Origin Live Renown Tonearm

Description

Origin Live Renown Tonearm – Everything That Brought Origin Live to the Top is Here.

How it all began

Ever since Origin Live was founded in 1986, Mark Baker has placed particular emphasis on continuous innovation. When it came to creating another tonearm beyond compare, the design team at Origin Live were inspired by the opportunity. In anticipation of it’s extreme performance capability, the new super-arm was named Renown. Might even be the best tonearm known.

Sparing no expense opened up the possibilities to employ exotic materials – such as those used to machine the super-alloys in space craft.

Recent advances in production processes also enabled component designs hitherto deemed unthinkable.

The results are staggering. Improvements were expected, but not on the scale that even early prototypes demonstrated. Continuous development matured the design to the point that this was unquestionably a remarkable landmark in Vinyl replay.

In summary the Origin Live Renown Tonearm offers a very special musical experience but also beautiful design. We invite you to audition the Renown and enjoy it for yourself.

Our Signature

A tonearm from Origin Live is anything but ordinary. The transformation of materials into a musical device is complex. Driven by a deep seated curiosity we have always turned to listening tests to determine the secrets of material selection, shape and treatment.

We recognize that opportunities offered by new technologies are only the beginning. Decades of creating award winning designs have always followed the same exploratory steps. Every detail and design principle requires testing against numerous alternatives to ensure absolute performance for your investment. The Origin Live Renown Tonearm is no exception and the results will give it’s listeners a very special experience for generations.

Highlighted Features

Each tonearm in the Origin Live range shares important features outlined below. Higher models are differentiated by refinement, increasingly costly materials, components and advanced engineering. Differences between various models are highlighted on the specific page allocated for each arm. You can also compare features on the Specifications page.

High Strength Alloys and Carbon fiber components

Your cartridge needs to be held with rock like solidity if it is to accurately extract the microscopic information contained within your record grooves. In strategic components rigidity is essential to reduce microscopic bending and “give” in the tonearm structure. The exact reasons why this is so critical go far beyond superficial explanations such as reducing movement or resonance. The truth is little understood and would require a book to explain due to technical complexities.

Soft alloy castings and carbon fiber tubes (using fishing rod technology) are commonly used in tonearms but are wholly inadequate for high grade performance. Origin Live arms avoid these cheap alternatives and as you might expect the music benefits immensely from the improved rigidity. Gone is the soft, woolly, haziness and muddle that so many arms are responsible for producing. Instead notes have greater impact, dynamics, speed. This gives our arms their outstanding reputation for realism.

Every Feature of the Origin Live Renown Tonearm in Detail…

High Strength Components

Your cartridge needs to be held with rock-like solidity if it is to accurately extract the microscopic information contained within your record grooves. In strategic components, rigidity is essential to reduce microscopic bending and “give” in the tonearm structure. The exact reasons why this is so critical go far beyond superficial explanations such as reducing movement or resonance. The truth is little understood and would require a book to explain due to technical complexities.

Soft alloy castings and carbon fiber tubes (using fishing rod technology) are commonly used in tonearms but are wholly inadequate for high-grade performance. Origin Live arms avoid these cheap alternatives, and as you might expect, the music benefits immensely from the improved rigidity. Gone is the soft, woolly, haziness and muddle that so many arms are responsible for producing. Instead, notes have greater impact, dynamics, and speed. This gives our arms their outstanding reputation for realism.

Ultra-low Friction Bearings

All bearings in our arms function with exceptionally low friction. This aspect is one of the reasons behind the phenomenal tracking ability of our tonearms, which defy compliance formulas. Subjectively, it also results in a far more transparent sound. This achievement is due to intensive research resulting in all bearings being manufactured to our own exacting specifications.

Floating Bearings

Unlike most arms, we “float” the bearings so they have minimal contact with their housing. This seems to counteract the principle of rigidity but works because isolation becomes the overriding factor at this point. This is a prime example of where untested adherence to a single misunderstood principle is not the best answer.

The advantages of improved decoupling are a considerable reduction in noise produced by the equipment.

Dual Pivot Bearings

The Encounter arm and above employ dual pivot bearings. There are around four other high-end arms in the world which employ this technique. All came out around the same time to combine the virtues of standard gimbal bearings with the strengths of Uni-pivot designs. Read More

Internal High Grade Copper Litz Wire

Litz wire is renowned for its transparency and lack of grain. We use high-grade copper Litz wire manufactured to our own specification. This is much harder and more costly to work with than conventional wires.

Cartridge tags are copper beryllium for high conductivity. They are then plated with gold, silver, or rhodium depending on the grade of arm.

Internal wires for higher grade arms are upgraded to Silver Hybrid wire. This is a proprietary design which dramatically improves performance whilst avoiding the brightness sometimes associated with silver.

External Wiring

External wiring comes in a number of grades. You can find the grade for each arm on the specification pages.

• Standard Cable: This is a commonly used tonearm wire which, although thin and unimpressive in appearance, is well-designed and performs well. Some make the mistake of using conventional, expensive interconnect wire for tonearm cable. The reason this seldom improves performance is because tonearms must handle signal levels which are around 1000 times less than CD or streamers etc. This needs a different design approach.
• Upgrade Cable: Called “upgrade cable” because it upgrades the cable on high-end arms. This high purity copper cable is cryogenically treated and possesses many of the attributes needed for good low-level signal conduction. Carefully researched and great value for money.
• Silver Hybrid Cable: After years of research, we finally came up with a huge advance on tonearm cable performance. Silver hybrid, as the name suggests, is a combination of copper and silver wiring. This highly specified combination was tried against a leading £1000 tonearm cable (better than some at £3000) and found to be a long way ahead. The sound delivered has all the transparency and purity you expect from silver but without the slight tonal lift and edginess. You can be confident that this is a supremely capable performer.
• Silver Hybrid-S Cable: This is a specially treated version of Silver Hybrid Cable with increased transparency and cohesion. The treatment method is proprietary and unique.

Connector RCA Plugs

The phono plugs fitted to our cables have a surprisingly audible influence and are fitted in three grades:

• Nickel-plated brass, moulded RCA Phono Plugs
• Gold-plated Brass, clamping RCA Phono Plugs: To ensure a secure joint, these RCA use a twist action to clamp them hard onto your amplifier sockets. This improves performance and reduces noise.
• Black Rhodium RCA Phono Plugs: These single point contact RCA plugs are Rhodium plated for improved current flow and minimal eddy currents. Rhodium may not possess the highest conductivity but this is outweighed by its unsurpassed surface smoothness which enhances performance at joints. They are simply the best sounding high-end performance plug we’ve heard.

Integral VTA Adjustment

Cartridge “Vertical Tracking Angle (VTA) is adjusted by raising or lowering the rear end of the tonearm. This is an important adjustment to get the most from many cartridges and is included on all Origin Live arms. Our VTA adjustment is infinitely variable, calibrated, and easily repeatable with precision.

Tracking Force Adjustment

The downforce on the cartridge (tracking force) is adjusted by positioning the counterweight using a secure mounting. We avoid common methods which use loose threads, magnets, or springs which have the drawback of feeding resonance into the structure (which affects the cartridge).

Side Bias Adjustment

Your cartridge generates an offset friction force as it slides through the record grooves. The tendency is for the arm to force the cartridge stylus onto the inner wall of the groove (not the outer wall as some mistakenly think). To counteract this force using what is known as “side bias force” ensures that the cartridge plays evenly within the groove and reduces wear of both record and stylus.

The method of applying side bias affects performance. These include:

• Spring dials
• Magnet dials or slides
• Falling levers
• Varying the leverage using a thread and falling weight

Research has concluded that method (d) is significantly superior in terms of sound quality to the other three for reasons explained in a later section “What makes a better arm.” For this reason, all our tonearms use method (d).

Intensive Research and Innovative Thinking

The design of our tonearms is the key to their performance. Over 25 years of continuous development has gone into these arms. However, it’s the “outside the box” thinking, which make them special. Origin Live arms are extremely innovative, not only in concept but also in the choice of superior build materials. Wherever possible high-grade alloys are included. These alloys are expensive to machine and finish but the results are so worthwhile in terms of performance.

Most arms look great on the outside so it is easy to miss the massive hidden differences. With an Origin Live arm, you can be sure that it’s not just a matter of high-grade components but far more importantly, you have a design that really delivers in terms of performance.

Tonearm Design & Build Quality

In the same way, great singers have better voices, all materials resonate differently and have a “voice” in micro-vibration. There is an argument that says the ideal material is totally dead, but this oversimplification ignores the fact that to absorb energy, the material has to vibrate. The argument also omits to consider that if a material is too soft (like a sponge to take an extreme example) then it will lack rigidity. Conversely, if a material is too hard then it reflects energy which is disastrous. Because all these factors conflict with one another it renders correct material choice much more complex than many imagine.

The nature of mechanical playback means that every material chosen plays a role in performance. Specifications and theory can only play a limited role here. If pure measurements were the answer, you could use a computer to judge the talent of singers on shows like the Voice or the X-factor. The problem is that any measurement system can only measure what it’s programmed to. Understanding the physics of what makes one voice more preferable to another would probably take more than a lifetime. For this reason, we conduct hundreds of listening tests to determine the best choices.

Origin Live pay obsessive attention to the types of material used throughout the construction of turntables. This is one reason our Platter Mat (offered as an accessory) upgrades 99% of turntables on the market. The same is true for our turntable belts and oil, both of which receive remarkable reviews from satisfied clients. These may seem trivial examples but they indicate a fanatical thoroughness in research that extends to much more important areas in our turntables.

There is a great deal of mythology surrounding the subject of tonearm design. At Origin Live we have never stood still in advancing our knowledge of this important area. Here are all the aspect involved around this…

The Priority of Low Level Signal Purity

It is difficult to appreciate why the mechanical integrity of a tonearm should have such an enormous influence on the performance of your system. The first step is to realize that the mechanical movements and electrical signals generated by your cartridge are extremely small – beyond imagination. The electrical signals generated by mechanical movement are amplified thousands of times to produce sound through your loudspeaker.

It follows that the slightest source of unwanted vibration and resonance is magnified to exactly the same extent as movements intended to create the correct signal. Not only can unwanted vibration introduce coloration, but this vibration also affects the cantilever movement to cause distortion. It’s the elimination of this spurious vibration that results in the large differences that exist between mediocre and high-end arms.

The Cause of Unwanted Vibration

As the cartridge stylus negotiates its tortuous way through your record grooves, it undergoes forces measured in tons per sq. inch. This sends shock waves down the arm tube. What happens to these shockwaves normally? Some of the energy is transmitted down into the deck, but much of it meets the counterweight structure and is reflected back down the arm tube to the cartridge. This is highly detrimental for good sound quality due to the aforementioned facts. There is a secondary reason why the rear end of the arm is an extremely critical area. The counterweight represents by far the highest moving mass in the arm and affects an arm’s performance in ways that are hard to imagine. The counterweight is excited into resonance by the motion of the arm. This means that it should be decoupled and yet also remain rigid to the arm (to avoid introducing other problems). The beauty of the Origin Live designs is that the rear end of the arm acts as a shock absorber. For mechanical waves traveling down the arm from the cartridge and the rear end acts to decouple the counterweight, whilst maintaining rigidity.

Proven Design Principles

Origin Live’s first work on tonearms involved removing the rear-end stub of Rega tonearms and upgrading them with a replacement design. Rega rear end stubs are screwed into the end of the arm – this leaves much room for improvement! Origin Live replace the old stub with a new stub. The new stub is torqued onto the arm by a thin high tensile bolt. The new stub is also designed for optimum decoupling whilst maintaining more rigidity in micro flexure than the original. This change also allows the counterweight to be rigidly clamped onto the stub using an Allen bolt. An unmodified arm should not have the counterweight rigidly coupled in this way, due to the old vibration characteristics of the standard arm / rear stub joint. This ingenious modification elevates a good arm into the same league as the super arms and at an insignificant outlay.

De-coupling the Armtube

To give an example of the way that Origin Live “break the mould” with design, you only have to observe the “floated bearing” philosophy that is employed in the tonearms. Origin Live bearings are highly specified to suit tonearms – however, the bearing houses are deliberately not machined to a tight tolerance as this degrades the sound to an intolerable degree. We have found that tightly held bearings are not beneficial, but this is easily confused with “bearing play.” There are very strong technical arguments to suggest that tightly coupling the arm to the deck via tight bearings is detrimental in the light of listening tests. These confirm that once you house the bearings outside the arm tube, it is best to “float” them rather than “grip” them in a tight-fitting housing. People hypothesise about bearing chatter, etc. – maybe this is the case with high resonance arm-tubes and lower quality bearings. However, listening soon shows up that there is absolutely no bearing chatter in any of our arms – in fact, resonance in our arms is so minimal that it’s extremely difficult to measure in terms of amplitude or deflection.

Minimising Ripple Effects

Another factor which indicates “floating” the arm tube to be a good idea is that uni-pivots and knife-edge bearings work on this principle. Vibration transmits through the surface which supports the tonearm in various ways. Most significant is “rippling” – not just a simple 1 or 2 dimensional movement as some imagine. Ripple exerts twist or angular force into the structure.

The mechanism of ripple is seen dramatically with very fast frame photography taken inside ships undergoing underwater explosive shock. When a mine explodes under a ship, the inside becomes a death-trap of flying fittings that have become detached due to the underwater shock wave. Anything attached to a side wall or part of the ship structure detaches at speeds of up to 600Km/hour. The reason this happens is due to the shock waves setting up ripple in the ship structure and side walls.

In the micro-vibration that occurs in analogue replay, ripple effects are very important. Uni-pivots are rigidly grounded in one sense but decoupled completely from ripple effects. However (and it is a big “however”) they cannot hold the cartridge well against torsion exerted by bass notes. Widely spaced conventional bearings reduce ripple effects as do floated bearings. However, they have the added benefit of holding the cartridge rigidly, resulting in a more dynamic bass performance.

Low Friction Bearings

The Silver tonearm and upwards use special low friction bearings that improve in specification right up to the ceramic bearings used in the Conqueror. Long and intensive research has been invested in bearing design as it plays a very significant role in sound quality. The influence of bearing friction is surprising and can only be put down to the fact that it not only allows improved tonearm tracking but more importantly minimises environmental vibration from affecting the arm. This effect can be likened to putting the tonearm on ice. The ice can ripple, but due to low friction and inertia, the tonearm is affected much less in terms of vibration and motion.

Excellent Conductivity

The quality of cable required to transmit the extremely low level of signals generated by cartridges needs to be of the highest calibre. Origin Live has invested exhaustive research into this critical area over many years and has developed the best sounding cables possible.

Dual Pivot Design on Higher Arms in the Range

Dual pivot combines the virtues of ultra low friction uni-pivots with the stability of conventional gimbal bearings without any of the drawbacks. The pivot points are made from a special grade of Tungsten which sit in hardened steel cups. Jewelled bearings were rejected as they are prone to shatter and proved too fragile with no real sonic advantages. The bearings controlling horizontal movement are a low friction design specified by Origin Live.

Carbon Hybrid Tube (Higher Range Arms Only)

The armtube uses a special carbon fibre construction combined with Ebony and expensive metal alloys. Carbon fibre is both strong and inert. However, even the most inert materials still have “tone,” and the only way to further reduce resonance is to combine other materials into the mix.

This principle is best illustrated by the legendary “Stradivarius” violin. Stradivarius found that particular types of wood in special combinations, made all the difference in the world to the sound produced. The same principles of endless testing with pitch-perfect hearing have been conducted over many years to refine Origin Live arm designs – the only difference being that resonance is being eliminated rather than created.

VTA Adjustment

All arms include built-in VTA adjustment – arms from Encounter and upwards have the advantage that this adjustment can be carried out from on top of the armboard. Lower arms in the range require accessing the underside of the armboard to tighten the clamping nut.

Azimuth Adjustment

Correct azimuth is set at the factory using highly accurate jigs. However, cartridges are not always manufactured to super fine tolerances and therefore some people like the ability to adjust azimuth themselves. We provide this facility on all our upper arms from Encounter and above.

Tonearm Effective Mass and Cartridge Matching

To minimise vibration it is often recommended to match the tonearm effective mass to the stylus compliance. However, in practice, matching the arm effective mass is nowhere near as important as very low resonance and structural integrity within the arm itself. Yes, compliance matching can help in badly behaved arms but with a well-designed arm, it’s of such low significance that it can be ignored.