Denon DP-900M

Denon's last turntable - or something of the kind : the DP-900M was also available by Pioneer under the name of PL-PM2000, M standing for "Pure Malt".

The DP-900M is the original of a mini-series. It was perhaps sourced in large part from Victor (in a much down-scaled version) and its QL-V1, the latter being part of Victor's very last high-end audio system.
The later DP-500M, its bigger DP-1300M and DP-1300M MKII siblings all have a tonearm highly reminiscent of that of the Technics SL-1200MKII series and, indeed, these three were sourced from Technics who probably had a stock of spare parts to unleash before closing the Technics brand in 2005.

Unlike the Pioneer and the DP-900M, the DP-500M, DP-1300M and (still available today) DP-1300M MKII have detachable IEC plug and non-captive output leads.
If the original DP-900M was made in Korea, the later DP-1300 went to Taiwan and the 1300mkII to... China.

The drive and speed system is the same as those Denon oldies : magnetic platter imprints with detection reading head. The enclosure is made of "medium density materials borne out of fiber-glass".

The DP-900M isn't a particularily distinguished turntable, certainly not looks-wise or even technically. Last discrete stand for what made that brand's reputation - far from the DP-100M. Although I have heard terrible reviews about it over here, maybe it sounds amazingly good elsewhere ?

The DP-900MII is the same with a less tacky faux-wood finish but still cheaply covered MDF and also made in Korea.

The more recent DP-A100 is just as much an OEM thing, despite Denon's efforts to make it look like a big thing à la DP-80 : it's only a DP-1300 MKII with a bigger base and glossy black finish...


A real 900M here ; a real 900MII here.