The market isn’t exactly short on eye-wateringly expensive turntables. Some look like spaceship parts, others like steampunk sculptures powered by regret and copper tubing. But my bet? Not many—if any—turn heads quite like the Audio-Technica Hotaru.
Fresh out of Japan and limited to just 1,000 units worldwide, Hotaru is Audio-Technica’s bold take on what happens when you let designers, engineers, and probably a few poets loose on a turntable. It’s part of their new analog ~ naturally program, which leans into analog listening as something you don’t just hear—you feel, you see, and if you’re lucky, you Instagram before your guests show up.
Hotaru isn’t content with just playing vinyl. This all-in-one turntable takes your favorite record, reads it, and translates that sound into light. Thanks to a built-in lighting system, it pulses with soft, ambient glow in 20 different color palettes. There are three lighting modes, from chill gradients to pulsing audio-reactive displays that turn your living room into a polite little disco.
It also floats. Or rather, it’s platter does—thanks to magnetic levitation, which isn’t just for drama. It helps isolate vibrations and improves playback. Combine that with a finely tuned internal speaker setup—packed into a compact, sculptural frame—and you get surprisingly powerful sound, with detailed mids, sparkling highs, and bass that doesn’t just mutter in the background.
This is not a turntable you hide in a cabinet. It’s a centerpiece, a conversation starter, and probably the only music gear you’ll own that gets mistaken for a design installation. It debuted at Milan Design Week, naturally, because where else would something like this begin its journey?
Priced at 1,500,000 yen [JP] or US$9,999, it’s not exactly budget-friendly—but neither are fireflies that play your favorite records and levitate.
Images: Audio-Technica [JP].
