Fully Modded Origin Live OL1 or Stock Rega RB-600?


Wondering if the OL1 with structural mod, full external and internal re-wire and upgraded RCA's would be better than a stock RB-600. This is not the Origin Live Silver; it's basically a heavily modded RB-250. Will have a Dynavector 20xL mounted on either arm on a P-25.

It's counterintuitive to me to go backwards in the Rega line and gain an improvement, especially going from a $700msrp arm to a $575msrp arm, but who knows. OL says the OL1 will outperform a RB900 but, of course, they're trying to sell tonearms!

I can get a great deal on the OL1 ($375 - normally $575) but I don't want to waste the money if it's not going to be a significant improvement over the stock RB-600.
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Showing 2 responses by rockinroni


Thanks for that great link, really cool site and I really liked the review. Here is my take on it.

Well if you read the review all the way to the end, it says you really need to have the OL silver's tonearm wires burnt in, also they were using the George Wright Phono.

I remeber in the may/June 2002 issue of Listener, in the review of the George Wright pp100c by Pete Breqninger he states
"if you end up buying a pp100c consider a step-up tranny mandatory"

Maybe this had something to do with their first impressions. It also really got me to thinking about what they said on the last page about using a step-up tranny into a mm as the only way to go. I remeber when I was doing that sound was really good.

Here is a copy of the last part of the review where the Silver shines.

"For phono amplification, Terry was using a big underground favorite known for its giant-killing performance: The George Wright-designed and -built vacuum tube phono preamplifier. When I got to Terry's place, his Teres turntable was sitting idle and music was playing through one of Vincent Sanders' computer hard-drive digital powerhouses to warm up the system. Terry's system has it all: Beautiful tone, great dynamics and a very musical yet detailed presentation.

Then we dropped the needle on one of the many LPs we would spin that day and heard pretty much what Pete and I had heard with the burned-in Origin Live Silver in my system - good but not great. "Hey Terry," said I, "Whaddya say we drop in the Aud 23 step-up tranny and see what happens?" "Sounds like an idea," said he. So we did and dropped the needle again. "Whoa!" said I. "Whoa!" Terry tossed right back at moi. All of a sudden everything that had troubled me about the Origin Live Silver arm vanished. In its place was one of the most stunning portrayals of the analogue kingdom I have ever heard - breathtaking! The vocal sheen and sibilance were gone and in its place was real flesh-and-blood vocal magic. The arm now conveyed music that was warmer, darker and fuller without losing any of the detail and snappiness that made it so engaging in my system. The notes became more liquid and fragrant too. Fed by the Auditorium 23 to amplify the Denon 103, I couldn't find a nit to pick with the Origin Live Silver arm. It was a beautifully emotive as well as a great-sounding presentation of the music. If you have a Denon 103 and a low-gain phono preamplifier, you should run out and get an Auditorium 23 tranny right now! Don't even think about it - just do it! Terry and I ended up spinning disks all day and never got around to getting the second armboard mounted."




Tom,
If these guys don't know about your mod, then the need to hear about it.

Secondly, when they review a component, IMHO the reviewer should review the component in stock form, unless reviewing a mod.

I know I am not sharing anything new here, but thought it might explain why "if" they know about your mod, it was not mentioned.

I can't wait till next month when he listens to the Fi phono stage and Auditorium 23 step-up tranny. I did a search for this step-up and found nothing. I even took the link provided and the tranny is not listed. I will just wait till next month to get more info.

I have a question for you Tom, how do you attach your mod to the new silver arm?

Peace
Ron