Origin Live MK3C arms dual pivot User Manual
***essential reading***
Instructions for
MK3C - Encounter , illustrious & Conqueror
INSTRUCTIONS BY ORIGIN LIVE 10/2011 ©
PLEASE NOTE: The sound of new arms
and rewires will improve signifi cantly over the
fi rst 2 weeks as items bed down and arm wires
burn in.
Introduction
Thank you for ordering from Origin Live. We trust you will enjoy
getting closer to the original sound and appreciating your music in
a new way.
Please give special attention to underlined text in these
instructions. First of all, note that it may seem there is “play”
in the bearings - this is a design feature and bearing tension
should not be altered or degradation will result - The bearings
on the vertical axle are high quality, however the vertical bearing
house is carefully dimensioned to allow a slightly loose fi t, thus
“fl oating” the arm rather than rigidly coupling it to the deck.
Mounting the arm
If possible, refer also to the mounting instructions from your
turntable manufacturer.
Arm mounting methods vary depending on the make of your
turntable. This section caters for various scenarios.
Mounting hole dimensions
Some decks come with an arm hole position specifi caly set up
for arms with “ Rega “ geometry. If this is not the case with
your deck, then Origin Live arms require centre of platter,
to centre of arm hole, to be approx 223mm (222.7 precise )
plus or minus 2mm tolerance. The hole diameter for the arm
is 23mm to 25 mm (23mm will accept the arm but not a
threaded vta adjuster.
arm to fi t, please refer to our web site FAQ (frequently asked
questions) in the tonearm section.
Mount the arm in the armboard as shown in the illustration
below. You can raise the arm height to approximately the right
level using vta wheel for fi ne adjustment.
24 - 25mm ARMBOARD HOLE WITH VTA
ADJUSTER
GRUB SCREW POSITION
IS HORIZONTAL
THREADED VTA ADJUSTER
Do not t normaly
ARM
CORK WASHER
THREADED ARM BASE
If you have the Origin Live threaded VTA adjuster, this should
be threaded onto the tonearms base post BEFORE you fi t it
through armboard (VTA adjuster fl ange on top). You can
later adjust the height of the arm by adjusting the turns of the
threaded vta adjuster
ARM MOUNT SURFACE
LARGE CLAMPING NUT
A threaded VTA adjuster should not be needed except in very
rare instances where the integral VTA adjuster wheel cannot
raise the arm high enough. If a threaded VTA adjuster is
needed as a last resort to raise the arm then the hole must be
24 - 25mm).
If you need to modify your existing armboard to enable an
As a rule of thumb you will fi nd the best tension on the nut is
just a little more than fi nger tight. Just tighten to fi nger tight and
use a spanner, pliers or molegrips to “nip” the nut a tiny fraction
tight, Do not overtighten the arm as it is counterproductive..
Page1
Understanding dual Pivot
Your Origin Live arm has innovative bearings. is is best
explained before going any further.
Dual pivot bearing design – why?
One of the many reasons that the Origin Live arms are
performance leaders is due to the dual pivot bearing,
on the horizontal axle (which governs the arms vertical
movement). e design is similar in many respects to
uni-pivot – low friction and high decoupling which give
excellent de nition and transparency. However unipivots can be ddly to set up and because of their relative
instability exhibit a mediocre bass performance. Dual
pivots have all the advantages of uni-pivots but none of
the drawbacks. Vertical movement of the arm is handled
by the dual pivot and horizontal movement by our usual
highly speci ed conventional bearings.
already been set, such that the headshell is parallel to the
arm mounting surface. We strongly recommend that you
never adjust the factory setting without our permission, as
this will invalidate the warranty. Correct azimuth setting
is tricky at the best of times and unless an extremely
careful record is kept on the original factory settings the
arm will probably end up not working correctly.
How dual pivot works
e below illustration of the dual pivot bearing shows
how the horizontal axle is free to move a little in all
directions except downwards. is may be a little
disconcerting until you become con dent of the inherent
performance virtues delivered by this approach. It is also
reassuring to know that the arm cannot be knocked o it’s
bearings or come loose in any way. You can turn the arm
upside down and nothing will fall o as it would in the
case of a uni-pivot!
Floating bearings for horizontal rotation
ere is a certain amount of “rocking movement” on
the yoke vertical axis. Some people mistake this for poor
bearing t but this is far from the case. Whilst most
arms use “rigid” bearing ts, Origin Live is unique in
employing a “ oating” bearing design - this is actauly
much harder to engineer and does not cause alignment
errors as the bearings are self centering and factory
settings of the headshell take account of this.
Handles like a conventional gimballed
arm
You should handle the arm in exactly the same way as a
conventional gimballed arm. In other words you do not
need to worry about setting up azimuth. e azimuth has
SPIKE CLAMPING SCREW
Do not touch
e pivot bearings are designed to reduce friction to an
absolute minimum. In doing this there is a ne balance to
achieve both a robust design whilst maintaining extremely
low friction. In practice, the arm must have a slight degree
of movement due to a sharp tungsten point in a shallow
radiused bearing cup. e alternative to this is a very
sharp point in a deep v shaped cup – this would certainly
restrain the movement of the point but would also
increase friction and potential fracture of the tips.
e pivot points will “self centre” by sliding into the
bottom of the bearing cup. However the nal resting
place of the point may vary by 0.01mm or so. is would
not be noticed without the use of a very accurate digital
stylus force gauge.
As the pivot position shifts fractionally it can cause the
tracking force to vary slightly, by around +0.06 grams
THREADED SPIKE
YOKE BARREL
PILLAR
CLAMPING
SCREW
Do not
touch
END CAP
PILLAR CUP BEARING
Page2
from an average reading. In practice this has no e ect
on performance and is also common among certain
unipivot designs with very low friction bearings.
force should be consistently accurate to within plus or
minus 0.06 grams from the average (i.e = 0.12 gram
total variation). Higher deviations indicate that the
bearing might be damaged or incorrectly adjusted.
Connecting the arm
FIT THE ARM CABLE CLIP
For best performance the arm cable should be
supported by a cable clip screwed into position
underneath the plinth - leave a slight droop on it so
that it isn’t “tight”. Clipping the arm helps prevent
vibration feeding into the arm.
CONNECT THE ARM TO YOUR PHONO
STAGE / AMPLIFIER
e bullet phono plugs are usually a very tight t to
your phono stage sockets. To avoid possible damage
to your ampli er sockets, the manufacturers advise
that you should heat the bullet plugs with a hair dryer
(or similar) to soften them slightly till they t easily
onto your phono stage / ampli er phono sockets.
Once tted, you do not need to reheat the plugs in
future as they will maintain the correct tightness.
e earth lead should be connected to the earth of
your phono stage, pre-ampli er or ampli er. is
earth lead is best separated slightly from the arm
signal leads so do not wind it around them for best
performance. Avoid pulling the external wires at the
base of the arm as they are not indestructible and
can become detached if excessive force is used to
manipulate them.
e bearing freedom of movement should be checked
by measuring the stylus down force over a succession
of 10 or so movements of the arm into the arm clip
and then onto a stylus force gauge. e force gauge
should read consistently to within plus or minus 0.06
grams from an average over the 10 measurements if
all is well.
It is best to use a digital force gauge for this as a
“balance” type can give inconsistent readings with
errors of up to 0.5 grams .
TRANSIT BOLTS WITH NYLON
WASHERS UNDERNEATH
Remove and keep for future use
If you have XLR plugs, you will not get both plugs
through the mounting hole for the arm. e hole is
too small to allow the 2nd plug to go through as the
1st cable wire takes up space.
For this reason we normaly t only one XLR plug
and leave you to t the other. Full instructions on
how to t the other XLR are available on our web site
- see top navigation bar, click “general information”
then “technical support” on the drop down list.
Making the dual points
operational
e transit bolts shown in illustration are critical,
to prevent damage to the bearing points in transit.
Gently remove these to make the arm operational.
Keep the bolts and nylon washers in a safe place.
ese MUST be replaced whenever you send the
arm by post or courier as the boxes can get severely
thrown around. Damage to the points occurs, unless
the transit bolts are in place.
DO NOT TAMPER WITH ANY OF THE GRUB
SCREWS IN THE YOKE - ese are precisely set up
at factory and any interference will probably end up
with damage to the pivot points or bearings that don’t
work properly.
CHECK THAT ALL IS WELL - e stylus down
Page3
Loading...