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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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naimfan
166 posts
 
I've heard LP12s with a variety of power supplies, and I'd say the OL supply is comparable to the Valhalla but not a "slam dunk" improvement. It is considerably better than the Basik supply, but I think the Lingo, the Pink Triangle, and the Armageddon are all considerably better. It might be worth waiting until you can get a Lingo or an Armageddon. Having owned both, my personal preference is for the Armageddon, but others disagree.

Best,

Bob
jimbo3
304 posts
 
DCAudio- I had an issue with motor noise on my OL motor. I let it run continuously for four days- that seemed to mechanically break it in. No noise since then.

Regards
Jim
ginolavoie9ea0
16 posts
 
My best advice: don't buy this junk!!! I bought the Origin Live DC motor for my REGA Planar 25 in 2002. I regreted my choice for several motives. Firstly, I asked a motor with a pulley for a round belt and they sent to me a motor for a flat belt!!! After that, I had a lot of technical problems with the motor. I don't remember all of these problems but I didn't have the choice to send the motor in England several times. Finally, the motor didn't work at the right speed. The speed fluctuated! A bad memory!! The AC motor of my Rega Planar 25 with the little anti-vibration electronic circuit is really better. The speed is stable. I removed the Origin live DC motor and put again my Rega AC motor. The best advice for you: don't buy the Origin Live DC motor. Buy the Linn Lingo!!!
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.
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