2. analog
  3. 1209912242

Rega RB 1000 - Outgunned by Origin Live?

After years of Sotas, Regas, Thorens, etc etc I have done a U-turn in thinking I bought a Technics SL1210. In fact, I was spurred on by things I read on this site and a tip-off from a friend. The turntable is great, but I am not convinced about the Technics arm. So, I've bought a plate that can take Origin Live and Rega tonearms. I have an opportunity to buy a 2nd hand Rega RB 1000. However, I haven't seen much written about this arm. It won product of the year in it's category quite a few years ago and that's all I can find. Does anyone out there have any first hand experience or knowledge of this arm? It seems (at least when bought new) to be rather expensive for what looks like an RB300 with better bearings and lack of black paint. Do the the Origin Live arms (I'm thinking the Silver) really have the edge over the RB1000 (at least in the positive reviews). The Silver has been put onto SL1200s for some time and seems to work well. But that RB1000 looks pretty fine...
dsa
dsa OP
63 posts
 
Hello Everyone,
Thanks for all the information. It seems that Audiogon bloggers have little taste for either the Origin Live Silver or the Rega RB1000. Unfortunately, the arm will cost $300-$400 where I live to rewire. Although there are ways to help other other aspects of the wonderful Technics SL1210, there are really only two ways to fix the very grey and muddy sound of the tonearm. One, as discussed, is to rewire, then buy the KAB fluid dampener. The other way is to replace the arm with one of my preferred options: Either a 2nd hand Rega RB1000 (which has had full rewire with Cardas from stylus to RCAs -ie full length of the tonearm to the connections to the phono-stage) or an Origin Live Silver. Has anyone had experience with these tonearms? The Origin Live early models copped a bit of flack for quality control. True? The Rega 1000 is just a trumped-up RB300. True? Any thoughts regarding these tonearms would be greatly appreciated.
sunnyboy1956's avatar
sunnyboy1956
424 posts
 
I have moved from a RB300 to a RB 1000 a few months back and would disagree that the RB 1000 is merely a trumped up version of its younger sibling. Have done an A/B comparison using initially a Sumiko Bluepoint 2 cart and later with a Lyra Helikon. The differences are not minor. Is it worth the price difference ? I am not even going to attempt an answer to that as at one level its a personal and subjective choice and if there really was an objective answer then the future of high end audio, IMHO, would be bleak. Given all my subjective limitations the RB 1000 makes enormous sense to me and I would not hesitate to recommend it. I have no knowledge or experience of the OL arms and therefore cannot comment.
Your choice of arm should take into account the cart you intend to use.
Just my 2bits.
Cheers
dsa OP
63 posts
 
Wise words from Sunnyboy1956- thanks! I'm now looking at a Ortofon 2M Black- see other thread.
dsa OP
63 posts
 
I've found out that I can actually fit a unipivot to my beloved Technics. This was the type of arm that I was going to fit a Nottingham I had. Didn't think I could get a unipivot on to the SL1210, so I was going with the Rega/Origin Live mob. See other thread for the unipivot story....
dsa OP
63 posts
 
A poster (Cmk) suggested a Schroeder Arm as an alternative to the Hadcock and the Graham. Since I am exploring unusual options, I thought it might make an interesting thread. So, I will start a thread on the Schroeder Model 2 arm, its compatibility with the Technics, and its compatibility with the Ortofon 2M Black.
More to discover