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Origin DC Motor in LP12: Marketing or reality?

I have asked this before and gotten NO (zero, nada, zilch, bupkis, null...) response. From what I can tell, there is 10 times (100x?) the amount of promotional material as there is personal experience of this upgrade on the internet. I am starting to wonder if they have ever sold any.

My TT is a Linn LP12, with Linn Basik Plus arm and Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood MkII cartridge, and it is fitted with the Valhalla board. I have a great isolation stand that gives me incredibly musical and natural sound and I love this in my system. I do not want to screw up the sound, but I'm willing to try to improve it without spending big bucks. I can afford about $400-600 for a large upgrade at a time, once or twice a year.

Everyone I know who has added a motor drive (Lingo, Walker, Clearaudio, VPI) reports fantastic results, and I have heard it myself on many of those systems.

I have considered, on and off, trying to upgrade with the Origin Live DC Motor Drive, but I can only find about 2-3 professional reviews, and no individual (amateur) critiques, just comments from people who have read about but haven't actually installed one.

Have any of you actually tried this upgrade? Would I get a great improvement over the Valhalla board? How does it compare to a Lingo? What are the pros and the cons?

p.s. Does anyone else notice that there are certain products that are very heavily promoted in this and other sites (classified and dealer), but rarely see comments about someone who bought the product?
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daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,871 posts
 
Got to agree with Linnlp 12, I had a Basik plus mounted on my Valhalla LP12. It is amazing what a pile of -- this arm is. I replaced it with a WTA that simply put was like going from a cheap 80's CD player to a Linn in difference.
Nothing I have tried since has given me a bigger bang for the buck than this upgrade.
BTW, there seems to be much discussion on the web and elsewhere whether the Lingo is in fact an improvement over the Valhalla or whether it imparts a different set of colorations? Many people also have told me that the cirkus mod is also a step backwards. One of the really interesting things about high-end, is that people seem to assume that a mod or a later and more costly itineration is an improvement. Personally, I am not so sure this is absolutely true. Listen for yourself and I have always found that the hype tends to become obvious if it is indeed hype or reality.
jbaussie
52 posts
 
I just installed the motor and it is an improvement in my old one. It is an easy switch, takes about 2 hours and comes with a 30 day return policy. Can't beat that. It also comes with a strobe disc which I did not use to adjust speed (preferring the counting method in the instruction book). I can't address how it will be in your Linn or if it is where you should spend your money but I did it as an after thought and am happy with the results (and I no longer wonder "what if?". It does take awhile to get up to speed and they recommend leaving it running while changing records which suits me but may not you. Of course now I want the better transformer.
rjmag01
1 posts
 
I've just installed the OL ultra power supply and DC 200 motor on my Linn and am using the basic wallwart transformer. I'd like to upgrade the transformer but am balking at the $300+ price.

I understand that the guts of the upgrade unit is a toroid transformer so I'm thinking about building the unit myself. Anyone try a DIY on this before?
stops
56 posts
 
I have had the origin live Advanced Silver with upgraded transformer on my Linn LP12 since 4/06.It has been excellent in terms of reliability. The improvement in sound over the Valhalla was HUGE and I can absolutely recommend it. Installation was a snap. There are pots to tweak the speeds (33, 45) and they remain quite stable after you have run in the motor for a few days.I use a test record I have that has concert "A" on it and a tuning meter (music instruments) to set the speed exactly. Of course a strobe works fine.

Hope this helps.
abucktwoeighty's avatar
abucktwoeighty
1,079 posts
 
Have had my upgrade for 2-3 yrs. now, and the improvement was huge. My experience for the most part mirrors Stops, above. I wish I would have made the change from the Valhalla to the Origin Live sooner! One can never be sure of how much bang for the buck one gets, and I wasn't sure I would get a $600 improvement. I took the plunge, and found it to be money very well spent.
I see the original post was nearly seven years ago, but it doesn't hurt to let people know about it.
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