DirectDrive Museum - Denon


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Denon - founded in 1910 as a joint venture by Emile Berliner's Gramophone Company and Alexander Graham Bell's Columbia Gramophone Company, the Japan Gramophone Company produced Japan's first shellac disc 78rpm records and record players. In 1927, Columbia Gramophone Company became the sole parent, and the company was subsequently re-named Nippon Columbia. Over the course of the twenties and thirties, Nippon Columbia branched out to the far East markets, and also began sales of radio broadcast equipment. In 1938, Nippon Columbia established Denon as their professional equipment brand, concurrent with the introduction of the world's first direct-drive turntable for studio use shortly after 1939. Denon since made a few audio-legends like the venerable DL-103 which - since 40 years - seems to be very much appreciated among audiophiles. Beside Technics and Sony, Denon was among the first building Direct-Drive turntables for the professional market. In the 70's their broadcast-turntables like the famous DP-6000 were offered for the domestic market with pretty wood-plinths. These models were true "high-end" in the 70's considering their sound and their price. Denons are unique for their almost space-age-like round UFO-design. Or - as my wife use to say - the salad-bowl.


Denon DP-5000

The first big direct-drive from Denon was the FG-Servo controlled DP-5000 pictured here with the DK-100 plinth and a Fidelity Research arm. This model featured the unique regulation where a magnetic head reads the imprints of a magnetic tape under the platter..


Denon DP-6000

Pictured is a Denon DP-6000 with SME 3009/S2 arm in the original plinth. The DP-6000 is definitely a top-deck, but it's rarely seen on the 2nd-hand market today. This deck inspired M.A.Cotter for his famous Cotter B-1 turntable. A magnetic head reads a signal imprinted in a tape under the platter. This signal was then feeded in a Quartz-controlled PLL-circuit. Take care that the magnetic-ring inside the platter is in good condition. You can check this quite easily by watching the strobe. On a good one it virtually stands still- if not - hands off!. Apart of this the DP-6000 is build like a tank and virtually undestroyable. Today its price goes from 500,- bucks up to heaven. A very good player if mounted in a decent plinth. A near relative of the DP-6000 is the DP-7000:


Denon DP-3000

Pictured here with the venerable Grace G-714 tonearm. In Japan you can get those units for very low bucks. Its sonics and build-quaklity is not comparable to the big ones covered above but a DP-3000 in good working order is still a very good deck.

A DP-3000 without plinth. On the backside you see the magnetic head that feeds the regulation.


Denon DP-2000 / DP-2500

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Two names - one deck. DP-2000 was the deck, DP-2500 the domestic package with plinth and arm as pictured here. There was a DP-2550 (slightly bigger plinth, no arm) and a DP-2800 (marble plinth), too. The DP-2000 is a fine deck, too. This budget-model has a different chassis than the more expensive ones. You can easily distinguish them by the silver front-plate and different knobs. As it is more common seen on the used market, it's considerably cheaper than a DP-6000 or DP-5000. It's sonics are not comparable to the big ones covered above. Again - beware of defective magnetic-rings as they are now quite common with these decks. The plinth of the DP-2500 is actually nothing more than a upside-down shoe-carton made out of wood - forget about it. As with all Denons you should build your own massive plinth and that done take care of getting rid of the nasty plastic covering of the electronics too.


Denon DP-1000

The little brother of the DP-2000 was the DP-1000. The plinth was available as DK-77


Denon DP-100

The best of all Denons, if you can find one, grab it fast! Pictured above with a beautiful rosewood plinth most DP-100's were sold to radio-stations without a plinth and then may look like this:

The DP-100 was Denon's answer to the EMT 950. Someone considers this deck as the best ever made Direct-Drive turntable. This is a very rigid, stable and heavy machine incorporating a well designed suspension. It goes for very high prices mostly on the japanese market.


Denon DP-80

Here you see one in a custom-made mahagony-plinth with SME and SAEC tonearms. The DP-80 is quite easy to find and works with a quatz-locked pll-regulation. Platter and chassis had a tendency to ring like a bell, so this is a candidate for stripping of the chassis. Even without that it's a very good deck in one range with the Technics SP-10. Its build-quality is stunning and most of these machines will last a lifetime. On the 2nd-hand market a good one might sell for around 500,- Dollars. Factory-plinth was the same as for the DP-75 it had the name DK-110 but as with all Denons there are better ways to mount your deck. This one really deserves this... As you see the tape-head with later Denons is located at the right side of the deck.


Denon DP-75

One of the last classic transcription decks. The DP-75M came along with a tonearm that looked good but sounded not as good as it looked. The DP-75 is more or less the same as a DP-80 not that bullet-proof but its build quality will make this deck last very long, too. Like the DP-80 the DP-75 could be ordered with the DK-110 plinth. SAEC made a very good plinth for the DP-75/DP-80 too, but it's very rare and expensive. The DP-75 usually is cheaper than the DP-80.


Denon DN-308

Beside the popular DP-series there existed another branch of Denon turntables made entirely for the professional market - the DN-series: Pictured above is a DN-308F. Few of these decks were built and even fewer are seen on the used market outside of Japan. These were true transcription turntables for broadcasting stations and record studios.

Denon DN-307

Here you see a Denon DN-307F-T:


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