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LASER TURNTABLE - No Needle, No Wear!


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People on this board would have a heart attack if they had this record player, it doesn't do colored vinyl.

I'm sure it's a step up from the crappy turntables most have here, but I'd rather spend 15 grand on a much better performing turntable. I've had one demoed a few times. The internal electronics are kinda crappy, so the sound is just meh. It's all outdated tech too. The chip is the same one they've been making since the 1980's (yes this has been around for a while)

If they put some money into R&D and made the chip smaller, more modern, and less costly to produce, and then offered the technology to a major electronics corporation (Sony), You could expect to see these sell for less than $1500

Maybe in the future.

Oh, and the records sound bad if there is even a light speck of dust undetectable to the human eye, so an RCM is a must have with this turntable.

It's good for archives, and Stevie Wonder has one. But that's about it.

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The idea has been around since 1977, first working copy was made in the mid 80's. But high expenses in R&D made the initial company go bankrupt in 1989 and some other company bought the rights and slowly developed this current Laser Turntable, which is for sale since 1997.

Ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars, depending on the discount you are getting from your salesperson.

I am surprised, no other company tried to manufacture their own for a more reasonable price, since the patents expired a few years ago.

But maybe with the current rise of record sales and fast amount of audiophile pressings being made and sold, some company will start developing one that can deal with the different formats, speeds and color vinyl, because that version of ELP Japan is impressive but far from user friendly.

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There's an article I read somewhere completely debunking these types of tables as a viable option for serious collectors. Basically because there is nothing analog about this, it's very similar to listening to a CD. Most of the "warmth" and "character" that comes from listening to a record on an analog setup is lost because of the conversion to digital.

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Is it digital? I think not.

Q: Does the LT digitize the audio signal from the record?

A: There is no digitization. The LT maintains a constant analog audio signal.

I understand the confusion, but it's analog.

I think it is based on the fact that a laser beam reads the pits on a cd, and a laser beam is reading the irregularities in the sides of the lp groove.

Keep in mind the laser is not pulsed, it is on continuously. The etched pits in the metal layer of a cd represent the physical digital representation of the digital sampling of the music.

The continuously "on" laser reads the continuously varying irregularities in the lp groove, which represent the continuously varying waveforms of the music.

So it's still analog, even though it's being read by a laser.

There may be digital systems for tracking and control of the system, but the signal path is still analog.

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i wish the only option of turntables were laser ones. That way no one could make colored vinyl and everyone would have black. You either like the record/music or you dont.

but then i guess someone would just make limited covers or something to turn it back into a hobby "collection" anyway. so nevermind.

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i wish the only option of turntables were laser ones. That way no one could make colored vinyl and everyone would have black. You either like the record/music or you dont.

but then i guess someone would just make limited covers or something to turn it back into a hobby "collection" anyway. so nevermind.

Dang. This is good. Dang.

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