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About the Laser Turntable
The performance of the Laser Turntable means "No Needle, No Wear ™." The LT features an absolutely contact-free optical pickup system. Play a record thousands of times with no damage to the record.
Get the same sparkling sound on the thousandth play as on the first play.
The Laser Turntable allows you to...
Play your Vinyl Records without damaging them.
Discover great new analog sound in your Vinyl Records.
Play damaged Records with better results than a needle.
Have the convenience, control, and safety of playing Vinyl Records
just like a modern CD player (the record is contained inside
the machine, and with a remote control you can click to play any track
while the LT tells you the elapsed & remaining times).
The Laser Turntable System
 Laser Turntable has Five Laser Beams
The first two beams aim at the left and right shoulders of the groove for tracking.
The next two read the stereo sound at 10 microns below the shoulder (the standard position).
The final beam maintains the height between the laser head and the surface of record, to manage thicker or warped records.
Laser Reads New Audio Information
The same audio information is engraved from the shoulder to the bottom of a record groove. Audio information read by the laser is 10 microns below the shoulder (see below).
Therefore, the laser is picking up audio information which never been touched/damaged by a needle. It plays the virgin audio information on the groove without an digitization.
This diagram illustrates how the tiny laser beams from the LT read the walls of the groove compared to a standard monaural stylus. |
Laser Beam Position is Easily Adjusted
Occasionally, audio information read at the standard laser position is seriously damaged due to wear from a very big needle. In this instance, you can adjust the laser position
up or down using a button on the LT's front panel in order to enjoy better sound quality (this is called the VSO system).
Mechanically-Independent Left and Right Lasers
These lasers can reproduce true superior stereo separation, greater than the capability of a cutter at all frequencies.
Continuous Turntable Speed Control
Control 0.1 RPM steps throughout the 30 to 50 RPM range for LP's and 45's on the LT-1LRC. The LT-11XRC and LT-1XRC models that play 78's also offer a 0.2 rpm
step control over the 60 to 90 rpm range.
Major Features
Superb Fidelity
The incident area of the laser beam on the groove is only a fourth the contact area of the best stereo needle and twenty-six times smaller than a mono needle (see below).
That's why the laser beam reads everything – including dirt and dust in addition to the audio signal – in the groove, so the vinyl record must be absolutely clean
and free of debris.
The incident area of the laser beam on the groove is only a fourth the contact area of the best stereo needle and twenty-six times smaller than a mono needle. |
True Analog Playback
The laser beam travels to the wall of the groove and back. The reflection angle is transferred to the audio signal, meaning that the LT maintains analog sound through the entire
process, without any digitization. As a result, the LT cannot differentiate between an audio signal or dirt on the record. To keep your records clean, we recommend a record vacuum
cleaner (see our Accessories page).
No Sound Coloration
Any kind of cartridge contacts a record groove, so it cannot reproduce sound without some coloration. Additionally, cantilever resonance, moving coils and magnets,
inertia and mass, and tone arm resonance all produce their own sound coloration. Therefore, some cartridges may be suited to jazz or classical music. However, the LT has no
contact and therefore no coloration added, so the audio reproduction is as close as possible to the master tape.
No Acoustic Feedback or Sound Alteration
Feedback is typically caused by sound from your speakers (or from elsewhere) reaching the turntable and mechanically picking up the vibrations, to be amplified again. No
needle "singing." The LP is safely in a drawer and the laser reads only the undulations of the groove. No need for elaborate vibration isolation pads
and "gizmos." The LT will not hear outside noises such as footsteps on the floor, door slamming, or other vibrations in the area. To demonstrate this,
pound the table on which the LT rests with your fist. Nothing but the music on the groove is heard on the playback system or transfer to CD.
Plays Warped and Rippled Records (up to 5mm deviation)
In some cases, the LT plays even broken records when all the pieces are placed on a tray without tape or glue.
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The ELP LT is the perfect choice for:
National, State & Local Universities/Schools, Libraries, Record Repositories, Musical Societies
...as well as...
Professional Studios... to transfer records to digital for commercial release.
Archivists... to restore old and valuable recordings.
Institutions... to do research on rare recordings and preserve the content by transferring to another medium.
Serious Record Collectors... who want the best music reproduction without damaging the record.
Hobbyists... to transfer records to CD, and who especially want every nuance and detail from the recording.
Record Stores... which sell rare records and wish to demonstrate the disc quality to a buyer.
Anyone... who loves vinyl, 45's, and 78's. There is so much great recorded music that will never appear on CD. |
There is only one Laser Turntable. There is nothing else like it in the world. Finally hear what is REALLY on the record!
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