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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
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
I am really sold on buying a Hana SL to replace it as it (the Koetsu) must need refurbishing.

Why don’t you just buy a high resolution neutrail MM cartridge for your tonearm ? At least you could compare two different worlds of sound. The Koetsu Black is the lowest in Koetsu line and does not represent the "magic" of Koetsu sound as you can read online. Your cartridge is refurbished and no longer a Koetsu, and if you want it to be refurbished again you’re probably going to extreme, here is the thread. Hanna looks nice, but do you think it is a good MC ? Read this article, maybe you will change your opinion about MM.

This is from the TAS article:

"Everyone is entitled to personal tastes, but truth is truth. If you want to hear something like the truth, I still say-no matter what everyone else is using-that you should buy a flat-top cartridge like the AT-ML170 and avoid all MC cartridges with a rising top-end. If the sound of live music is your goal, why would you want to hear sound which is not only untrue to its source but also is something you are "seldom conscious of live.

What cartridge could have the "lowest distortion of all," "uncanny" resolution, better than master tapes?

Kavi Alexander, auteur of the remarkable Water Lily Acoustics series of analogue vinyl discs, is monitoring disc production by comparing test pressings to the master tape. What cartridge is he using? Another moving magnet, this time the TECHNICS EPC 100 mk4. But he describes the AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-ML170 as very similar, and very close to the actual sound of the tape. In this comparison, he says, virtually no moving coil does so well; most have seriously apparent colorations.

The contrast between these views of moving magnet cartridges and usual audiophile opinion is striking. On the one hand, we have assurances of these leaders of the High-End recording industry that the best MOVING MAGNETS are very close to the master tape (or live mike feed, for direct to disc) and that they are capable of "uncanny" resolution. On the other hand, we have the prevailing perception, amounting almost to a shibboleth, of the High-End listening community, that only MOVIN COILS are realistic in some sense of that word and that moving magnets are incapable of sonic truth."


This is the AT-ML170 and it’s just one example of the decent MM that killing most of the MC up to $3k retail. There are more amazing MM cartridges, the benefit is that you can avoid refurbishing or retipping as you can simply change the stylus replacement by yourself. 

P.S. Hanna (aka Excel Sound Corporation) tried to steal its design from the legendary Miyabi cartridge, but Hanna is just an entry level MC cartridge.



lewm
13,396 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.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@lewm 

If the OP switches to the Hana, which is said to be excellent by those who have heard it  

I've heard a dosen of MC cartridges made by Excel Sound Corporation, from low to high output with 3 different cantilevers. Even the old prototype of their new Etsuro. In my opinion carefully selected vintage MM are better than all of them. My personal experience, yes. 

Enabler or not, a good cartridge sound fantastic without enables.

A dark sounding entry level new koetsu black may be improved with some fansy tricks, but the improvement will be 100 times better if the OP will change his Koetsu Black to something better, then maybe there is no need for enables at all.   

lewm
13,396 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?
hdm
1,063 posts
 
Purchasing an AT-ML 170 is not a problem at the moment Lew. 

Chakster just happens to have a very fine specimen for sale haha!

Very lightly used. 
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