Jer
Never Left
Registered: Nov 2003
Location: London Town
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New Toys: Laser Turntables
ELP Corporation has been quietly making a name for themselves as the guys with the "Lasers" in their turntable. Based in Japan, this company started developing this technology when they acquired the rights to it in 1989 (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this was originally a Philips technology, one of the co-originators of the CD).
Since then, they have wowed countless record collectors and audiophiles, even recording studios and musicians with the ability to play their most rare vinyl platters without ever harming one groove on them.
According to ELP, this machine is so cool, it can even play "Warped and Damaged Records ". They claim that "In some cases, the LT plays even broken records when all the pieces are placed on a tray without tape or glue ". Excuse me? Not only that, but this unit is also impervious to the sounds of "footsteps on the floor, door slamming, or other vibrations in the area that would cause feedback ". Where was this machine 20 years ago?
The Laser Turntable does all of this without physical contact to the records, so that means that vinyl lovers who traditionally saved playing their favourite records for the same times that they crack open a bottle of rare wine, can get a little happy a little more often: Your records are safe no matter how many times you play them. Most importantly, ELP claims "the Laser Turntable retains the purity of being an analogue device and outputs a MM level Phono signal, with a frequency response of 10 Hz- 25 kHz ".
What I found most interesting about this machine is how it gives you CD features such as track selection, pause fast forward and rewind...and a remote control to boot! Talk about teaching an old...old...very old...dog new tricks!
Besides audiophiles and record collectors, ELP has customers using them in other areas such as:
- Professional Studios – To transfer records to digital for commercial release.
- Archivists – To restore old and valuable recordings
- Institutions - Libraries and museums who do research on rare recordings and preserve the content by transferring it to another medium
- Record Stores – To demonstrate sound quality of rare records to potential customers
The ELP Laser Turntable is an amazing machine, and if you have $15,000 US you can have one too as they have just announced availability for North America. Judging by the 1,000 units sold in Japan, you'll probably have to get in line pretty early to get yourself one, and you won't find it at the Circuit City or Best Buy on clearance. For more information, check out ELP Corporation on the web.
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