Anyone remember the lateral tracking Bang and Olufsen record player from the 80’s??


I remember going to my local HiFi Buys in the 80’s, and they were demoing a Bang and Olufsen laterally tracking record player. The stylist arm was straight, and followed the record grooves, moving left to right. He started banging hard with his fist on it, and the needle refused to jump!! I was REALLY impressed! I also wonder why there are not any lateral tracking LP players today? It made sense, the needle was always tracking straight In the groove, as it played the LP. Not curving slightly as it gets past the middle of playing the LP, as conventional record players have the stylist arm on a corner. So, the needle slightly turns inward as the record plays. No idea how he was able to bang on it while it was playing, and the needle didn’t skip. I was truly impressed! Maybe they do make players like this still, I’ve just not seen them. B&O really made/makes some really cool stuff!! And great designs. IMO.
  Another audio product for the 80’s that blew me away was the: Nakamitchi Dragon cassette player!! WOW! What a stunning design! Wish I’d bought one back in the day!! Of course, try to find an audio cassette to play in it today! My sister’s teenagers had no idea what a cassette was, when I showed them one. I think very young kids today won’t recognize a CD disk! Forget about LP’s or 45’s.   Any of you remember a stunning audio piece, from the past, that blew you away? I was also thinking of reel to reel audio players as well. Man, they sounded SO good!! SO expensive today!   Thank god for music! Can’t watch the news without my BP spiking! And so little to do, everyone scared to meet in person. Too much free-time. Music keeps me sane. Crazy times we live in!
savroof

Showing 1 response by sokogear

I had a Phase Linear 8000 for like 15-20 years starting back in the early 80's. It was very cool, totally automatic with the arm maintaining the constant perpenicularity to the radius of the platter. When it finally broke and I replaced it with a relatively inexpensive belt drive table, the improvement and clarity was incredible. I wish it broke 10 years earlier. 

I believe there are companies that make linear tracking arms that can fit some turntables, but I am sure they would be hard to set up. I'm not aware of any tables that come with those linear tracking arms.

The thing that killed B&O is that their tables forced you to buy their cartridges which were mediocre. Plus they cared more about the looks blending into your home decor versus the sound quality.

I know there are some out there that think direct drive offers a better value than belt-drive tables, but I would challenge them to listen to a Rega P3 or P6 or even a mid end Project or Music Hall table.