MEET LEVI – THE FLOATING TURNTABLE

Designed by two Seoul-based artists, Jimin Hwang and Jihyo Seo, LEVI is a high-concept turntable that pays homage to the minimalist color palette of speaker giants Harman Kardon and incorporates a levitating record.

After decades of obscurity, vinyl collectors have resurrected the art of record listening in recent years, bringing it back into fashion. You can only image the tremendous delight on people’s faces when they witness records being played on levitating turntables. When record lovers witness Levi in operation, they are often taken aback by the sophisticated electromagnetic drive and coils that have been employed. There is only one problem: LEVI is currently in concept form and will not be available for purchase in local Hi-Fi stores anytime soon.

Several years ago, Jimin Hwang and Jihyo Seo were inspired by the simple yet refined design of Harman/Kardon speakers and amplifiers from the company’s archives. They designed a stunning white turntable with a floating platter that is both beautiful to listen to and beautiful to look at. LEVI is equipped with four interchangeable tonearms that are available in a variety of colors. Record playing speeds are controlled by a specialized switch on the side of the turntable, which can be adjusted from 12 to 17 rpm with the chick dial. This means that your records that play at the conventional 33 and 45 rpm speeds will sound slowed down and stretched out as a result.

Despite the fact that LEVI is emblazoned with the Harman Kardon trademark, the initiative has not yet been officially approved by the world-renowned audio equipment maker. The announcement of a project like this by Harman Kardon would be major news for turntable enthusiasts, given that it has been more than 40 years since the company debuted a record-playing device on the market.