Analog Gear News

Here’s an instance where the concept of “trickle down” is a positive thing across the board. Today, February 13, 2025, noted British manufacturer Origin Live announces their new MkV tonearm range, which promises “significant trickle-down tech” from their high-end tonearm designs.

In a press statement, company founder Mark Baker confirmed that “we’re trickling down a multi-layer counterweight [a.k.a. MLC] from our flagship designs, and also implementing some major developments we’ve been working on since Mk4 [tonearms].” (Origin Live’s Mk4 arms were first introduced about four years ago.)

That multi-layer counterweight is now included as standard, starting from the Origin Live Illustrious Mk4 tonearm (£2,340) and upwards. Trickled down from OL’s Agile (£10,500) and Renown (£26,000) tonearms, the MLC’s multiple layers are said to absorb and diffuse vibration traveling along the arm tube, and part of its weight is placed on an outrigger that positions mass underneath the pivot. This is done to give more stability in busy/dynamic vinyl passages that put more strain on the pivot.

According to Baker, “the stable nature of the dual-pivot also allows the pivot to be mass-bearing, which has a significant impact on the control over the arm’s inertia.” MkV MLCs can also be retrofitted to Mk4 arms.

Origin Live attaches the MLC to the rear sleeve in order to make large adjustments in tracking force easier to set and fix, and the fine adjuster on the multi-layer counterweight is also said to allow for a “much greater” fine-adjustment range.

OL’s newly developed arm tube treatment was intended to increase transparency and separation. While the company did not disclose specific details of said treatment, they did confirm that it is “neither rubber nor foam,” and that it “avoids overdamping while effectively minimizing residual vibration.” (This treatment has been included in all Origin Live tonearms produced since September 1, 2024.)

Additionally, the cable-housing design on OL arms has been refined to reduce cable resistance in order to improve freedom of movement and “aid in performance.”

The official launch of the Origin Live MkV range is scheduled for February 21, 2025, at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show that’s being held in (of course) Bristol, UK, and they will be part of Origin Live’s display in Room 406 on the 4th floor at the Bristol City Centre. (The show itself runs from February 21-23, 2025.)

For more about Origin Live, go here.
To find an authorized Origin Live dealer, go here.