Outline of screening:
* Date: October 18, Friday
* A panel of judges: Screening will be entrusted to the following panel of judges:
Judges from distributors:
Teruichi Hirohata (Disk Union/chairman), Shoji Morita (Osakaya), Yutaka Suzuki (Teleon), Takao Asakura (Kawaguchi Musen), Koji Ohara (Deo Deo) ,Seizo Ohara (Max Audio) , Naoe Kiyohara (Nomura Musen) and Akira Maruyama(Royal Audio)

Critics:
Hirotsugu Saito (chairman), Yoshiyuki Ishida, Chitake Inoue, Tomohiro Kaiyama, Kazuo Kanzaki, Masamitsu Fukuda, Makoto Fujioka, Mitsugu Kobayashi and Tadashi Yamanouchi

Purpose and meaning of the Audio Excellence Awards:
These awards were established twenty two years ago with the aim of contributing to the evolution of audio culture and market vitalization. The purpose of these awards is to select prospective best-selling or long-selling genuine preeminent devices featuring superior performance, innovation and audio spirit, from a host of pure audio components brought into the world each year. The distinguished characteristic of these prizes is impartial evaluation by a panel of judges consisting of audio critics having a profound technological knowledge and judges from distributors well versed in the competitiveness of products in the market.

Requirements of nomination:
1. Products that comply with the above-cited "purpose and meaning of the Preeminent Device Prizes."

2. Models never awarded the Audio Excellence Awards in the past. However, models that have undergone minor changes or version-up are ineligible.

3. Models due to be unveiled or put on the market by the end of 2003.

4. Genuine audio products. System products, general products and audio & visual products are ineligible. #including multi-channel amplifiers

5. Products already on the market including those available in a limited period of time until the coming year-end to New Year's Days period.

6. A cable section and an accessories section will be in November, 2002 and afterwards the thing of sale.

Target genres:
Digital audio players (CD/SACD/DVD-audio,etc.)
Separate digital audio players (transport/DAC)
Integrated amplifiers (including vacuum tube amplifiers)
Pre-amplifiers (including vacuum tube amplifiers)
Main amplifiers (including vacuum tube amplifiers)
Multi-channel amplifiers (inculuding quality-conscious AV amplifiers)
Sound recorders (CD-R, MD, HDD-recorder etc.)
Analog disk related devices (players, cartridges, EQ phono amplifiers, step-up transformers, etc.)
Speakers systems (small sized)
Speakers systems (medium or large sized)
Related devices (tuners<including CS-PCM tuners>,headphones, electric power units, GEQ, crossover networks, subwoofers, etc.)
Cables
Audio accessories

Screening method:
From a list of nominees from manufacturers and importers, the winners of genre-specific Audio Excellence Awards 2004, three major prizes, special prizes and other prizes will be selected on the basis of evaluation by the consensus or poll of judges.

Announcement of prize winners:
* Quarterly "Audio Accessory No.111" (reported immediately),
* the December issue of "Senka 21" (reported in detail),
* the special edition of this magazine "Best Compo 2004" (reported in detail)
* and "Phile-web"(reported immediately at http://www.ongen.co.jp)