MAG-LEV Audio turntable, designed by Slovenians, which suspends the vinyl record in the air during playback, has collected through Kickstarter more than 550,000 dollars. Foto: Desnahemisfera
MAG-LEV Audio turntable, designed by Slovenians, which suspends the vinyl record in the air during playback, has collected through Kickstarter more than 550,000 dollars. Foto: Desnahemisfera

Thanks to a magnetic platter, the vinyl record is suspended in the air during playback. The Kickstarter campaign started on October 12, and already in the first week the project reached the set goal of 300,000 dollars. In 40 days the campaign was supported by more than 700 people, which translated to exactly 515,298 American dollars.

"We knew we had a good product which would attract a lot of attention, but the number came as a positive surprise in spite of that. It is a great motivation for our future work, but we are also aware that now it starts for real," the designers, Desnahemisfera design group and Topsol company explained at the end of the campaign. Presently they are arranging for production of the turntable, and distribution, while going through final testing of the prototype, so that everything will work perfectly.

As the team explained, the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform had a big role also in wide public testing of the product. During the campaign they had received comments by supporter from all over the world, and took in consideration most of the suggestions for improving the product. "We may say that the mass testing was successful, as 715 is a very large number of supporters for a product of this price bracket."
The supporters had to invest from 780 to 940 dollars in this product; the first will receive their turntables in August next year. The largest number will be sent to the United States of America, Germany, and Slovenia, while supporters come also from Canada, Australia, Singapore, Sweden, and Japan.

How does it work?
The product integrates the old sound carrier and new technologies. It has a preset arm, a turntable head, and a connector for connection to an audio system. The user has only to pick out his favourite vinyl record, move the arm, and lower the head. Once the record is finished playing, the turntable lifts the arm, which prevents scratching of the record, but also extends the life span of the turntable head.
By pressing a button the user can change the speed from 33.3 to 45 r.p.m. The turntable is equipped with feet which are automatically lowered once the turntable is turned on. Once the arm returns to its original position, the feet lift automatically and allow the user to switch the turntable off safely.