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Origin live Cartridge Enabler - a review

This is a basic review aimed at those who are in a similar middle lane of the audiophile analogue motorway.
Enhancements are plentiful for turntables and provoke much intense debate. However I feel as though the use of them is particularly relevant for those like me who have turntables at a lower end level.
So after much review and forum research I decided on Origin live also because I could save on delivery by obtaining a few items at the same time. Analogueseduction is another good option in this regard. Unfortunately, the platter mat I also ordered hadn’t been packed, so I only had their brush and the enabler to enjoy.

I`m aware that the theory is to channel unwanted disturbances from the cartridge into the arm, but I`ve always considered that just damping them would be better. Anyhow that in simple terms is the Enablers job.

The turntable itself is a 1990`s Roksan Xerses, the (platter is aluminium). I have an old Ringmat as platter mat at present. The arm an SME IV, the cartridge a VD Hul retipped Koetsu Black.

I became familiar with a fine pressing of Alan Parsons Eve, first track Lucifer which has quite a lot of detail before installation of the Enabler.

So installation was a bit fiddly, and note well, you will need bolts that are at least 5 mm longer to successfully complete the job. I made every effort to set the VTA as it was before installation, and checked alignments and the settings to make sure that they hadn’t changed.

The very first impression is that the sound is slightly thinner. Straight after that you realize that is because some of the – ringing, bloom? has been removed. So for example, a percussive tap, ting or knock is more definite. Again the bass is slightly lighter, but far less boomy. I player a Peter Gabriel track that sounded overblown in the bass when I listened a couple of days before. Now the bass was tuneful and balanced in tone with the rest of the instruments.

So initial impressions are ones of a satisfactory improvement, and again I maintain that with more modest equipment, if care is taken with the details, the end result can result in a worthwhile improvement. So as the professional reviewers say – highly recommended!

128x128lastperfectdaymusic

Showing 7 responses by lewm

lewm
12,567 posts
 
Here is why the compliance of the cartridge might have something to do with one’s impression of the enabler. Low compliance cartridges naturally tend to put a lot of energy back into the tonearm. The enabler is an interface between the cartridge and the tonearm. I don’t know whether that will be good or bad. But high compliance cartridges might be less affected by the addition of an Enabler, because the cartridge suspension already dissipates energy.
lewm
12,567 posts
 
elmo and hifi, It would be informative to know what cartridge(s) you are using with the Enabler, because cartridge compliance can have a lot to do with the results achieved, up or down.
lewm
12,567 posts
 
tomic nailed it better than I did, on the subject of increasing the effective mass of your tonearm.  I should have noted, as he suggested, that the closer you are to the headshell directly over the cantilever, the more the added mass adds to "effective mass".  Effective mass is a complex product of how mass is distributed between the tonearm pivot and the cantilever and between the tonearm pivot and the center of mass of the counter-weight (CW).  So, for example, if you add 5g at the pivot, it will affect effective mass very little, if at all.  5g on top of the headshell adds essentially 5g to effective mass.  Similarly, the CW adds to effective mass as the product of its mass multiplied by the square of the distance between the pivot point and the center of mass of the CW.  So moving the CW away from the pivot point has a disproportionate effect on effective mass.  I can never remember which standard US coin weighs 5g, but its either a penny, a dime, or a nickel.  Many use a dab of blutac to stick a coin right on top of the headshell, thereby adding 5g to effective mass.
lewm
12,567 posts
 
I kept trying to say that my theoretical issue with the idea behind the Enabler means nothing and should be ignored by anyone who’s had favorable results. No matter what MC may think of me, I actually do try out modifications and tweaks in my own systems and I am often surprised by the results in the light of theory based predictions. I cannot claim to have experimented with the beloved PHT; mea culpa. I won’t because the maker does not offer even a vague explanation for why I should.

It’s very easy to add a few grams of mass to a tonearm. Heavier head shell screws and wrapping the arm wand in tape or heat shrink are some ways to do it. I will wager the Koetsu loves high mass even more than it may love the Enabler.
lewm
12,567 posts
 
I agree with the general principle that basic upgrades (like buying a better sounding cartridge or a better sounding anything) are generally a better way to go, in terms of pleasure per dollar, to spending on tweaks (like the Enabler or the SR PDT) of some lesser product. As I mentioned, I’ve never heard either the Koetsu Black or the Hana SL, so I cannot comment on the degree to which one might be better than the other. Whereas you seem to have auditioned many dozens of cartridges in recent years.

I apologize if I came down on you too hard for recommending the AT ML170, but I confess I am a bit tired of reading about its wonderfulness. The OP wants to talk about the Enabler, per se, which seems at least to be cost-effective.

Not to mention the fact that the AT-ML170 is out of production since the 1990s. Where do we buy them, if we wanted to?
lewm
12,567 posts
 
Chakster, correct me if I’m wrong but the subject of this thread seems to be the OL cartridge enabler, not your personal obsession with certain MM cartridges.

If the OP switches to the Hana, which is said to be excellent by those who have heard it, we’re back at ground zero.  The enabler may help it or not. And please forgive me for expressing my surprise that the Koetsu is helped by the enabler, for reasons I carefully outlined. That did not mean I was doubting the testimony. I’ve never heard either but there’s a good chance that the SL is superior to the Black, even a new Black.

mijo, since the resonant frequency is inversely proportional to the square root of effective mass times compliance, I would indeed expect RF to go down when mass goes up. That was the genesis of my first comment.
lewm
12,567 posts
 
Miller, Do you really, really, really think the SR PHT makes a "significant" improvement in your vinyl reproduction?  Sorry for the off-topic diversion.  Based on Mijo's description of what the enabler is and is supposed to do, which really ought to have been part of the original review, I have to agree with him that I would not have expected the Enabler to improve bass response.  If anything, I might have expected a step back, because the Koetsu's low compliance means that bass energy is transmitted into the cartridge body and needs to be dissipated, else it might destabilize the platform that supports the generator. With the felt cushion, energy transfer into the headshell is inhibited. But perhaps that just goes to show me that one cannot do these experiments in the brain. 

For sure, however, your Koetsu will benefit from a higher effective mass tonearm, which is easily achieved without buying a new tonearm.  A year ago, I bought an 18g Ortofon LH9000 headshell for my Koetsu Urushi, mounted on a Kenwood L07D (the L07J tonearm that comes with it).  I guess the new headshell adds about 5-6g effective mass compared to the standard Kenwood headshell. That really makes a huge improvement in bass extension and clarity. (I don't think it's because of changing resonant frequency, but I can't be sure.)
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