This turntable floats on air like a hovercraft – and you won't believe the price

If you're an audiophile looking for the very top end of what the luxury audio market has to offer, you'd better have deep pockets. Equipment can often be found with four-, five- and even six-figure price tags, making it a very expensive pursuit indeed.

That's definitely true of TechDAS – a Japanese audio manufacturer known for its impeccable high-end turntables. Now, the brand has unveiled a new model, called the Air Force IV.

For anyone who isn't familiar with the brand, they offer devices which work in a fairly unusual way. That involves using a high-pressure jet of air to float the platter, allowing for friction- and vibration-free motion.

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In my head, it sounds similar to how a hovercraft stays afloat, though there's obviously no water involved here. The design also keeps the platter vacuum-clamped, to ensure it stays perfectly flat, for unparalleled audio quality.

The unit can then be fitted with up to three tonearms and cartridges, which allows for different sonic flavours to be used at any time. That's going to be a massive benefit for those who love to get into the nitty gritty, allowing you to shake up the sonic performance on a whim.

The model enters the brand's range above the current entry level Air Force V Premium model, but below everything else. Above this, you'll find everything from the Air Force III Premium all the way up to the near-£500,000 Air Force Zero.

By comparison, the £20,000 (approx. €22,980 / US$27,050 / AU$37,750) price tag is cheap, though it's likely still more than most would want to part with. If you've got the cash, though, this seems like a sensible option, taking the core design and idea of the top-end model, but with a smaller footprint and a more paired back spec sheet.

Whatever you think about it, it's certainly an interesting prospect and a neat piece of engineering.