Origin Live Tonearm

[BeR]

Hello and Happy Holidays.

If any member out there has/had an Origin Live tonearm ( I have the Onyx), I'm hoping you can share some anti-skating information? I've tried multiple times to adjust the anti skate on the Onyx, and so far, haven't had much luck. I've reviewed the manual ( very vague) and also accessed their UTube video site. The video leaves something to be desired, and was disappointing...in that Mark himself seems a little lost with the process.

Quite frankly, I would have thought a world class tonearm manufacturer would be acutely aware of how this is completed, rather than to shrug it off as " oh well, you'll figure it out". I then emailed Mark. His response was disappointing, in that he stated that anti-skate was not considered an important adjustment for a tonearm. At this point, I'm left thinking Origin Live is more marketing than engineering, and nothing but a "bells and whistles" copy of the Rega design.

Thanks

Bevis

[Clive]

I've had a quick look at the instructions PDF. I have to say it seems clear. What part has flummoxed you? Bear in mind there are varied opinions about the amount of anti skate which is optimal.

[BeR]

Thanks for the timely reply.

Understood and I agree there are varying thoughts about anti-skate adjustments.

I followed the instructions in the manual to a tee When I tested the adjustment against a blank vinyl album, the arm moved rapidly to the middle of the platter. In order to have the cartridge remain in the "optimum" I've had to position the armature almost dead even at 90 degrees, rather than what was recommend in the manual.

When I contacted Mark baker about this, he said I needed to remove the entire arm and rotate it counterclockwise 1-2 full turns, as the arm's internal wiring may have "shifted" during transit. This may be possible, but highly improbable, as the packaging for these arms is excellent. In any event, I followed his instructions. When I connected the arm back up, it made things even worse.

So far, there has been no further response from OL. I guess they're frustrated at my emails.

Perhaps I need to look at an SME, which was my first thought, before getting talked into Origin Live.

Thanks again for you reply.

[Clive]

I see what you mean. OL mostly are very good but on occaision there can be hassles. It is hard to believe the in transit reason though maybe they tension the wires deliberately and they have undone themselves. If what you did made it worse have you tried clockwise? I understand your frustration.

[BeR]

Yes...I "uncoiled" the arm back to it's original state, and have been living with this issue for the past 6 or so months now. Guess it is, what it is.

As a footnote, I've been browsing the web for reviews about OL products. It's interesting, in that there seems to be a mixed bag of comments. In some cases people have simply cut their losses and purchased other brands.

[KONDO]

Hi,I have conqueror and trying to set tracking force is a pain,anti skate is fine,I've looked at other arms but scared I go back the way,sme is a dream to set up, good luck, regards charlie.

[Haselsh1]

I recently bought an Origin Live Onyx and I have had no problems whatsoever with regard to tracking my slightly 'difficult' discs. I used the blank section of my test disc and adjusted until there was no movement to the left or right and then lowered the tonearm using the cueing lever to make sure there was no drag to the outside of the grooves. So set up the run in groove with the stylus and cueing lever up and then lower quickly making sure there is no deviation to the outside of the disc. This has worked fine for me.