THE
HISTORY OF DENON
"Nippon Columbia originates in "Nippon Chikuonki
Shokai" (Japan Recorders Corporation), established
by Frederick Whitney Horn in 1910. Horn was a U.S.-born
trader, who engaged in importing machine tools in Yokohama
since 1896. He was also engaged in importing recorders.
In an attempt to commercialize records and recorders, he
set up "Japan-U.S. Recorders Manufacturing" in
1907 and put a special-purpose factory into operation in
1909, thus initiating the manufacturing of records. He also
set up a studio, thus beginning his recording activities.
In 1910,
he began manufacturing recorders, equipped with a wineglass-shaped
speaker. Japan Recorders Corporation, the forerunner of
Nippon Columbia, was set up as an organisation for supervising
the sales of these recorders. In 1912, the company merged
with Japan-U.S. Recorders Manufacturing, thus launching
the double-side management of "software and hardware",
an integration of manufacturing and sales. The term "Columbia"
came into the company name, when the company entered into
a capital tie-up with "Columbia, a world-class major
record company in 1927. Japan Columbia Recorders was set
up in
1928, when
the Columbia label and the familiar note was born. The company
was then renamed "Nippon Columbia" in 1946. Then
in 1947, the company assimilated Japan Denki Onkyo, which
would help make the "DENON" brand come true later
on, in its network of affiliates.
The DENON brand originated from the merger of Japan Denki
Onkyo (commonly known as "Den-on"), one of the
affiliates. Den-on was a group of engineers in business-purpose
audio equipment, dating back to Japan Electric Recorders
Mfg., which was established in 1939. The company was developing
and manufacturing turntables and cartridge tape-recorders
for NHK and other broadcast stations.
A typical model for DENON, the MC-type cartridge DL-103,
was the object of joint R&D with NHK before Den-on merged
with Nippon Columbia. It was completed, the year of the
merger. In addition, tape-recorders and other equipment
were released as part of the DENON brand, and all those
were models designed for audio fans, reflecting Den-on's
advanced technology. However, the DENON brand really established
a strong position with the debut ot the DP-5000, a direct-drive
phono-motor with an FG-type servo, that boasted a brand-new
design and predominant performance.
In the 1960s Nippon Columbia was engaged in diversification,
involving a wide range of product genres including records,
as well as such hardware as stereo sets, radios, TV sets,
musical instruments and electric calculators.
In 1972 DENON launched the world's first practical 8 -channel
digital recorder, the DN-023R. It was a huge machine, consisting
of three pieces: a tape transport, monitor and a signal
processor." |
