Editing Laser turntable (section)

===Finial===
Four years later in 1981 Robert S. Reis, a graduate student in engineering at [[Stanford University]], wrote his master's thesis on "An Optical Turntable".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.senderogroup.com/about/reis.htm |title=Robert Reis Resum&#233 |publisher=Senderogroup.com |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116213740/http://www.senderogroup.com/about/reis.htm |archive-date=16 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1983 he and fellow Stanford electrical engineer Robert E. Stoddard founded '''Finial Technology''' to develop and market a laser turntable, raising $7 million in [[venture capital]]. In 1984 servo-control expert Robert N. Stark joined the effort.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://patent.ipexl.com/inventor/Robert_N_Stark_1.html |title=Robert N Stark – Inventor Patent Directory, Page 1 |publisher=Patent.ipexl.com |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-date=15 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315232226/http://patent.ipexl.com/inventor/Robert_N_Stark_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>The development of and technology behind the Finial turntable was covered in depth in Stereophile. See the August 1986, October 1988, January, February, and November 1989, July 1990, and June 1991 issues.</ref>

A non-functioning mock-up of the proposed Finial turntable was shown at the 1984 [[Consumer Electronics Show]] (CES), generating much interest and a fair amount of mystery, since the patents had not yet been granted and the details had to be kept secret.<ref>{{US patent|4870631}}</ref> The first working model, the Finial '''LT-1''' (Laser Turntable-1), was completed in time for the 1986 CES. The prototype revealed an interesting flaw of laser turntables: they are so accurate that they "play" every particle of dirt and dust on the record, instead of pushing them aside as a conventional stylus would. The non-contact laser pickup does have the advantages of eliminating record wear, tracking noise, turntable rumble and feedback from the speakers, but the sound is still that of an LP turntable rather than a Compact Disc. The projected $2,500 street price (later raised to $3,786 in 1988) limited the potential market to professionals (libraries, radio stations and archivists) and a few well-heeled audiophiles.<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Orban
  | first = Robert
  | title = Maintaining Audio Quality in the Broadcast Facility – 2008 Edition
  | url = ftp://ftp.orban.com/Audio_Quality/Maintaining_Audio_Quality_in_the_Broadcast_Facility_2008.pdf
  | accessdate = 25 June 2008
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201017174247/ftp://ftp.orban.com/Audio_Quality/Maintaining_Audio_Quality_in_the_Broadcast_Facility_2008.pdf
  | archive-date = 2020-10-17
  | url-status = dead
  | quote = Page 39 – Production facilities specializing in high-quality transfer of vinyl to digital media should consider supplementing their conventional turntable with an ELP Laser Turntable(9) Instead of playing disks mechanically, this pricey device plays vinyl without mechanical contact to the disk, using laser beams instead.}}</ref>

The Finial turntable never went into production.  After Finial showed a few hand-built (and finicky)<ref>{{cite web |author=Steven R. Rochlin |url=http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0404/aachapter55.htm |title=Bill Gaw AA Chapter 55: ELP Laser Turntable |publisher=Enjoythemusic.com |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-date=2 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402192855/http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0404/aachapter55.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> prototypes, tooling delays, component unavailability (in the days before cheap lasers), marketing blunders, and high development costs kept pushing back the release date.  The long development of the laser turntable exactly coincided with two major events, the [[early 1980s recession]], and the introduction of the Digital [[CD|Compact Disc]], which soon began flooding the market at prices comparable to LPs (with CD players in the $300 range). Vinyl record sales plummeted, and many established turntable manufacturers went out of business as a result.

With over US$20 million in venture capital invested, Finial faced a marketing dilemma: forge ahead with a selling price that would be too high for most consumers, or gamble on going into mass production at a much lower price and hope the market would lower costs.  Neither seemed viable in a rapidly-shrinking market.