Origin Live Onyx tonearm

[Haselsh1]

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab240/Haselsh1/Origin%20Live%2001032017%20AOS_zpswxdda4im.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/Haselsh1/media/Origin%20Live%2001032017%20AOS_zpswxdda4im.jpg.htm l)

So, today, 1st March 2017, I fitted my brand new Origin Live tonearm to my secondhand Nottingham Analogue Interspace deck. The fitting took about two and a half hours and was a bit of a pain but I got there in the end. Everything is tight and rigid so I decided to play some vinyl.

Dire Straits 'White' album
Compared to the old Rega RB250 things are very different. First and most obvious, the sound is much leaner and clearer and maybe thinner. Everything starts and stops better with way more precision. David Knopfler's rhythm guitar for example is much more obvious in the mix and much more up front while Mark Knopfler's Start is just so sharp, cutting and clinical. High frequencies are very precise but not overly exaggerated. Sounding really good so far.

Ghostpoet 'Shedding Skin' album
OK so the Dire Straits 'White' album is very dated in terms of recording whereas this album is bang up to date. Bass frequencies are very low but restrained. When they are presented they are played but are as said, quite restrained. So, no forward dance club banging bass then but I think quite sensible. My KEF's are not known for a powerful, forward bass so I guess there is an element of this here. However, the RB250 was much more prominent in the bass.

Is it worth £450 plus £85 for the better cable over the RB250...?
Well, there is a clear difference but whether it is obviously better or not depends on your requirements I guess. I have now spent the money and have to say I am not confidently overjoyed with the results but it will be staying.

A damn fine piece of micro engineering.

[Haselsh1]

I have just checked the 'net and found that the latest Rega is the RB202 at almost £200. That is quite a saving over the £500 plus I paid for this arm. There is of course a cheaper Origin Live arm so given my findings, I'd be more tempted by that.

Although I haven't listened to my usual synth albums so far I have to say that the stereo image effect is nowhere near as wide as it was with the Rega arm. I shall have another listen of some well known synth albums and report back.

[blackstar]

I'm just about to swap out the RB300 on my Interspace Jr for a Jelco SA750-DB. Did you have to set the pivot to spindle distance or is the Onyx the same length as the RB250?

[Haselsh1]

I'm just about to swap out the RB300 on my Interspace Jr for a Jelco SA750-DB. Did you have to set the pivot to spindle distance or is the Onyx the same length as the RB250?

Milo, the Origin Live tonearms are a direct swap with Rega.

[Haselsh1]

One thing I will add on the Dire Straits 'White' album is that the clarity is now so good that it is easy to hear the more complex chords being played by Mr Knopfler. No straight chords for him then. The chords now sound way more complex than they did. Just adding to the thread as things become more obvious.

[Haselsh1]

One thing I would like to add is that although the KEF Q500 loudspeakers are considered a cheap, budget pair, they are very clearly up to the task of displaying the subtle differences of tonearms especially in this case where subtlety is the key word.

[Bigman80]

I think you'll have to live with the arm for a while before you get used to the sound. It's unlikely that it won't improve slightly as you use it. I've had rega arms and derivitives and thought they were pretty decent.

Give it a while.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Haselsh1]

Leftfield 'Alternative Light Source'
OK so now we have some really good sub oscillator stuff of the kind I am used to. I have to be very careful though not to confuse vinyl with CD where CD has a much more powerful, propulsive bass end. Also, on this album for the first time since fitting the new arm I am aware of a 180 degree soundstage. Maybe it really does need to loosen up a bit. I'm not a fan of 'running in' a copper wire believing it is just a load of bollocks but I do believe in running in a mechanical device.

Bigman80, I am fixed with this arm whether I like it or not as I am not about to blow yet another 500 quid plus on another. Therefore, I will get used to it, emphasis on the 'will'.

[rubber duck]

Everything is tight and rigid so I decided to play some vinyl.

Shaun, you must not overtighten the nut at the bottom of the OL arm. Just like Rega arms, this should only be finger tight. I replaced my RB250/Technoweight with an OL Silver II and the improvements were striking. I thought the OL Silver made a bigger difference than an AN Arm 1 I had on loan.

[Bigman80]

Shaun, you must not overtighten the nut at the bottom of the OL arm. Just like Rega arms, this should only be finger tight. I replaced my RB250/Technoweight with an OL Silver II and the improvements were striking. I thought the OL Silver made a bigger difference than an AN Arm 1 I had on loan.
This is a very good point.


Did you listen to one before you bought it ? I know I bought a Mission 774 blindly but I was very lucky that it's awesome.

The nut should only be tight enough to stop the base assembly from moving.

They have a good reputation so I'm sure some burn in time (lol) will help.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Haselsh1]

First things; regarding fitting of the Onyx arm, because of the thickness of the Nottingham Analogue armboard I could not use a lower locking nut so I had to use a Rega aluminium collar and clamp it from the two side points as in the Rega armboard. It all tightens up fine and there is no movement of the arm pillar. The Nottingham Analogue armboard though is around two inches thick.

I have found on listening a bit more that on electronic music involving a fair bit of filter work that there is a considerable amount of tizz and fizz to the top end. This I know could well be due to the DL103 not matching correctly with the new arm. I love the level of micro detail that the DL103 uncovers but think that I may have to move back to my Benz Micro Silver cartridge. This does not suffer from the same problem and has a very smooth top end. I am also aware that the ambient temperature at the moment is quite cool and this I know does not fare well with analogue playback. My own experience is that things sound very much better during the summer months.

Yes, this tonearm is kind of growing on me and I like the new sound apart from the tizzy and fizzy top end.

[rubber duck]

First things; regarding fitting of the Onyx arm, because of the thickness of the Nottingham Analogue armboard I could not use a lower locking nut so I had to use a Rega aluminium collar and clamp it from the two side points as in the Rega armboard. It all tightens up fine and there is no movement of the arm pillar. The Nottingham Analogue armboard though is around two inches thick.

I suspect this is far from ideal and not how the OL arm has been designed to be mounted. I would speak to Mark Baker at OL.

[Haselsh1]

OK, so I have now solved the problem of the tizzy, fizzy razor sharp high frequencies. I have just lowered the loading on the cartridge using the jumpers in the Rothwell Headamp. It was set at 360 Ohms but is now set at 200 Ohms. Phew, what a nice restrained sound I am now getting. Also, the left/right wiring of the tonearm was reversed so I have just swapped RCA's going into the headamp so that everything is now according to compact disc playback. I thought that some of the imagery was a bit strange when compared to what I am used to.

[Haselsh1]

I suspect this is far from ideal and not how the OL arm has been designed to be mounted. I would speak to Mark Baker at OL.

Origin Live quote on their website that the armboard can only be a maximum of 25mm thick to fit one of their tonearms. The Nottingham Analogue armboard is way thicker than that. In fact, I would say it is around 50mm thick, so no chance there I guess. That is why I have had to use an alloy collar around the arm pillar thread clamping via the NA Allen bolts in the mounting board. This is the Nottingham Analogue method for fitting to their deck not the Origin Live method. On the Origin Live website they state that one should contact the turntable manufacturer for further information so it would appear that I am using the correct method for this type of deck.

So far I am becoming aware of a much greater sense of detail with this tonearm over the previous RB250. Having just played Damon Albarn's 'Everyday Robots' I am just about gobsmacked by the extra detail that is now just so obvious. There is also a much greater sense of realism and space in the recorded sound. It is growing on me and things are becoming much more obvious as I listen to more vinyl. As always I jumped the gun a bit and thought too quickly before becoming familiar with a lot of vinyl.

[blackstar]

Glad you are happy with it.