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.