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Thread: Seen this yet ? Laser turntable...

  1. #1
    Super Moderator jblnut's Avatar
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    Seen this yet ? Laser turntable...

    Yes, some mad scientists have figured out how to read record grooves with lasers. The results ?

    http://www.elpj.com/


    Very interesting technology at a price that's out of this world...


    jblnut

  2. #2
    Senior Member JBLnsince1959's Avatar
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    I always wondered if that was possible.. interesting, I couldn't find the price tho ( I must be looking at it and missing it)

  3. #3
    Super Moderator jblnut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBLnsince1959
    I always wondered if that was possible.. interesting, I couldn't find the price tho ( I must be looking at it and missing it)
    Pricing is at the bottom of this page - better sit down...

    http://news.designtechnica.com/featured_article21_page6.html

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    senile member R Beardsley's Avatar
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    When John Kennedy died in an air crash, I told a friend that I can take comfort in my poverty knowing that I will never get killed flying my own airplane. It's a nice idea, and I'm happy for those who will now be able to hear the dirt on their LP's more clearly
    R Beardsley (BEAR)

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    $18,999

    Oh good! It will play all my 45's!

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    Senior Member JBLnsince1959's Avatar
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    Thanks for pointing that out. At that price $15,000 to $19,000 I'm sure they've hit the "sweet Spot" on pricing and EVERYONE will rush out and get one.

    still it's very interesting... I've day-dreamed about such a thing from time to time... Sure would like to hear it.

  7. #7
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    I gotta say, I remember something like a five-beam laser phono in the 1980s. Doesn't seem that new, though I'm sure the tech is improved and the price is much higher.
    Out.

  8. #8
    RIP 2011 Zilch's Avatar
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    Indeed, it's been around a while. See the history link on the website....

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    Senior Member JBLnsince1959's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Dome
    I gotta say, I remember something like a five-beam laser phono in the 1980s. Doesn't seem that new, though I'm sure the tech is improved and the price is much higher.
    Well maybe we'll get lucky and see one of the old 80's models on ebay. I can see the ad now " laser not working, power cord gone, doesn't seem to affect the sound tho, sounds great"

  10. #10
    dancing-dave
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    Thing I don't like about the laser turntables is that you can't play colored, printed or clear vinyl. I have a few records that are critical to my vinyl collection that are such and with a $19k turntable I would feel happy if I could play them too. Thus I would rather pony up for a decent needle based deck and use the rest of my money to get more vinyl.

  11. #11
    Senior Member JBLnsince1959's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zilch
    Indeed, it's been around a while. See the history link on the website....
    Well, you have to understand that I'm in Kansas and it takes while for new things to show up. In fact it's was only a few years ago we learned about this new "High Fidelity Stereo Sound". Boy, was it great getting away from just mono, but damn, I had to buy another speaker!

    and to top it off.....a few days ago I learned that my C-35's aren't the newest thing. Boy, technology just doesn't stand still... what's next? a Dick Tracy type telephone that you can carry with you? I'll bet that's not to far off in the future

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    Exclamation

    Quote Originally Posted by JBLnsince1959
    what's next? a Dick Tracy type telephone that you can carry with you? I'll bet that's not to far off in the future

    OMG, a telephone that traces what?
    Out.

  13. #13
    Senior Member JBLnsince1959's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Dome
    OMG, a telephone that traces what?

  14. #14
    Senior Member morbo!'s Avatar
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    ive seen 1 on ebay but still well over $10,000 aud
    id buy the largest amp i could for that kind of cash and put up with a cd

  15. #15
    Senior Member Fred Sanford's Avatar
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    Non-destructive playback

    A friend of mine is a TV/Movie producer, and when he was working on a project for the History Channel we had some interesting conversations about the archival of audio recordings. First, there's a number of folks that are primarily interested in preserving the "object", the disc or cylinder or tape reel that was used to make the recording. Playing these "objects", even to hear them and re-record them and thus preserve & share the performance that was recorded, degrades them to some degree (sometimes to the point of destroying them) and should therefore be avoided or not allowed. Others feel that the audio recording is what should be preserved, and being able to share it and archive it is worth the potential degradation. From there, the arguments lead to archival format (digital/analog, bitrate, file format, etc.) in regards to expense, format & playback machinery longevity & popularity, archival storage expense and longevity, blah blah blah. Then you get into debates on noise redution, eq'ing, hiss & pop removal, bridging blanks (some of these records look like jigsaw puzzles with pieces missing) and so on.

    In the record album realm, we talked about these laser players, and another conceivably more expensive but non-destructive recording method- topographical photography. There's got to be a way to "record" the topography of the disc & interpret that, no? Seemed possible to me, but a huge allocation of resources at this point.

    Fun stuff, some cool conversations. The show ended up interesting enough, but not nearly long enough to delve into much of it:

    http://tinyurl.com/a5nay

    je

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