Features in all MK4 Turntables
Ultra Low Friction Bearing
The MK4 Bearing made in house improves on the already extremely high grade bearing of the MK3, renowned for it’s low friction. The new bearing has ultra low levels of vibration thanks to further development. The spindle rotates on a Tungsten carbide ball bearing centered on a hardened thrust pad for low friction and long life.
Unlike decks which “float” the platter using air or magnetic bearings, we believe “earthing” the energy out of the platter is essential for sound purity. To this end we employ a single low contact bearing tip which acts as the energy transmission point.
Low bearing friction is essential to avoid vibration but even high end turntable bearings seldom achieve this. The problems we often notice are flawed design, imperfect straightness, eccentricity, tolerances, surface finishes and even the use of grease.
Oil
Oil is made to our own specification and upgrades nearly all other brands of deck which use non-inverted full immersion bearings. This is a clear indication of it’s outstanding quality for turntables.
Light Speed Controller
The MK 4 introduces the Light Speed Controller (LSC) on all decks with it’s rock steady speed (better than most direct drives) and improved sonic performance. More on this important feature can be seen below.
Motor
All decks use powerfull, smooth running, Swiss motors. These high grade motors demonstrate the exceptional qualities needed in a good turntable motor such as low cogging, low vibration and ironless cores for elimination of eddy currents which detract from speed stability.
Motors are decoupled using a compliant pad and rubber O rings to minimize vibration and reduce audible noise.
Suspension
All Origin Live Decks use a single point cantilever suspension where the sub-chassis is mounted at a single semi-flexible point to isolate it from vibration.
The unique Origin Live suspension system avoids softening leading edges in music – which is observed in suspended designs and also avoids the hardness noticed in many non-suspended designs. The results are:
- Superior pitch, rythm and timing
- Great musicality which Origin Live products are renowned for (see reviews)
- Rock solid imaging
- Reduced colouration
- Refined presentation of low level information
- Easy to follow separation in the music and vocals
Belt
Surprisingly belt material has a significant influence on sound quality. We use a unique material which dramatically improves on widely used neoprene rubber. This is substantiated by reviewers and clients who use our upgrade belt to upgrade many other brands of belt driven turntables.
The belt is manufactured in house using special material which increases grip and reduces stretch under instantaneous loading – benefits include increased dynamics and deeper bass performance.
Pulley
Instead of the pulley being made from conventional metals and plastics, a well researched special plastic pulley enables maximum belt grip, resulting in increased definition and dynamics over