reflects the commitment to passion, artistry and technology that has defined Denon in its first 100 years," adds Griesbach.

Photo caption: Bob Weissburg, President D&M Americas, Yvonne Hao, D&M Chairwomen of the Board, Jim Caudill, D&M's new CEO and Doug Griesbach, President D&M Canada flank the Limited Edition DP-A100 direct-drive turntable.

See video footage from the event in three parts below:

Article Tags:  Denon, D&M, anniversary, Denon 100, Griesbach, Weissburg, Yvonne Hao, Jim Caudill, PMA-A100, DCD-A100, DP-A100, DL-A100, AVR-A100, DBP-A100, AH-A100