ELP laser turntable - any comments?

Well, I read the review, and am surprised to find that the device claims to be completely analog. I wonder if this includes the focusing servos.

I bet you could do a better technical job with a digital approach (certainly the noise problem could be solved) but of course the "analog" label is probably very important in marketing the thing.

Arthur Salvatore has a somewhat informative page about the ELP: http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-ELP.html

I think this turntable may be a technological tour de force ruined by mismanagement by the company. This would be too bad, as I always thought it had great potential.

Eldartford, I think you are probably right about the benefits of the digital approach, but this idea predates digital.

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