Thursday, May 12, 2005

2005 Home Entertainment Show Page 6 - Featured Article - Designtechnica

2005 Home Entertainment Show Page 6 - Featured Article - Designtechnica
A laser turntable, what will the think of next. I can now feel confident about bringing out my stack 12" remix singles without worrying about damaging them. Maybe I really should, but this thing has got to be priced at less than $18,999, much much less, how about $18.99 or $89.99. Image hosted by TinyPic.com

While most like to think that vinyl records are pass�, many people still wane lovingly over their record collections. Digital compact discs are not the only way to listen to music, and Gramophone records have been produced since Edison’s phonograph. Unfortunately, there have always been numerous problems with turntables; the mechanical belts, phono cartridges, and the needles wear out and scratch the records. With Elp Corporation’s new laser turntable, it has blasted vinyl record technology into the 21st century by beaming a laser onto the record grooves so that there is no physical contract whatsoever with the record. It is the only analog record player that does not wear records. Musical information is processed in analog, and all circuitry is analog as well for completely analog sound reproduction. It connects to any phono pre-amplifier producing audiophile quality sound in either mono or stereo.

The laser turntable can play 7-, 8.5-, 10-, 11-, and 12-in. diameter records. It can playback 33-1/3, 45, and 78 rpm records. There’s also a variable speed control in 30-50 rpm in 0.1 rpm steps, and 60-90 rpm in 0.2 rpm steps. There are a total of five lasers: two for the left and right groove walls, two for tracking groove pitch, and one for tracking groove warp. No adjustment is required for anti-skate, and it uses linear tracking to zero tracking error distortion. Since the optical pickup is controlled by microprocessors, the laser turntable operates much like a CD player with cueing to individual cuts, random access, and repeat play, and it offers numerous programming possibilities. The laser turntable displays elapsed/remaining or total time just like a CD player. Model LT-1LRC plays 45s and LPs, and is priced at $14,999. Model LT-1XRC plays 45s, LPs, and 78s, and is priced at $16,999. Lastly, model LT-2XRC plays 45s, LPs, and 78s of any size, and is priced at $18,999.

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