Origin Live

[Hugo1]

I ordered a stylus pressure gauge online from Origin Live some weeks back, and received an automated e-mail confirming the order. That's it. Not a squeak since, nor any reply to querying e-mails. I gather that their service has traditionally been a bit 'hit and miss' but I wonder if I'm being impatient.

So, as there doesn't appear to be a poll for Origin Live, here goes!

[Global]

Dang!

Just ordered an armboard from them. Hope it actually turns up.

Certainly true that they do not respond to emails.

I shall vote once I have/have not received my goods.

Mark

[Ianm2]

may take them a while on those boats from china for the gauge

[Greg.]

I'd like to vote but I'm reluctant because in the past I had both good and bad service from OL.

Originally I had a second hand with negligable use converted Rega RB250 they now market as OL1 (bought it from Max N). This was for me a first rate product for the price. I later moved onto the Michell alternative derivative (TecnoArm) which is superior but also dearer.

In the meantime I have worked on an OL Silver (£500?) arm and certainly on a Michell Gyro I was not impressed. It might well be better on another TT.

My real bug-bear was with the £850+ purchace I made a few years back for their top of the range TT which included their expensive PSU and best (at the time) DC motor and PS board. Firstly, in my view the PS parts did not reflect the cost involved. Basically the PS was upgraded from a standard low voltage wall socket unit to something that included a large Danbury Tx. The component board was very basic and the DC motor was seriously lacking in necessary torque. The plinth was obviously constructed to be relatively universal in application and therefore looked substandard. Furthermore, fixing positions were not good. I dealt with this by building my own quality plinth out of Maple wood, with all fixing positions and application holes cut to proper tolerances, so the construction was accurate and also looked good. I got my money back on the original plinth. I also purchased a plinth cover, but was simply a folder section of perspex with two open ends and nothing as professional as supplied by Red-Display featured here. Having completed the new build, I had a continuous problem of a knocking noise only heard between tracks or on very quiet passages. I could not find a solution but in the course of trying to find a cure and in negotiation with OL, I replaced with their good co-operation, every part of the TT to no evail. Eventially it was decided I should attend the factory in order to get to the bottom of the problem. I thought this very promising and made the 160 mile round trip accordingly. On arrival I was immediately deflated when I surveyed the 'Factory'. Every work bench was a total mess covered in machined swarf of various materials. We could find no suitable working space and when we did, it involved sweeping a significant amount of wood and metal swarf to the floor to clear a space. The TT was then placed on this uneven bench and fed into a 1970's Alba (total ****) amp and similar speakers. LP's were produced that were seriously dirty and scratched. There was so much surface noise from them that I advised the fault would never be detectable under these listening conditions. There response was that as the arm was the only part that had not been changed, they'd replace that so I ended up with their latest RB250 version which was certainly a gain (resale value was enhanced), but on return home, the problem persisted.

The outcome was that with my original deal with them now being over a year old, they still refunded all my money for the return of the the TT kit. Furthermore, Mark Baker payed me £50 for the Maple plinth I had constructed which for a while he himself used in his marketing demonstrations and published advertising photographs. I also supplied them with a template to make an armboard to fit a Linn deck for a Rega arm and I believe this is what Mark still uses today for that purpose.

I have also had the priviledge of visiting the Michell factory. In contrast this was a totally tidy and clean working environment as one would expect from a quality engineering company. The contrast was very diverse and OL seriously didn't make the grade.

Having said all that, this was several years ago and OL might have changed. I don't know. My personal view is that their arms are worth considering as I know of several happy owners, albeit I have reservations about the 'Silver'. I have no idea how good their current crop of TT kits perform and although they are endorsed by David Price of HFW, I've never understood his relationship with Mark Baker and retain a jaundiced view on most of his reviews of OL products.

The reason for my reluctance to vote is that although I had a bad experience with an OL product, Mark Baker could not have been fairer with me on how he managed the situation and in the end, refunded me without any difficulty. That refunding financed my move to Michell. I've moved on from there again but that's another story.

Best wishes,

Greg

[Hugo1]

Well, the gauge arrived today. Slow service and no communication, but they get there in the end.

[Global]

My Technics armboard arrived today!

Rapid service and no communication needed.

It's probably all down to their stock position.

FWIW I will give them a thumbs up with a caveat.

Mark

[Stratmangler]

I have used them twice to supply replacement styli for my DNM Reson Reca, and so far have no complaints, other than the lack of communication.

First time around the item arrived on the second day after order, so no problems there.

Second time around I phoned them up (2nd January this year) and spoke with Mark Baker and ordered the item.
Mark commented about the folks at Virtual Reality being beggars to get hold of (not the first time I've heard rhat one - I've had other dealers make the same comment to me).

I called OL yesterday to see how the order was coming on - success, the item was being despatched and should be with me in the morning.
The stylus has indeed been delivered this morning and I am one very happy bunny - cartridge reinstalled and new stylus fitted.

From my experience I'd give OL 9/10 - it would be nice if they gave their customers a call to advise as to the status of their order.

Chris

[IslandPink]

I had a number of small quality-control issues on the Illustrious arm , but communication was generally good, and service turn-around time was good if not super-quick . Mark Baker was generally curt ( businesslike) on phone or e-mail, but I suspect he's very busy, possibly firefighting a number of issues all the time !

Cautious thumbs-up I'd say . The top arms are very good and the finish has improved enormously from the early RB250-derived ones .

Mark

[Dave_The_Vinyl_Junkie]

Likewise with my Illustrious - it wasn't quite central in the bearing housing so had to get it realigned, and i've also had to re-solder two of the cartridge clips because they fell off. Sound from the Illustrious is superb, though - it just gets out of the way, and works equally well with the Music Maker and Koetsu - two carts that have very differing requirements.

The jury is still out on the Sovereign turntable - I haven't yet been able to quite hit that organic quality that I heard when I auditioned it. I need to play around more with the setup. And the comparison with the Slatedeck will be interesting.

[freefallrob]

Recommended.

I have had no problems at all with them. Years ago I had one of the first DC motor mods, okay it wasn't cheap, but it fitted easily and was an improvement and has been totally reliable.

I've had an OL1 arm with stub mod, no probs with that, quick delivery. VTA adjuster, same result ( still awkward to adjust though ), finally I had the OL1 fully modded with superb sonic results, the Technics arm board was good too, again good comms ( by phone ) and quick turnaround.