ELP laser turntable

for years there were all kinds of reports in the audio press about a soon-to-be-released noise-free tt with a laser pickup. these stories fed the imaginations of the pro-vinyl/anti-cd forces who longed for a device that combined the "silence" of digital with the favored sound of analogue. finial did introduce one, as i recollect. don't think any version really got past the "beta" stage of development/production, tho.

Yes, it was called Finial, Peter Moncrieff raved about it, I think it was more than ten years ago, after that was silence. If I recall correctly, there was a mention in TAS recently on a similar product, which did not sound very encouraging either. Obviously the technical problems, don't recall what kind actually, haven't been licked yet.

I'm much to young to recall.

I think there was a very high end ($$$$$) laser tt from Japan that was in production. The name escapes me.

The ELP is the Finial turntable, rebadged after new backers stepped in to rescue the device from oblivion.