The vinyl killer (also known as a soundwagon or record runner) is a small record player which sits on top of a record and plays it by pushing or pulling itself along the grooves.

History

The earliest known example of the vinyl killer was the Chorocco, from 1976. Produced by

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in Japan, it was used as a promotional item and never sold. A unit is on display at a Sony museum in Japan. A version of the product called the ''soundwagon'' was demonstrated at the Invention and New Product Exposition in 1982. It was being promoted by Jay Lance who was looking for a distributor in the United States at the time. The exterior of the product was shaped like a

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campervan. The concept was reused by the RokBlok, a product launched on

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in 2016. It included

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functionality, as well as an internal speaker. In 2017, the product appeared on an episode of

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Design and operation

The product plays music by driving around the record, following its groove. A lever on the side starts and stops the machine. It was capable of playing records at 33, 45, and 78 RPM, and in reverse. The name "vinyl killer" stems from the general opinion that the device can damage records more quickly than a standard turntable. RokBlok was reviewed by

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, who found that it had poor sound quality.

References

{{reflist Portable audio players