Used Morch DP-6 or modified Origin Live Silver?


Hello vinyl-philes,

Thanks largely to this forum we've shattered the piggy bank and will soon be the recipients of a Teres 265 + Shelter 901. Now I'm stuck for a tonearm. TWL and others warn against unipivots for this cartridge. We understand and agree, so we've come down to the two arms mentioned above. Either one will just about bust the budget, so going up in price is not viable at this time.

Morch DP-6 (used, $800 + phono cable)
- offers adjustable azimuth (does it matter?)
- offers adjustable vertical damping (does it matter?)
- horizontal damping controls stiff cartridges (right?)
- ease of setup? ease of use? reliability?

OL Silver with TWL's mods ($800 + $1.79 fishing weights)
- no adjustable azimuth (does it matter?)
- no adjustable vertical damping (does it matter?)
- TWL's HIFI mod controls stiff cartridges (right?)
- ease of setup? ease of use? reliability?

Has anyone compared the sonics of these two arms with a low compliance cartridge? Your observations would be especially welcome.
dougdeacon
Hi guys. I just got off the phone with the dealer and they said that they are not trying to duplicate my idea, but that it made sense to improve that aspect of the arm, and they did a combination of aesthetic improvement and functional improvement by changing the end-cap nuts to this small weight system. And they did like the idea.

To be honest, it is not nearly the significant horizontal mass change that my HiFi system is, and I don't think that it will really be competitive with my mod, due to that. It's sort of like, "HiFi Lite". But I think that it is a step in the right direction for them to improve that area of the arm. I'm sure that it will be better than the original Silver arm because of this, at least a little bit. I was told that there is no price increase related to this change.

So basically, I'm not pissed at anybody about this, and I'm kind of flattered that they thought well enough of my ideas to incorporate this into their arm design. Heck, now that one of the big names has validated my design theories, maybe it could open some doors for me elsewhere.

I made the idea available to anyone that wanted it, for free, on the thread about my mod. I guess they thought that it was good enough to use on the factory arm design. In fact, I'd say that it is quite evident that they did.

So, all you HiFi users, you were right all along, and you got in on the leading edge of tonearm design, by being a little adventurous and putting it on your arms. I congratulate all of you on being true pioneers in analog arm systems.

I've got some other stuff up my sleeve, that I'm working on. Don't worry about that. And it's alot bigger than a tonearm mod.
You must be kidding! On the day that I found out that my tonearm mod just got picked-off?
Listen here, Tom. This issue is bigger than all of us. And then there is my retainer to consider. All together now, "SUE, SUE SUE"!
Hey, I go out of town for one day and this thread goes over the top. Slow down folks, I just got the Shelter today. Still waiting for the TT, stepups and an arm.

Gregm,
Mahler 8? I can't wait! Oops, I don't have Mahler 8 on LP, yet. Can you recommend an available version?

4yanx,
"Silver Bullet", excellent.

I don't know who "Sue" is. I thought audio-tweaking was largely a guy thing. And let's keep dental hardware out of this thread. Who cares about your retainer?! Mark Baker clearly owes Tom Lyons big time. How about a free rewire of Tom's arm with the cable of his choice? Seems only fair.

Twl,
I thought long and hard about the Silver vs. Encounter vs. Illustrious vs. Signature. The larger yoke of the higher end arms looks like it would go part way toward what the bullets do, but only part way. The wiring descriptions seem identical. The only clear differences are the arm tubes and mounting plates. You're far more qualified than me to estimate the relative merits, but my un-educated guess was that diminishing returns set in in a serious way once you go beyond the Encounter. If I had $1995 to spend I'd buy a new DP-6 with a 12" arm. Clear benefits there.

I HAD noticed that the computer generated image of the Silver on OL's website changed recently (in the last two weeks). Guess they were showing the Silver II, at least in concept. Congratulations on a significant compliment from Mark Baker, even if it goes unacknowledged by him.

QUESTION: will the Silver II still accept the Hifi mod? Is there a way to attach the bullets? That way I could end up with a Silver Bullet II. If the II won't accept bullets I'd love to see your shootout results. If a Silver Bullet beats a Silver II, maybe some dealer will still have a Silver I in stock that I can modify.

If I add both your side weights and your counterweight, will I have a Swinging Silver Bullet?