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$12K Laser turntable vs $12k hi-fi turntable?

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I just read up on the ELP laser turntable. They have a model for $12k that plays 33&45 rpm records. You already know the skinny on laser tables that there is no contact with the lp. The question here is that will that same $12k put into a conventional table, arm and cartridge outperform its laser counterpart. I rarely see laser tables mentioned here. With their cost within the range of some conventional turntable setups, why don't we see more of them on Audiogon? Are they musical? I hear that they are very accurate.
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128x128mitch4t
drjoe
130 posts
 
I have friend who has one. For the brief time I got to hear it, to me it had a digital sound opposed to an analog
sound IMO.
drjoe
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rauliruegas
13,101 posts
 
Dear Drjoe: Could you explain about that " digital sound "?, because the unit works the audio/LP signal in the analog domain only.

Regards and enjoy the music,
raul.
bigbucks5
184 posts
 
09-23-10: Drjoe
I have friend who has one. For the brief time I got to hear it, to me it had a digital sound opposed to an analog
sound IMO.
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I can imagine not liking the sound, but I wonder how it could sound 'digital' when it is all analog in the playback chain. Could it be that it is more resolving and we're not use to that, or that since the record was cut with a mechanical device, the ELP is in essence trying to read stuff that isn't there in the first place?
drjoe
130 posts
 
To Rauliruegas and Bigbucks5, I wasn't implying that the
unit was digital. I guess what I meant was if you took a CD
and the LP of the same recording and compared the two
sources, the LP sounds more musical and pleasing to the ears. The ELP just didn't have the sound of a fine
turntable playback system. I hope this explains my comments. Also , are the electronics that convert the
laser to an analog signal doing something ?
drjoe
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
above i called the ELP 'veiled' with a mist over the music. certainly not like digital in a sense that good digital is not veiled, it's just missing information compared to analog. the ELP adds an artifact of the reading process which i heard as a greyness that always drew attention to itself. OTOH it was quite detailed and neutral tonally. the more i listened the more the artifact drew attention to itself.

there are reproduction artifacts i can live with and even enjoy, such as a touch of added warmth or maybe added bloom. but this particular artifact i heard in the ELP is a deal breaker for me.
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