ELP laser turntable - any comments?

A dynamic phono pickup, MM or MC, puts out a voltage that is proportional to the RATE of stylus movement. A piezioelectric phono pickup (and there were some that were not cheap junk) puts out a voltage that is proportional to the DISPLACEMENT (distance of movement) of the stylus. And yet, both can play the same LP groove, and sound more or less the same. This has always puzzled me.

Now, I wonder what kind of signal the laser pickup produces...rate or displacement, or something else. Clearly there is room for a distinctly different sound from the same groove.

The sample CD they send out to show the ELP quality of
sound isn't very impressive. Hope the actual unit is
better. CEM

Wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot tonearm.
Unless you've got money to burn and like expensive toys.

Opalchip, I guess my behavior would suggest I entirely agree with you, but I did go back several time at CES2004 to listen to it. After perfecting the concept but failing in quality control, it is too bad the company basically walks away from purchasers.

I've lived with the Laser Turntable for nearly one year now, and tested it like crazy against my reference system (Simon Yorke S7, SME 309 with damping kit and Graham IC-70 phono cables, Lyra Helikon SL, Minus K vibration isolation platform).

First, just a quick clarification: the signal from the Laser Turntable is analog from laser beam to output. There are some digital components, but they are controlling the laser and carriage motion to track the grooves. Repeat: the Laser Turntable is ANALOG all the way.

Here's the bottom line: if you know the sound of live music - the timbre, harmonics, the transients - you cannot beat the Laser Turntable. My Yorke/SME/Lyra combination can't beat the Laser Turntable in that department. If you are in love with a dead silent background and listen to mostly recordings that were mixed from multi-track, you may not appreciate what the Laser Turntable can do. If you listen to acoustic works with simple mic'ing (Blumlein) - the Laser Turntable is pretty amazing in its ability to recreate the event.

The Laser Turntable does require CLEAN records. I use a Keith Monks RCM. But once you've cleaned a record on a good RCM, for subsequent plays a quick going over with a Hunt record brush or equivalent is all you need.

The Laser Turntable plays black records only. The more worn or damaged a record, the noiser the Laser Turntable is compared to a conventional stylus. On the other hand, really mint vinyl is quiet. The nice thing is that really mint vinyl does stay really mint with the Laser Turntable - "No Needle, No Wear" as ELP proclaims.

I think image stability and specificity is a little bit better with my Yorke/SME/Lyra combination. However, there are details that the Laser Turntable captures that the Yorke/SME/Lyra does not do as well. If you are looking for "bloom", the Laser Turntable doesn't really give you that (my RIAA preamp is the phono section of a Boulder 1010 preamp). The Laser Turntable might be a little less dynamic as well - but honestly I'd be splitting hairs on that call.

What I like most about the Laser Turntable:

1. convenience (random track access), and no wear
2. detail
3. no set-up (ie. VTF, VTA, SRA, antiskate, etc.)
4. no tracking error (it's basically a linear tracker)
5. convenience (drop the record in the drawer and hit play)

In a perfect cost-no-object world, I would have both a conventional turntable and the Laser Turntable. Each gives you a different perspective on the music. I like the dynamics and the silent background of the conventional turntable/stylus, and I really like the life-like detail of the Laser Turntable. The Laser Turntable just sounds right.

From what I can tell, the Laser Turntable is more popular among musicians than among audiophiles - probably because of the Laser Turntable's ability to re-produce such life-like detail.