Introduction
Steven Baker, President of Denon USA, and Jeff
Talmadge, Marketing Manager, introduced the Denon lineup of A/V Receivers
and DVD players in their Pre-CEDIA press conference in Newark, New Jersey,
on July 12, 2004.
In their presentation they stressed Denon’s share in the A/V receiver and
DVD player market, and their continued position as a “high end, cutting
edge” company with “Brand Identity and unrivaled reputation”.
They also stressed that Denon wanted to be in the market to bring high-end
performance at prices across the board from $169.00 for a DVD player and
from $299.00 for a surround sound receiver. All products are available in
black or the new silver (gunmetal gray).
DVD Players
They introduced 4 new DVD players:
DVD-1710 $169.00. A basic player with 3:2 pull-down detection and progressive scan
output.
DVD-1910 $269.00.
With DVI-D (HDCP) digital video output and selectable scaling, 480p, 720p,
or 1080i, and features the new Faroudja FL12301 DCDi chipset.
DVD-2910 $729.00 (DVD-2200 platform).
Universal player with HDMI output with multi-channel capable
Dual discrete Analog Devices ADV-7310 12 bit/16MHz video converters.
Built in Dolby digital and DTS surround and 192kHz/24-bit audio D/A
converters
and the new Faroudja FL12301 DCDi chipset
DVD-3910 $1,299.00, available August, 2004.
It's essentially the current DVD-5900 with more capabilities, while being much less
expensive. It has DVI and HDMI outputs. Dual discrete Analog Devices ADV-7310 12 bit/216MHz
video converters. An RS-232 port for two way integrated system control.
Denon Link technology for Digital multi-channel audio (DVD-audio only) and
bass management.
Their current players are the DVD-5900 and the
DVD-2815.
Also introduced is the DVM-2815 5 Disc DVD-audio/Video/CD Changer $469.00
and
the DVM-1815 5 Disc Video/CD Changer $329.00.
All-in-One Home Theater Systems
DHT-485DV $699.00;
6.1 channels.
D-M51DVS $799.00;
2.1 Channel Personal Component DVD/Receiver.
A/V Receivers
All the new receivers, Analog Devices Hammerhead Sharc 32-bit floating point
DSP processing and Analog Devices AD-1837 24-bit, 192 kHz audio D/A
converters on all channels and Dolby Pro Logic IIx Decoding.
Home Theater Series
AVR-485S $299.00;
6.1 channel w 75 WPC/ 8 Ohms 20-20KHz @ 0.05% THD
3 component inputs
Also 485S, 785S, 885S, 985S, and S indicates silver color.
AVR-1705 $399.00;
6.1 channels w 75 WPC/ 8 Ohms 20-20KHz @ 0.05% THD.
Bandwidth: 100 MHz, Composite to S-video and S-video to Component
High Definition switching.
AVR-1905 $499.00;
7.1 channels w 80 WPC/ 8 Ohms 20-20KHz @ 0.05% THD.
Multi-zone with discrete amp., and the two-channel with audio preamp.
AVR-2105 $649.00 Base on AVR-2805, AVR-3805 chassis.
7.1 channel w 90 WPC/ 8 Ohms 20-20KHz @ 0.05% THD Auto setup calibration
feature(no EQ on this model)
Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS, DTS 96/24 5.1 for DVD-video, DTS ES Discrete
6/1, ES Matrix 6.1 and Neo: 6 Cinema and Music modes. Multi zone with
discrete amp., and the 2 channel with preamp. 100 MHz component video
inputs. This is the one to watch in this price point
Finally the flagship AVR-5805 $6,000.00 due out in
October. It is 90 pounds and 12 inches high, 10 built-in amplifiers and 16
channels @ 170 WPC/ 8 ohms each. Actually 10.3 channels, Jeff promises
multiple subwoofer outputs.
That's all I can officially tell you. What do you do
with all those channels and all that power? The answer was, "Stay tuned."
Speculation was multi-room surround sound. More at CEDIA.
Comments
Denon’s lineup of DVD players and A/V receivers is meant to provide high
quality and high performance from the basic units through the high end.
Recognizing that the components share many of the features from bottom to
top, Denon adds power and channels in the receivers as well as features in
the DVD players. The receiver that I’m sure they are counting on is the
$649.00 MSRP AVR-2105, loaded with features, and for DVD players, the
$1,299.00 DVD-3910 which feature-wise, matches and exceeds the DVD-5900. The
AVR-5805 is just plain scary.
Look for separates next year, Denon is still in the engineering phases. Also
look for Recordable DVD Players at CES.
- Piero Gabucci -