Has any SH Forum member ever hear the Laser Turntable

Has any SH forum member ever hear the laser turntable.i remember a long time ago and can't remember the name of the company that produced a turntable that used a laser to play lp's.is this stilll being manufactured and does anyone out there have one-if so how do the lp's sound.

 

I've never heard one, but here's their website. Pretty pricey at $13,500!

http://www.elpj.com/frameset.html

And here's a review:

http://stereotimes.com/ELP_Turntable.htm

 

Thanks Zoo - While it's highly unlikely that I'll be spending $13,500 on a turntable in the forseeable future, I'd really like to audition this thing. The website says they'll send someone from Japan to demo it. 'Suppose like the Electro-Lux salesman, the guy will get upset when I reveal my reluctance to write the check? "But it comes with a free VPI and it can sharpen all your knifes". Maybe if I explain that my entire system only cost around $10,000 and I could probably find mint copies of almost every record I've ever wanted for $13,500, he'll pack it up with that dejected "I came all the way out here for nothin' look" and go home cursing me in Japanese.
Seriously though, if anyone has every seen one of these, I'd love to hear your opinions.

 

I haven't heard a laser turntable either and even if I'd like them, I wouldn't have any use for one for a few personal reasons but still I'd like to hear one.

 

I wish I had access to one ,could have transfered all my lps I dumped a while back. LOL!

 

Never forget Audio Asylum, guys. A few people have bought em and have said they're nice, but I fail to believe that a laser could read sonic information better than a decent cart that could track down deep in the groove.

I've heard that the turntable plays Lps with "No surface noise". Ah, but I don't own one either.

http://www.audioasylum.com and go to Vinyl and search around. They don't call an asylum for nothin'!!

And Steve pops his head in there occasionally too!

 

incredible lp playback is not THAT expensive.

I am buying a Sumiko table this month ($299). Listened to a Linn LP-12 a few years ago, back-to-back with the Sumiko and the Linn stomped it. The speakers used in the audition were Wilsons, so the higher resolution of the $1200 table was really easy to hear. Jut not in the market for a 1200 dollar table this year. Killed 3 in 2001 though, and my current one has slipping bearings, so I have to do something quick.

I have 20 year old lp's with 150+ plays on them that sound like new, I just took care of them. Not hard, just clean 'em before you play 'em.

 

$13500 for a turntable? Maybe, even whynot if it sounds better and your records stop getting worn. I drive a 73 Ford Courier and I don't have a lot of other expenses. The only problem is finding one to listen to before you buy. I will never again buy another piece of equipment with out first giving a listen.

 

I got one of their demo CDs and thought it sounded weird. But for playing a physically cracked record it would come in handy.

Anyone want to hear the cd?

 

Just did a search, and found 30 other threads - search "Laser Turntable". Now we have one more.




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Ray Lynch - The Oh of Pleasure

 

One more?!

This thread is from 2002...

 

Well now that's just unacceptable now isn't it?
It's the end of the world.

 

Well, you sure showed me...got caught trying to be helpful. My sincerest apologies.





Now playing on Ariel Stream: Emiliana - Torrini - Big Jmps

 

Prices haven't changed much in 11 years...

 

I have one and it stands out for only one thing. On old records with inner groove damage (or groove damage in general), you can set the lasers to read the undamaged part of the groove and totally eliminate the distortion of inner-groove damage. Great for playing trashed records (like the ones everyone here lusts for). The ability to play trashed records is most startling on mono records (because there's twice as much groove to choose from). I can, with multiple adjustments through the playing of a side, play an original issue "Goodwill trashed" copy of the grey-label Capitol "Songs For Swingin' Lovers" and make it sound shrink-wrapped-brand-new.

However, that being said, the huge DISADVANTAGE of this ELP turntable is that it reads dust instead of pushing it out of the way as a stylus would. Thus, any little piece of dust generates a loud POP as you play a record. Thus, it requires Nitty-Gritty cleaning the damned record EVERY TIME YOU PLAY IT!!! Therefore, I use my Marantz TT-15S (a modern turntable) to play my records 95% of the time.

The WORST thing about the ELP is that there are no US (or European) dealers or repair depots. You must send it back to Japan (at about a $500-$750 cost) whenever it needs service. They recommend a service "tune-up" every 3 years or so. I've never had mine serviced though (I've had it for about 12 years). If ELP would get over their paranoid snobbery and xenophobia and had a real North American/European dealer and service depot, they could sell quite a few more of these.

 

My point was that when someone posts a thread maybe they didn't think to search for one before hand. So what if there are other threads? Two people, I guess trying to jump on the "..there are other threads blah blah blah" bandwagon, thought it necessary to be smart asses instead of actually being helpful.

 

TWO people ?!

Who's the second smart-ass here?

If you happen to be referring to me as a smart-ass, I was merely pointing out that shstrang didn't start another new thread as accused; the poster did in fact bump an older thread with the same subject matter... which is supposedly the correct thing to do.

 

I have the demo CD for this Laser TT.

 

You know, I have followed the story of this Laser Turntable, and from what Ive read, the reason its so expensive is because the original design of this table used multiple lasers and their associated circuitry to read the grooves.

I find it almost impossible to believe that with todays laser technology, that someone couldnt design a new Laser Turntable that would sell for say, $1,500. I think they would sell a ton of them. What vinyl nut wouldnt want a table that would eliminate ALL the noise from their disks? I'd buy one sight unseen. I mean, even if you didnt use it for daily playing, to be able to dub records to digital that will never make it to CD or MP3 in primo quality is reason enough to buy it.

 

I have heard the Japanese machine once. I was so amazed that it actually worked I didn't really get a good impression of its sonics except that as demoed, it was quite bright, but that was probably easily soluble. The demo rig had a tweaky tube pre that needed some trimming.

It would be far cheaper to do it now but no one thinks there is that much of a market for it. No one with a substantial R&D budget who wants reasonably big volumes to justify using it that way. They figure too that the vinyl market is nostalgia driven and this wouldn't give the experience.

Directly dealing with the Japanese is always a fascinating business. It's usually faster and easier to get on a jet and go there.

 

I think the design is inherently flawed because of the dust problem, but with the advent of the ultrasonic cleaners that we have these days and attention to a dust free environment they could be OK.

 

I stand corrected. I should have read it from a different perspective.

 

&

 

As the signal is read by a laser, is the output analog or digital?

Update: Just looked at their web page. All analog. Sounds interesting. If someone could produce it for 1/10th the cost it would seem to have a market.

 

I can't confirm this, but I have HEARD that, right as CDs were first coming out, research on/prototypes of laser turntables were about to be made public.....