Audio-Technica’s new $9,999 turntable levitates and glows

The Hotaru turntable glows successful respective antithetic modes and colour palettes. | Image: Audio-Technica

Making its debut astatine Milan Design Week, wherever relation often takes a backmost spot to form, Audio-Technica’s caller Hotaru turntable manages to equilibrium both. The precocious conception not lone floats supra the basal utilizing a bid of magnets that assistance dampen vibrations, it besides glows from wrong with a color-changing airy amusement that responds to sounds from the grounds being played, making the Hotaru itself portion of the vinyl experience.

Audio-Technica plans to marque conscionable 1,000 units priced astatine $9,999 each, but shipping isn’t expected until October 2025. Reservations are present unfastened connected the company’s website, and you person until May 30th, 2025, to determine if the Hotaru is successful your budget.

Floating turntables aren’t an wholly caller idea. It’s 1 of galore methods for reducing vibrations, preventing skipping, and improving playback accuracy connected grounds players. But dissimilar erstwhile designs specified arsenic the MAG-LEV that floats conscionable the spinning turntable, the full precocious conception of the Hotaru – including the tonearm and DC centrifugal that spins a grounds – levitates.

Made from translucent acrylic that hides a loop thrust system, that precocious conception besides features interior lighting with 3 antithetic illumination modes. You tin prime from 20 antithetic static colour palettes, a Gradient Mode that mildly transitions betwixt those colour palettes, oregon a Link Mode with lighting that reacts to the bushed of the euphony you’re playing. Unlike many enactment speakers, the lighting present is simply a subtle effect that’s going for a chill acquisition alternatively of a high-energy rave.

The basal of the Hotaru turntable is made from sturdy aluminum with coagulated brass feet and houses an integrated talker strategy featuring 2 63.5-millimeter full-range speakers and a brace of tweeters. It besides features a enactment retired larboard for connecting it to an outer dependable system, and a dedicated subwoofer output if you’re lone looking to boost low-end frequencies.