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Laser Turntable plays records without touching them .... only....... $15000


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I don't think it's digital - the article says it isn't, and I suspect that there's no A/D or D/A involved. The laser just functions as a replacement for the needle, and does the same thing it does - read the grooves, except without making physical contact as a traditional stylus does.

 

 

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On their site (the laser record player) they advertise 2 closeout models reduced to $ 8980. I think I saw one of these advertised some years back for $10,000. They had a picture of Keith Jarrett as an owner of one. I figured they gave him one in exchange for his photo.

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Phil's right, according to the manufacturer, it's an analog device!

 

And according to scuttlebut in the comments thread, the transduction from groove to analog electrical signal is via reflection by a pair of lasers from the groove back onto phototransistors -- which apparently have much faster response times than their photoresistor cousins and so are suitable.

 

Also according to the comments, this is one more in a long series of laser turntables that have been around since the 1980s, using similar, laserdisc-type analog technology.

 

And, finally, according to a subthread of scuttlebut in said comments thread, there are a number of reports of troubles with the devices. Geoff Vane: "These devices have a lot of problems. Check on youtube. They are not as good as I had hoped."

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With regard to the lasers 'riding' a different part of the groove where there's 'no wear' -- I'd say this vid demonstrates that's apparently no cure-all.

 

 

 

And the wait time while the thing calibrates (I'm guessing) is pretty noticeable when you're waiting for a single to start playing...

 

 

 

Not all customers are happy...

 

[this one has an internal view of the mechanism and it's not exactly something that would warm a steampunk heart]

 

 

 

By the way, how incredibly lame is it that Decoder misspelled the name of the company? The vid is right there, they link to the website -- and they're all clearly marked ELP... yet Decoder calls them EIP consistently through the brief write-up. Three times. Even with the YT vid right there embedded in the page.

 

That is the persistence of error. First garbage in, last garbage out. So to speak.

 

(And, no, it really is a capital I and not a lower case L in their copy. I checked. Just to be thorough.)

 

 

And, of course, for the broader perspective and a little history of the device, the firm, and competing systems (what there are): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntable

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Spurned by audiophiles and their prized tone arm chops.

 

Yeah, the vid [above] that shows the exposed tracking mechanism is definitely not going to inspire the same sort of hushed voice admiration as some diamond-balanced, engineering elegance marvel... it's more like watching a very homely, kind of herky-jerky robot do its chores.

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