This year marks a century for Japanese electronics pioneers Denon.  Established in 1910 as the Nippon Chikuonki Shoukai (Japan Recorders Corporation) by American trader Frederick Whitney Horn, Denon has set milestones in professional and consumer electronics – including some of the earliest CD players (1981) and the first home theater receiver (1995).  You can find Audyssey technologies in every Denon receiver, including cutting-edge DSX in the AVR 4310-CI.  Denon President Hirofumi Ichikawa has been at the company for nearly three decades.  We spoke with him about Denon’s place in the early history of home theater.

When did you arrive at Denon? What projects did you work on when you got there?

In 1981 I joined what was then called the Nippon Columbia Company, which was a record company that had a hardware division.  I was an audio engineer and audio had been a major passion for me growing up and in college.  At Nippon, I worked on the very first component amplifier and pre-amplifier, both of which went under the Denon label.  Back in the 1980s (and especially in Japan) companies like Denon followed a strict master-disciple relationship.  My superiors were, therefore, very stern and they directed most of my engineering work and research for my first few years at the company.

Denon designed some of the earliest A/V equipment.  What was your role in those projects?

In 1984 we began to design what are now called AVRs.  I developed “Denon surround system,” which was one of the first surround formats for home theaters.  This was even before Dolby surround, DTS or any of the others that are now common in home and commercial theaters.

I had been interested in the possibility of home theater sound.  As a student I was an avid music and film buff, and so was very passionate about having good equipment to enjoy both sounds and pictures.  In the early days surround sound only made sense with music, but I started thinking about it as a medium for home entertainment more widely – for films, too.

How receptive was the company to your interest in home theater technology?

Fortunately at the time (the early 1980s) Denon spent most of its time and money on hifi equipment, which was still mainstream.  So I didn’t feel any pressure from the market or from within the company to produce AVRs.  That was a passion.

What did the earliest AVRs look like?

It wasn’t until around 1988, with the release of 5.1, that we could start thinking about processors and AVR units that weren’t just processors.   Before then, the first were just AV processors that consumers added to hifi equipment.  The processor would be responsible for some surround effects in the speakers.  The circuit itself was still analog!

What did those first analog AV processors sound like?

They weren’t digital products, so the source (FM radio or Vinyl) had a limited dynamic range of around 70dB.  But at the time people thought that was pretty much hifi quality, and so even with the analog circuit they were satisfied with the effect.

When did you start producing digital AV processors and AVRs?

As soon as Dolby introduced Dolby Digital the dynamic range increased to 100dB and so we came up with digital surround circuits to accommodate that.  The transition to digital was significant and involved two steps.

When we talk about surround sound there are two important technologies involved.  First is a matrix that separates the signal from the surround and rear channels.  Second is the software that adjusts the timing or the delay of the signal.  We started digitally adjusting the timing and delay in 1989.  The matrix circuit followed by 1993.  Before 1993, the matrix was analog although the delay technology was digital, but from then on, those two technologies were both digital.  Our first fully digital surround sound product (the AVP-5000) was released around then.  It was rather expensive, technical, and specialized.

AVRs are now ubiquitous in home theaters.  Did you realize the significance of the work you were doing?

Yes.  I think that reality struck us when we released the first truly consumer friendly and accessible digital AVRs in 1993-1994 – especially the AVR-2800 and AVR-2500.  Those units sold very well in the US and because they were the first from anyone, we noticed that ordinary consumers were starting to think about buying AV amplifiers for their own home.

You have been involved in designing AVRs from the very beginning.  Where do you see the market going? What’s the future for home theater entertainment given the way people now watch movies and listen to music?

In the past, music and films were special.  You needed special equipment to pay it back, and that equipment was often expensive.  But today music and film are like air: you can enjoy them anywhere and everywhere you want.  Until recently the quality of sound and image has been consistent.  We worry about degraded quality of source materials (MP3s, for instance) and so we’re committed to accommodating lifestyle changes by making our products easier and more user-friendly, to fit these new habits and this new media environment.  Our new AVRs (the 4311 with Audyssey technologies, for instance) feature more inputs and outputs (Bluetooth, for one) that customers want and need to play the music and movies that excite them.

What is Denon doing to celebrate its first 100 years?

We will highlight the company’s history and release some very exciting new products.

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