A rep came in to get us to carry Denon products. They were crappy
little compact systems. I verbally trashed him and sent him packing.

And how do you know that they were the only Denon's being offered?
They may have been simply what the rep thought Stansbury's was fit to
sell. I believe, at that time, they also had what most people
considered decent turntables. They had already sold the first PCM
digital recorder to pro studios and had been selling one of the most
renowned cartridges for years, the DL103, which I think is *still*
being marketed today. I have no idea what their product mix was in
1973, but I would be surprised if it didn't include the same sort of
mix (although probably downsized) than it did later on.

First of all, I don't believe Denon was selling professional PCM recorders to
anyone, anywhere in 1973 (TICBW). And although their turntables and pickups
might were no doubt popular in Japan, they were not then available in the US.

By the way, I didn't much care for the 103, because (like many pickups from many
companies) it has that broad "upper-midrange dip" that slightly deadens the
sound. Otherwise, I like MCs a lot.

Regardless...

This question is easily resolved without further argument. When did Denon start
exporting their products to the US? When were the first Denon audiophile
products reviewed in American audiophile magazines? I don't think it was before
1975 or 1976. Anyone know for sure?

Just to clarify a point... I did not state or mean to imply that, in 1973, Denon
made _only_ crap. They certainly didn't.