http://www.dwvartengine.com has an agreement with Ferrari's marketing team and is now offering a Ferrari-branded amplified loudspeaker with a limited run of only 1,000 pairs. The Art.Engine ($20,000) combines two tall driver arrays, wireless signal input and digital amplification electronics. Measuring 47 inches tall, 16 inches wide and 6 inches deep, the Art.Engine includes Class D bi-amplification (total of 280 watts), with one amplifier powering eight custom DWV 75mm carbon fiber midrange/woofers drivers and the other powering a custom ScanSpeak 28mm soft dome tweeter. Primary signal input is via 802.11 WiFi streaming of music files, though conventional line level sources such as CD players, tuners, iPods and most other portable devices can use the 3.5mm mini jack input. Frequency response is from 40Hz to 20kHz with a maximum SPL level of 112dB at one meter. Ferrari colors available include Rosso Corsa red, Argento Nürburgring silver, Grigio Silverstone grey and Nero black, with other custom Ferrari colors available upon request. Thats pretty sad. 20K for speakers with streaming audio capability, but no bass, 40hz thats pretty sad To put it into perspective, for what you are buying vs actual performance, My 215$ dollar Klipsch Ifi system is rated at 200 watts, (class D), 114 SPL@1 meter, 8" rw sub 27-20khz rear slotted port, xmax of .78".
That is pretty sad, but some sad sucker with more money than he know what to do with will buy one...or two. Give me the money and I'll throw together a system that will crack his foundation and pocket about 15 grand. I'll stick with my Klipsch/Infinity one two punch.
ELP vinyl record player employs lasers instead of a needle! Posted by Dan Bell on 20 May 2006 - 03:08 - Source: ELP OK guys, maybe you heard of this thing, but it's news to me. We have many visitors here that for one reason or another, still have some vinyl records around. Yours truly included, I just can't bring myself to getting rid of them. Even though you can get a good turntable, each time you play the record, it must have some negative impact on it. Imagine if you could play them and never touch the surface. Japanese company ELP, have devised a player that uses lasers to play your old records, which is pretty darn cool. The laser "stylus" reads the record grooves with light, therefore no groove contact and no wear, plus the unit features pure analog playback. Speaking of playback, audiophiles rejoice, as the ELP will play back your vinyl treasures with master tape quality. The only drawback is, it will set you back about $15,000 dollars US. But, to a CD Freak, this is nothing! How the LT Works The Principle of Contact-Free Tracking and Audio Reproduction Two Tracking Laser beams are directed to the left and to the right shoulders of the groove of the record. Only the part of the beams that reach the groove are reflected to two PSD (Position Sensitive Detector) optical semiconductors. The part of the beams that fall on the land area of the record are deflected and not picked up by the PSD devices. The signals are sent to a microprocessor via analog to digital converters, then to servos to maintain the reader head position directly above the groove. Two additional laser beams are directed at the left groove wall and the right groove wall just below the tracking beams. Modulation on the individual grooves is reflected to scanner mirrors and onto left and right photo optical sensors. The variations of the modulated light cause the audio sensors to develop an electrical representation of the mechanical modulation of the grooves. The entire sound reproduction chain is analog. The distance from the surface of the record to the traveling pickup head is kept constant by using a separate laser beam. This is very similar to every CD player that uses a "focus" laser to move the laser that reads digital bits to the proper spacing between the reader and the disc. Since phono records vary in thickness, this feature assures precision alignment from the pickup head to the record. The servos are fast and responsive allowing the LT to accommodate even warped records. Also the new audiophile 180 gram (thick) records are reproduced beautifully. A special calibration LP record is furnished with each Laser Turntable and is used to set up the optics and microprocessor. The record has about 20 minutes of grooves with no sound. It is necessary to run this special disk for about 30 seconds. The calibration disk should be used when you operate the machine for the first time. Every few months you may elect to run the calibration disk to maintain tracking accuracy, particularly if you notice any mis-tracking during playback. When the machine is moved to another location, it is wise to run the calibration disk again. The Laser Turntable is, no doubt, the most sophisticated and state-of-the-art "Record player" ever designed. Well, I wont argue with that last line, if I didn't lose count, the ELP uses five lasers to read these discs. This thing is expensive for sure, but it is such a very interesting and sophisticated machine. We should congratulate the engineers involved in such a feat and also Mr. Sanju Chiba, President of ELP Corporation, as they passed a milestone in 2005 by selling their 1000th unit! I can imagine that museums or collectors or any place that has one-of-a-kind recordings, would love one of these, as they certainly allow the listening without fear of damage. For those that are interested in such technology, you can find much more information on the ELP website. http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13447 web site Why Vinyl Records? Why Not CDs? Sanju Chiba, president of ELP Corporation Sanju Chiba, President of ELP Corporation Welcome to our web site! I hope you find it enjoyable and informative. First, I would like to tell you why ELP continues to promote the Laser Turntable (LT) in spite of the digital music revolution. Today, many people still own vinyl records but run into similar difficulties: (1) For sentimental reasons, people hold on to vinyl record collections. However, these collections can warp or break over time, and they can no longer be played on traditional needle-based turntables. (2) Some prefer the sound of analog music, but are worried about damaging vinyl records further using a needle. The LT is no-contact and no-wear; audio information is read using lasers. This preserves the audio on records that have never been played on a traditional turntable and protects those that have. Also, audio is reproduced with no digitalization, preserving the analog sound (please refer to the detailed information on our home page). Through the use of new technology, it is our dream to make vinyl record playback problem-free. We also believe that new technology should have an additional purpose: to re-vitalize old products and prevent them from becoming obsolete. Music and sounds in vinyl records--an invention dating back to Mr. Edison's phonograph--should be maintained without any distortion and without wear or damage. Based on these beliefs and policies, ELP acquired the patent from the original developer, Finial Technology, and started promoting the LT in 1989. Since then ELP has resolved many technical and non-technical issues in the research and development of the LT. ELP decided not only to operate its LT business for profit, but to adhere to this philosophy. Using this philosophy as our guideline, ELP has worked very hard and achieved a milestone in 2005 of 1,000 units sold. This means that only ELP, together with current LT users, is in a unique position to offer the opportunity for more people to enjoy vinyl records on the ELP Laser Turntable. -Sanju Chiba, President Enter the site and learn more! http://www.elpj.com/
damm, you got ripped off ireland, i saw one at goodwill for $5. Does the bunny sticker add quality to the music?
damm, you got ripped off ireland, i saw one at goodwill for $5. Does the bunny sticker add value to the boom box?
i have around 3000 records love to have that ELP vinyl record player would ye all take up a collection and buy me one.. one good thing about records,no DRM....AS FOR THE IPOOD IT SURE DOES NOT COME NEAR THE QUALITY OF RECORDS.. even the bugs bunny using tape sounds better then the ipood
i do not want it to sound good i want it to sound right,as if i was in the studios when the music was being made.recorded at 320kbs comes close but no cigar..with records ye have it all.. i put around 600 hours on digital tape recorded from records. now thats heaven,.................... i have the total collection of the Beatles recorded to tape..all from records. also that collection on records i hear is worth some money.
Music you may never hear anywhere else May 5, 2006 10:00 AM PDT Lee Hartsfield writes an interesting blog called "Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else." His treasured discoveries, which range from Big Band records to ancient hymn books, include an old disc of synthesized speech--the technology that allowed HAL to sing in "2001: A Space Odyssey." Posted by Mike Yamamoto go here to hear the music http://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/
Haha; I guess the "iPood" shirt is great value for people who canny afford an iPod! Just kidding daniel!
Why would i take offense? i had one, then when it broke apple refused to fix it, so i told them to go an get stuffed, and bought a Zen
