The SL8E was the pinnacle of wierd tone arm technology.

Nearly...

There was a Sharp $400 midi "hifi" unit for sale in the UK in the late eighties that used the same technique (though with much less high quality results I suspect). However it had an extra trick up it's sleve, the tone arm could also rotate and move under the record, resulting in the only turntable I have ever seen that has auto reverse like a tape deck.

I bought one for my mother who always moaned about having to turn records over, and it is still going strong...