Origin Live company support

Because my Conqueror arm is superb. The arm itself ought to last essentially forever. But really it comes down to the only American made arm I know of that might be better is the one designed by Schroeder that Lederman is going to make for Soundsmith. At least I think it is "going to make" since its not on the website yet but its been talked about. 

Graham is highly regarded but having had one I just can't recommend either a uni-pivot or any arm with a lot of connections. Or any. The signal wire should be continuous from the cartridge pins to the RCA plug. Or if not that then the fewer the better. VPI aren't really up there either. Origin Live at least is good enough to recommend even knowing the customer service will probably leave a lot to be desired. 

I'm also recommending Buy American, and more and more emphatically as time goes by.

I have owned two Origin Live turntables and three Origin Live tonearms over the past 15 years. I have had a few upgrades and any issues were always addressed Mark Baker appropriately.  I currently own and enjoy an upgraded Resolution Mk3 with a LSC and a Illustrious mk3c. The service/return shipping timeframes have been excellent. Email communication has been timely usually within 24-48 hours.

I would love to buy an American tonearm but Americans have been stuck on unipivot designs. Now VPI has a gimbal fat boy. I have not had the chance to play with one yet but it is certainly on the right track. As for OL that surprises me as the Brits are usually very accommodating.  

I ordered a replacement belt from Origin Live for my Well Tempered Classic.  I made the mistake of not doubling the measurement from my previous belt and received a half sized belt.  My bad.  I reordered with the correct specs and the belt I received had a noticeable bulge where they skived the splice together, which resulted in a very noticeable wow as it passed over the spindle each revolution.  The splice was also crooked. I carefully sanded the splice with 1200 grit paper and solved the problem.  Poor quality control in my opinion, but at this point I had too much time and money invested to pursue further.  The belt did make a worthwhile improvement to the sound.

Origin L delivered  the worst experience of my audio life when I needed help with a brand new tonearm. The dealer (who was really a manufacturer who packaged new OL arms with his tables)  might have done more but OL were impossible to deal with and left me hanging for an age. I'll never deal with them again.