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ORIGIN LIVE PHONO STAGE MANUAL
**** IMPORTANT - Plug the 5 pin plug from the power supply into the phono stage BEFORE
you plug in the power supply box to the mains or damage can occasionaly occure.
Introduction
Thank you for your purchase of the Origin Live Phono Stage.
This high-end, stand alone phono pre-amplifier is meticulously
designed and packed with innovative thinking that places it
well ahead of the rest of the field.
You should expect unrivalled sonic qualities, with low noise,
and high performance through this unique and ground
breaking phono pre-amplifier. At least a month is required
to run the electronics in to obtain best performance. Most of
the gains are experienced in the first few days and then the
improvements are more gradual. This process takes place all
the time that the phono stage is powered up so leave it on
- you do not need to play records for running in although this
speeds things up.
Please read these instructions to ensure that you get the most
from your investment and avoid any equipment damage. Pay
special attention to underlined text.
W A R N I N G S & S A F E T Y
Do not open the phono stage box. You will not get it back
together again properly as the fit up is complex. THERE ARE
NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS OR FUSES INSIDE the
boxes.
To reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose to
rain or moisture.
Clean only with a dry cloth. Do not place flammable material
on top of or beneath the component.
If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an
electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.
Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched.
Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused
for long periods of time.
Lower the volume to zero or turn off all systems’ power
before connecting the Origin Live phono stage to any other
component.
If repair is necessary please contact your authorized dealer,
distributor, or Origin Live.
I N S T A L L A T I O N
First think about the location for your Phono stage. Keep it
away from strong magnetic fields such as those produced by
transformers in other equipment, particularly power amplifiers.
This is necessary due to the very high sensitivity of the phono
stage which amplifies low level electromagnetic signal.
Plug the 5 din pin plug from the power supply into the phono
stage BEFORE you plug in the power supply box to the mains.
Once this is done, you can connect it to the mains wall
socket. We recommend you try this first and avoid any mains
conditioners you may have.
Use high quality interconnects between the phono stage and
your pre-amplifier or integrated amplifier - the Origin Live
interconnect range are ideal for this purpose - the shorter the
better - around 1m is ideal. It is best to leave the Phono Stage
powered at all times. Once powered, the front panel blue LED
should be lit. Initially set the front panel gain control to the
lowest setting - i.e. fully anti-clockwise.
Connecting your tonearm
Next connect the tonearm cables to the phono stage.
Turntables typically have a pair of RCA style connections that
should be plugged directly into the Phono Stage inputs. Most
arms have a separate ground wire and this should be connected
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to the rear panel binding post labelled with the earth symbol
as in the rear panel illustration. If your arm does not have a
separate ground wire, it may be advisable to run a separate wire
from a metallic point on the arm to this terminal. Cartridges
are very sensitive to hum and grounding can help lower this
- if you look at our web site under “support” then “technical
support” then “tonearms”, there is a lengthy section on how to
solve hum problems.
Connecting to your amplification
Both balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) outputs are
available and can be used either separately or together for a
dual feed if you like. Do not connect the phono outputs into a
phono input on your amplifier or it will overload the amp and
can cause damage. Instead, connect the phono stage output
interconnects to any high level input on your amp, such as
CD, Tuner, aux, tape inputs etc.
Once the Phono Stage has been connected to both the
turntable and pre-amp or integrated amplifier, reduce the
volume setting to zero and plug in the phono stage power
supply to the mains.
Changing the gain setting switch on the phono stage can send
thumps through the system, so it is best to always reduce your
amp volume setting to zero when changing this setting.
Depending on the type of cartridge you are using, moving
coil or moving magnet, set the gain and impedance settings as
follows.
Resistance - Many moving coil cartridges sound best with
Resistance at 10 ohms however you should also try 33, 100 &
470. Increasing resistance can tend to give a harder sound and
increased sensitivity (i.e. volume).
Raising the resistance increases the high frequency output
of the coil. Many moving coil cartridges will sound bright
at the higher resistance settings and so require either a lower
resistance setting or careful adjustment of the VTA (vertical
tracking angle) of the turntable to reduce the brightness.
Lowering the base of the arm tends to produce a less bright
sound.
Capacitance - Most moving coil cartridges sound best with
capacitance at 47nF however you can try 100pF, 330pF &
1nF.
Gain - Moving coil cartridges have differing outputs - there
is no “right” setting for gain as it is a balancing act between
cartridge output and your amp quality. The optimum setting
will only be arrived at by listening. When doing comparisons
always make sure you adjust your amp volume such that
the speaker volume is the same in all listening comparisons.
You need to adjust this as the volume will increase as the
gain setting is increased towards the MC high setting. In
our estimation it is usually best to use the MC high setting
as this gives you the maximum benefit of the high quality
amplification in the phono stage.
If the sound is occasionally strained or distorted on loud peaks,
it is likely you have selected too much gain.
Moving magnet cartridge settings
For all moving magnet cartridges and high output moving coils
set Resistance to 47K, Capacitance to 0, Gain to MM high. This
usually delivers best performance but occasionally gain set at “MM
low” can be used for amplifiers that are easily overloaded on their
inputs. Always reduce volume to zero when switching gain and then
re-adjust the volume.
Moving coil cartridge settings
For moving coil cartridges it is best to set the variable switches
by listening to the results of different settings - the following
comments should prove helpful
The bass setting switch
The bass gain can be adjusted slightly to cater for various room
acoustics. The zero setting gives a flat output response from the
phono stage. The minus figures reduce bass output and the positive
figures increase it. The best setting for your room can be arrived at as
usual by careful listening at the various settings.
Once again, thank you for choosing Origin Live and we wish you
many hours of enjoyable listening.
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