The Laser Turntable

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Cake, Mar 24, 2013.

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  1. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    In the demonstration I attended, the BIG selling point was the ability to play severely worn and damaged records. This is done by focussing the laser on the undamaged portion of the groove. The difference in soun between reading the worn section and a less worn section was dramatic. The adjustment was also very easily done--it was a matter of turning a knob.

    Whether the system is capable of truly high fidelity reproduction of well cared for records is another matter. The makers tend to do auditions using less than great other components in the system.
     
  2. Stump

    Stump Forum Resident

    Location:
    Adelaide Australia
    I have one on order.It is 30 year old technology BUT they are continuing to make improvements over the years .I will keep you posted with the results!
    Stump
     
  3. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    How do these things deal with records that are cut off centre?
     
  4. Stump

    Stump Forum Resident

    Location:
    Adelaide Australia
    I would expect same as a Turntable!
     
  5. Kovinis

    Kovinis New Member

    Location:
    Western NC
    I would like to speak with you to find out what equipment I would need to restore some broken 78's. They are home made recordings my Dad made of family members back in the 30's.
     
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  6. JBStephens

    JBStephens I don't "like", "share", "tweet", or CARE. In Memoriam

    Location:
    South Mountain, NC
    Home made records aren't 78's, as in they are not shellac. If they are from the 1930's, they would be uncoated aluminum. If they are paper records, or coated aluminum, they would be a little later than that, from the 1940's.
     
  7. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    I recently found one of the ELP demo discs, I recall there being others but those are long gone… anyhow, this one has some material that most of us are familiar with, if you wanted to judge the merits of this turntable based on a 16/44.1 sample. Perhaps I can upload a bit.
     
  8. JBStephens

    JBStephens I don't "like", "share", "tweet", or CARE. In Memoriam

    Location:
    South Mountain, NC
    One advantage I can think of would be speed stability. Since there is no stylus, there would not be any "drag" in the groove to slow the turntable down. And since there is no stylus-caused vibration in the groove, a massive platter, mats, etc. to damp it are not needed. A flyweight platter would be just fine.
     
  9. Kovinis

    Kovinis New Member

    Location:
    Western NC
    My Dad actually made both. I have transferred the aluminum discs, although some of the coating has flaked off on some of them. The ealier ones from the late 30's - early 40's are what we used to call glass and several have cracked into several pieces. I was hoping that some of the new technology such as the ELP would be able to play them well enough to transfer to a digital medium. You mentioned that you have been able to restore such items. I'd like to know the setup and if you'd be willing to assist me with this project. I am also in Western NC.
     
  10. Chooke

    Chooke Forum Resident

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    I had one of these back in the early 90s. It was a similar technology as used in the early video disc players (remember those, you had to flip the disc over half way through a film).

    I didn't keep it for long as it was a pain in the proverbial to use. I spent more time cleaning the record than listening to it and it didn't sound as good as my LP12. I suppose today's technology could improve things but I think the the way vinyl attracts dust makes it a formidable obstacle to overcome.
     
  11. Gilliam

    Gilliam Well-Known Member

    One drawback: it costs $15,000



    [​IMG]
     
  12. Colocally

    Colocally One Of The New Wave Boys

    Location:
    Surrey BC.
    Wasn't this done about 10 years ago?
     
  13. Colocally

    Colocally One Of The New Wave Boys

    Location:
    Surrey BC.
  14. Gilliam

    Gilliam Well-Known Member

    Yes in the video he acknowledges it is old technology that was never pursued because the vinyl LP format was considered dead.
    No with the vinyl comeback maybe this will be developed and come to market with the eventual price decrease.
    My 10 year old boy has a portable turntable. My teenage nieces bought a turntable. I see vinyl LPs stocked in the store now.
    It's back and appealing to a new generation.
     
  15. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    Why would anyone buy one of these when they can get a Crosley? :cheers:
     
  16. atbolding

    atbolding Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Well, I like the aesthetics of this new version. It probably still has all the same problems with noisy vinyl as the old one.
     
  17. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Why would anyone want an Oppo CD player when they can just buy one of these? :)

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    No stylus? That just sucks the jam out of the donut dosent it?
     
  19. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Love the technology and potential, hate the price. I've followed this on and off for the past 10 or so years and it seems the distributors who handled the piece in the US had problems with the company...and, for me, more worrying is just that for the money, many people have said you can get far more SQ for less using conventional TT technology.

    But the idea of playing records like that is still attractive. I have yet to hear one.
     
  20. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    Will the tray and laser wear out as fast as many CD players do ?
     
  21. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Looks cool, but records weren't designed to be played by a laser. Gotta wonder about the wear on the vinyl long term. At 15k it doesn't much matter though, if you've got that kind of dough for a turntable, you have enough to replace worn records.
     
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  22. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    There is no wear, that's kind of the point. And that the lasers can actually play through worn records as you can adjust where the laser picks up - basically going very deep into the groove.

    But I heard the main con (outside of the extreme price) is that the laser also picks up on all the dust/debris so vinyl sounds more crackly than on a conventional TT. Or so I've read. :shrug:
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2015
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  23. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Yeah, that's (apparently) the thing: listening reports on previous attempts at the laser turntable have been kind of disappointing because even small specks of dust create noisy playback.
     
  24. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Bet it does !!!:p
     
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