ELP laser turntable

I recall reading about it 5 - 10 years ago. It was called the Finial (or something similar ). The table used reflected laser light to read the grooves, and was intended for archival use.

I think that the price was $20,000, and that they also offered a "budget" $10,000 table.

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.

See a review of the ELP turntable here:
http://www.stereotimes.com/ELP_Turntable.htm