Aurora & Calypso MK3
Turntable Manual
*** NOTE : Final Speed must be
reset accurately after 1 day of
continuous running at 33rpm ***
It cannot be overstated that it is VERY
important to read these instructions
to really get the best out of your
deck. There are details that are
remarkably+ counter intuitive.
Arm shown is not included
PLINTH
PLATTER
SUB-CHASSIS
MOTOR POD
Introduction
Congratulations and thank you for choosing an Origin
Live turntable. This should give many years of
enjoyment, reliability and low maintenance.
It's critical that these instructions are read fully to
achieve best performance. Underlined text is especially
important.
The instructions are written for owners with no previous
experience, however there are aspects of the deck that
run contrary to expectations, so experts should not alter
anything without absorbing these instructions first.
Diagrams cover 3 different turntables so are for guidance
not exact representation.
Origin Live turntables are simple to set up. The
instructions appear lengthy because they give proper
explanation of factors that are different to conventional
set ups. If you have a problem not covered in the
instructions - you should speak to your dealer or refer to
technical support on the Origin Live web site
www.originlive.com - See top navigation bar “ support”.
There is a wealth of 3rd party information online.
YouTube videos are particularly helpful on how to set up
cartridges and tonearms should you need more help –
Just Google what you need to know.
Keep the turntable packing box for secure future
transport.
Safety Warnings
Voltages inside the wallwort or Upgrade transformer
(optional) are dangerous so they must not be opened.
The output wires from the transformers carry a very low
voltage and are therefore safe to handle, as are all
components inside the motor pod.
Never use the transformer on equipment other than the
turntable or irreparable damage may occur.
Ensure Mains lead to the Upgrade transformer cannot be
pierced by spikes or similar abuse. Also ensure the leads
cannot cause anyone to trip.
Keep transformer and leads away from areas where
liquids could spill on them.
Parts list
Plinth & Sub-chassis - including 1 cable clip with nut
& bolt.
Bag of parts
Cork washer for arm
4mm black acrylic spacing washer for arm (white
protective film to be removed)
Oil bottle
screwdriver
2.5mm allen key for arm clip
4mm Allen key
8mm A/F spanner – (12 inch arms only)
Platter
Upgrade platter mat
1 Belt + Spindle for platter + Strobe card
Motor pod
Wallwart
Fully balanced pgrade transformer for 230 volt or 110
volt mains supply (Optional)
Owner manual, assembly sheet, Packing instructions
Set up & operation
Subchassis for 12 inch tonearms need to be
assembled to Plinth
Fit the 12 inch sub-chassis version to the deck as per
instruction sheet at the beginning of this booklet.
Note the above diagram is for guidance only – it's not an
exact representation
Fit the platter
Oil the bearing
Run 7 drops of the oil supplied into the top of the
bearing house. The spindle will appear a loose fit in the
bearing house until the oil is added. Do not use anything
other than Origin Live oil for performance reasons.
Insert the spindle
Inserting the spindle into the bearing house needs
attention as careless handling can damage the bearing
surfaces. Wipe the spindle surface first to ensure that it's
absolutely clean and very gently insert it into the bearing
house. If the oil does not overflow when the spindle
touches the bottom then try 2 more drops repeatedly till
you achieve overflow. Overflow can only be seen by
looking at the top of the bearing house with the spindle
inserted. You should notice an oil ridge around the
spindle – see diagram below.
Wipe away excessive overflow at the top of the bearing
house but be careful to leave oil clinging to the spindle
as you need the top of the bearing to be lubricated by oil
overflow and things like tissue paper can suck this area
dry by capillary action. You should spin the spindle
slowly after it has settled into the bearing to ensure even
distribution of oil.
Note that when you oil the bearing, you can get a false
impression of overflow if the spindle has oil on it - the
oil simply scrapes off as the bearing slides in and ends
up on the top of the bearing house. You can “feel”
overflow when you insert the spindle and it meets
resistance at the bottom. This is not a “thud” of the
spindle hitting the bottom but rather a build up of
pressure as the bearing lands on a bed of oil. By further
pressing, you can then see the oil being squeezed out at
the top.
Ensure the spindle tapered mating surface is absolutely
clean before assembly. Place the platter on the spindle
and finally add the platter mat.
Notes on bearing:
For lowest friction, the oil film has a significant depth of
“float” so an almost imperceptible platter movement is
inevitable. Small low frequency deviations of this nature
are insignificant to performance.
All platters are rigorously checked for level spinning up
to 45rpm - if you notice significant platter flutter once
the belt is fitted, then remove the platter and clean taper
surfaces. Refit it till it sits true. It may help to rotate the
platter slighty before refitting so that it's at a different
orientation.
Do not spin the platter faster than 45rpm as the bearing
relies on a high precision oil film designed for optimal
sound quality within a specific speed range. At higher
than normal running speeds there will be slight platter
flutter.
Adjust deck feet
No foot should be tightened fully onto the plinth as
performance is best when the foot sits on the thread
alone.
Set the plinth height by rotating the 3 adjustable feet. It
helps to lift the deck slightly for access to each foot in
turn.
To set the plinth height correctly, place the motor pod
just beside the platter as shown below.
REAR METAL THREADED FOOT
PLASTIC THREADED FEET
CABLE CLIP
Correct height description
Set plinth height using the adjustable feet, to give the
platter 1 to 7mm clearance between the top of the motor
pod screws and the underside of the platter as shown
below.
Level the deck using platter as reference
For accurate levelling place a bubble gauge on the
platter. Now adjust the feet till the armboard is level.
Position motor pod & fit belt
Power up
Plug the Wallwort transformer or larger fully balanced
transformer directly into a mains plug. We suggest
omitting mains conditioners, filters or anything with
surge protection as these can be highly detrimental for
performance. The aforementioned items inflict no
damage so you can experiment with their inclusion if
you wish.
Ensure items such as power amps or power supplies with
strong electromagnetic fields are kept away from the
motor pod (i.e not directly underneath or alongside).
Insert the jack plug of the transformer output cable into
the motor pod’s largest side hole at the rear.
Motor Pod position
Move the pod into position as shown below. The pod and
pod cable should not touch the plinth so rotate the pod if
necessary. Check the pulley to platter distance is initially
217mm or slightly more.
Fit the belt over the platter first and then pull it over the
motor pulley taking care not to twist it.
To set belt tension, simply move the pod.
As a rough guide, centre of platter spindle to centre of
motor pulley should be between 217 - 227mm. Note Low belt tension can result in slight platter flutter but for
a new belt start at 217mm.
The belt initially stretches slightly during the first hours
of use so leave final tension adjustment till 48 hours
have passed.
Final positioning of motor pod
To set correct belt tension finally, lift the belt off the
pulley and let it lose it’s tension almost completely
whilst still holding it gently - With no tension
whatsoever in the belt it should be approx 7mm off the
nearside of the motor pulley (flange edge) as per
diagram below. Move the pod till the pulley is this
distance from the belt, then stretch the belt to fit over the
pulley.
Check belt rides correctly
Rotate the platter by hand for a couple of turns and
check that the belt still sits between the 2 flanges of the
pulley. If this is not the case and it has ridden up onto a
flange push the belt back onto the crown (Curved portion
between the flanges) and turn the platter. Check the belt
remains on the crown.
People comment that the plastic pulley looks cheap However it's made from a special plastic which sounds
better than metal and is notably more expensive to
machine.
Controlling the motor & speed
Note that belt grip varies according to the way it's fitted.
This means the deck will run at a slightly different speed
if you refit the belt inside out or upside down from
previously. Therefore when removing and refitting the
belt take care to replace it with the same side in contact
with the running surfaces.
You will need to set the motor speed yourself. In the first
24 hours of continuous running the motor, the speed
tends to drift but then settles down permanently. You can
listen to the deck from the outset but remember to reset
the speed after the 24 hour run in period and then check
again after a week or so.
Initially motors may be a little noisy but soon settle
down within a couple of days continuous running. Do
not run at over 78rpm as this can harm the brushes over
prolonged periods.
Fine Tuning Motor screws
It should not be necessary but you can fine tune the
motor mount to give minimum noise by adjusting the
tightness of the 3 screws next to the motor pulleyfor
minimal tension - “just nipped” on the small rubber O
ring. Always check that the motor pulley is
approximately vertical and that the belt runs clear above
the bottom flange as per earlier diagram.
Motor “running in” should be carried out with platter
turning (no faster than 45rpm).
Control knob operation
The motor is “off” when the speed control knob on the
pod is turned fully anti-clockwise and the indent on the
knob aligns to the LED.
Turn the knob one click clockwise to turn the motor on
at 33.3 rpm - The second click clockwise is 45rpm
Operating the strobe
Place the strobe disc on the record to be played. The
strobe rings are labelled on the centre of the disc for
speed and mains frequency.
When setting speed, place the arm on the centre track of
a record, so that the cartridge is tracking the grooves.
This ensures that the drag of the cartridge is taken into
account. Speed variations of up to plus or minus 1% are
quite common on decks and the dc motor is capable of
plus or minus 0.1% accuracy.
MOTOR POD
PULLEY
33 rpm Speed adjuster
POWER
INPUT
LED
45 rpm Speed adjuster
SPEED CONTROL KNOB
Use correct lighting
You can see the strobe effect best in fluorescent light,
although an ordinary bulb held about 2 feet from the
strobe disc will also work fine. The bulb flickers at 50
Hz in the EEC and 60 Hz in the USA.
You can purchase bayonet fitting fluorescent or halogen
bulbs to fit normal lamps. Try to shut out daylight when
carrying out speed setting. Also be aware that energy
saving lighting with switch mode high frequency power
supplies or certain energy saving bulbs will not work
with the strobe disc.
Reading the strobe
As you play the record. watch the relevant ring on the
strobe disc. Adjust the speed as described in next subheading until marks on the ring concerned appear
stationary. It sometimes helps to stare the strobe but
focus your eyes on infinity.
Alternative methods
There are other strobes which are easier to read such as
the KAB strobe which can be found on our web site
under vinyl measurement accessories.
There is also a phone app that you can download for
Android or IOS. You simply then place the phone on the
platter and it reads the speed.
Adjust the 33rpm speed
Set the switch on the pod to the first click i.e. 33 rpm
setting.
Fine adjust the motor speed by inserting a small
screwdriver into the hole indicated on the Motor pod
illustration. This is not easy but you need to locate the
screwdriver blade in the slot of the speed adjuster screw.
It helps to look into the hole to see the “slot” orientation
before inserting the screwdriver.
To increase speed, rotate the screw clockwise a small
fraction of a turn. To decrease speed, rotate in the
opposite direction.
Notes on Trimmer screws
Full speed adjustment takes place over 18 turns of the
trimmer screw but you normally need never adjust by
more than half a turn.
If the screw reaches the end of it’s travel you can usually
hear a faint clicking. You will not damage the speed
trimmer by over turning, as slippage occurs. Neither will
the trimmer screw fall out. The trimmer screws are
adjusted at factory to give approximately the right speed,
so you need only fine adjust.
Adjust the 45 rpm speed
Click the speed control knob to the 2nd click clockwise.
Now set 45rpm speed (or 78 rpm if you wish) by
inserting the screwdriver in the 2nd hole indicated on
motor pod diagram and use the same procedure as for
33rpm.
Notes on Belt & Motor running
Motor Tilt
Check that the belt rides clear of the flanges – nearly
touching is OK but if the belt sinks down to touch the
flange you need to either increase belt tension slightly or
adjust the tilt of the motor by turning the small crosshead
motor mounting screw positioned nearest the platter.
Motor Noise
DC motors are often slightly noisy initially and never
completely silent in comparison to a/c motors. This may
be due in part to the high conductivity precious metal
brushes. These produce much lower levels of vibration
and hence better performance.
Like most turntable manufacturers we recommend you
leave the turntable running between changing records as
this reduces belt wear due to constant stopping and
starting.
Notes on final speed setting:
The motor and main bearing can take at least 4 days to
fully run in and sound it’s best. For this reason it is best
to do a final speed check at the end of this period.
Set final speed only in following conditions
• Motor pod is in it’s final position.
• Room temperature is normal and has been so
for 2 hours or more.
• Transformer and motor pod have been plugged
in for over 1 hour as the circuit takes a while to
warm up.
If you move the pod, you will need to re check the speed
and if necessary correct it, by repositioning the pod till
the speed is correct. Never move the pod beyond the
ideal distances mentioned in “fitting the belt”. This is a
quick operation if you just leave the motor and platter
spinning, as you slide the pod to adjust tension.
Remember to always set speed with the cartridge
dragging on a centre track of a record.
If moving the pod does not achieve correct speed then
use the speed adjuster screws.
Affect of temperature on speed
The speed stability of your deck is excellent once
everything has settled down in a listening session.
Be aware that speed is slightly affected by temperature
variation. However most houses are centrally heated and
maintain temperature without significant variations.
Speed variation due to temperature is due to oil
thickening as the temperature drops. 1 degree centigrade
drop in temperature results in a 0.1% drop in speed ( a 5
degree drop will be 0.5% slow). 0.5% speed drift is
barely noticeable to the average listener so this is not
significant. Rega decks used to run 1% fast all the time
to put things in perspective.
Bearing oil can take 2 hours to reach operating
temperature if the deck is left in a cold room. The air in
the room may warm up quickly but the metal in the
turntable takes a lot longer. For this reason it is not worth
constantly changing speed settings for absolute accuracy.
The ear is more tolerant to music running fast than it is
to slow. For this reason it's best setting the deck to run
very slightly fast at your average room temperature.
Why measurements can be misleading
It's worth explaining that absolute speed accuracy is easy
to achieve at the expense of sound quality. The AC
motors, common to most decks are not prone to speed
drift - however they do inject a great deal of vibration.
This, sadly is never measured in technical reviews or
people would be a lot wiser. The subjective effect of
vibration is highly detrimental to sound quality when
compared to fractional speed drift. For this reason we
prefer to offer superior sound quality rather than the
flawed illusion of technical perfection.
Further to this it's worth adding that we've experimented
with highly sophisticated encoder speed controls (£2000
trade cost) and found that although they hold speed with
unerring accuracy, the sound and dynamics of a more
subtle approach is far superior.
Fit the tonearm
Mounting Origin Live arms
All newer Origin Live arms have built in VTA
adjustment and can be fitted directly to the arm board as
illustrated below.
If you have an older Origin Live or Rega tone-arm which
has a threaded base but no vta adjustment, you can fit a
threaded VTA adjuster. The adjuster must be threaded
onto the base of the arm first and oriented such that the
flange is uppermost.
Insert your arm through the hole in the arm board.
Next fit the cork washer followed by the large clamping
nut as shown in the diagram on this page.
Lastly fit the tone-arm cables through the cable clip on
the underside of the deck. This improves performance
slightly and safeguards the cables from stressing their
joint at the arm base in the event of being “tugged”. The
cables should not be tight but form a gentle loop.
If clamping the cable is undesirable you can omit this
step.
We will cover setting the arm to exactly the correct
height later as you need to do a number of other things
first.
Final setup of tonearm
You should refer to your tone-arm instructions for
detailed set up of the arm and cartridge alignment.
Fit the arm cable clip
Pass the arm cable through the cable clip supplied and
fasten in position with the M5 bolt located in the
threaded hole near the rear foot. Leave a slight droop on
the cable so that it isn’t “tight”. The bolt is helpful to
minimize cable vibration.
Note – Silver Hybrid cable is relatively thick but both
left and right channels will fit trough one of the cable
clips supplied.
Maintaining your deck
Cleaning
It aids performance to clean all running surfaces every 3
months or so with mentholated or surgical spirit but do
not use this on the belt.
Belts should only be cleaned with water as rubber care
products can leave behind a slippery residue.
To clean the deck, use a damp soft lint free cloth and
wipe gently – if you have grease marks etc then you can
use a general-purpose anti-smear, car window cleaner
such as Auto-glym “Fast glass”, but only if necessary.
Wax furniture polish is to be avoided . Do not spray
directly on the turntable as it may clog up the cartridge
internals etc but rather spray onto a soft polishing cloth
and then use it on the turntable. Do not use tissue paper
or kitchen cleaning paper towels as paper is abrasive and
can put faint scratches in the polished surface.
Scratch removal
If minor abrasions occur on the surface, you can remove
them using a proper plastic scratch remover polish such
as “Xerapol” by E.V.I of Germany or “Plastic Clean &
Shine by Novus inc of USA. Avoid Car and other
polishes as they leave light scratching or bloom.
Every 2 Years or so
The deck is not prone to going out of tune:
Check that the sub-chassis curved damper is
tensioned lightly onto the plate every 2 years or so as the
damper can compress a little over time.
Check belt tension is correct using the method
described for final pod positioning. All belts stretch over
the years so the motor pod may need to be moved out
further than the initially specified 227mm maximum.
Depending on your use of the deck, the belt should
ideally be replaced every 2 to 4 years.
Every 3 years
Only use Origin Live oil. Oil should be replaced every 3
to 4 years so you will need to clean out the old oil with a
lint free paper towel or similar wrapped around a thin
rod. When you do this, be sure to also wipe oil off the
spindle as this may contain microscopic contamination
that's not visible.
If you ever withdraw the main spindle you should put a
few drops of oil into the bearing house to compensate for
any possible loss occuring in the withdrawal.
Never tamper with the bolt in the bottom of the bearing
or oil leaks will occur and you will probably not succeed
in re-tightening it.
Alternative Mats?
Many of the mats on the market have been tried on our
platters and do not work so we recommend saving
yourself the expense of trying them.
Troubleshooting
Refer to the Origin Live website > Support > Turntables if you
have any problems
Wrap motor pod in polythene bag then tape ( or
rubber band) round the cardboard tube which has
a slit in it’s side - the tube sits on top of the base
plate, not round it. This is to provide protection
against anything that might knock the end of the
motor shaft as this can cause damage. Note that
the motor pod must be positioned in this corner
of the box where there is the greatest depth i.e
not over the plinth armboard
Place the strobe card and belt in the top of the
motor pod card tube.
WRAP PLINTH IN POLYTHENE BAG BEFORE
LOWERING INTO BOX
VERY IMPORTANT This card and foam peice
must be placed here as
shown to protect platter
and ensure no damage to
sub-chasses
BELT & STROBE CARD PLACED IN MOTOR
POD PACKING
The belt needs to be rolled into a spiral and
placed in a small polythene bag - if loose packed
the belt can get crushed on bends and
permanently deformed.
REPACKING METHOD - Please read carefully and pack exactly as
instructions show.
Place the wall wart transformer here and then place
the bubble bag containing the following items on top
of the transformer
Wrap platter and platter
mat in polythene bag
before placing in foam
cut out
Instruction manual
Bag contains - Cork washer for arm, Oil bottle,
screw driver, 3mm & 2.5mm allen key
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