Apparently, vinyl is back. Sales are climbing, and people are buying vinyl records in record numbers.

"the world’s first levitating turntable"

When it comes to turntables, I’ve found that there are largely three rough groups one can use to classify them: bad turntables, good turntables, and look that record is flying in the air turntables. The MAG-LEV Audio seems to fall solidly into the third category, as "the world’s first levitating turntable."

The MAG-LEV Audio uses magnets to suspend the platter hovering in air (it can be seen doing so in this incredibly overdramatic promotional video of a gentleman using his possibly sorcerous floating record player to listen to music in an expensive-looking glass house).

Four feet support the platter when the turntable isn't in use, which then automatically retract into the base when you start playing music. The MAG-LEV Audio also cleverly has an emergency uninterruptible power supply built in to raise the tonearm and extend the feet in case of a power outage so your record doesn’t fall out of the air.

Not that specifications really matter past the "it makes your vinyl records float while playing them," but the MAG-LEV Audio supports both 33.3-rpm and 45-rpm modes, and uses a Pro-Ject 8.6 tonearm and Ortofon OM 5E cartridge.

The floating turntable is also MAG-LEV Audio’s first product, so the usual caveats of backing a hardware product on a crowdfunding website from an untested company apply. The MAG-LEV Audio turntable starts at a discounted $780 Kickstarter price (estimated to go up to $1,390 at retail), which the company hopes to ship in August 2017.