Fitting Guidance for all Origin Live Arms

You can usually fit Origin Live arms to decks fairly easily. The various scenarios are outlined below.

Fitting to a Rega arm mount

This is the simplest case so we put it first.

To replace Rega arms and their modified versions (i.e Michell, NAD etc) a standard Origin Live arm ( 9.5″ / 239mm effective length ) fits directly into all older standard Rega armboards. No additional holes are needed, no modifications, no extra fittings, no VTA adjusters. This easy swap is down to the geometry of Origin Live arms being identical to all older Regas.

Many deck manufacturers cater for mounting Rega arms and can supply you with a Rega geometry armboard that will perfectly fit your Origin Live arm. However Rega have 2 types of arm mount and you need to request if they can fit an “old style Rega arm with threaded base mounting – not the newer 3 point mounting”.

Note that although newer Rega arms have a 3 point mounting, their armboards have a central 23mm diameter hole and this is all you need to mount Origin Live arms. On the most recent 3 point mountings the hole size changed to 22mm so for these armboards you can simply enlarge the hole by removing 0.5mm all round using a half round file.

If you have a Rega with 3 point mounting then after mounting an Origin Live arm the 3 old mounting holes remain visible. To tidy up the look, either to fill the 3 holes with dummy round head M3 Allen bolts or order a 1mm thick formica black disc from us to cover the holes > see link Disc to cover 3 Rega mounting holes. Other solutions include simply cutting a cover disc from black card or thin plastic.

Armboards & Mounting Position

Hole Diameter: You can fit Origin Live arms to any deck but sometimes your armboard may need modification or changing to a new one – (contact a dealer or the turntable manufacturer for the second option). The tone arms require a single hole in the armboard or plinth – from 23mm to 24mm in diameter (23mm is ideal for accurate fit). If the hole in your armboard is say 1mm or more oversize, all you need do is put a rubber band or wrap a shallow strip of card around the arm base – anything that will act as a spacer – it does not need to be a machined sleeve. For best performance a sliding fit better than a tight fit.

Armboard thickness: Once the arm is inserted through this hole, you secure it with a large nut under the armboard which clamps it in position. The armboard can be any thickness up to 25mm for this to work.
* You need not worry about VTA for Encounter arms and above as they have integral VTA adjustment.
* Arms below Encounter use VTA adjustment on the arm mounting thread itself so armboards need to be around 20mm or less to allow adjustment.

The distance from the centre of arm hole to centre of platter spindle needs to be 222mm plus or minus 1mm. The arms can rotate to be clamped at any angle . The effective length of the arm from its mounting hole center to the cartridge end of the arm is 240mm. The arm protrusion from pivot point to the rear is 50mm to the end of the counterweight stub.

For Encounter arms and above – If the top of the armboard is around 24mm below the top of the platter then the arm will be at its lowest position for tracking a normal cartridge (17mm body height) and can be raised by a further 14mm

For 12 inch arms only – Centre of 23mm – 25mm diameter hole for arm mount to centre of platter spindle is 295.6mm plus or minus 1mm. The length of the arm from its mounting hole center to the cartridge end of the arm is 309mm. The overhang from pivot point at rear end is 50mm to the end of the counterweight stub.

Note: Cartridge alignment is at best only ever a compormise. A cartridge is only aligned at 2 points on the record – For the remainder of positions on the record it’s out of alignment – We say this to save fretting over the last 0.5mm accuracy and give a bit of perspective. Alignment makes an audible difference but in the scale of other parameters it’s really not a lot.

Fitting to the Linn LP12

If you have a Linn LP12 turntable with a Linn arm then the arm hole on your current armboard will be in the wrong position (Linn arms mount at a distance of 211mm from the platter spindle) . We can supply you with a Pre-drilled armboard for the Origin Live and Rega arms – this board is identical to the Linn armboard but is missing the Linn Logo. Alternatively you can get a blank arm-board from Linn and get it drilled.

On newer Linns the wooden corner brace has been increased in size which creates a slight foul with Standard size Origin Live and Rega arms. This is easy to rectify by removing a small semi-circle of the brace. Probably the quickest way to achieve this is to drill a series of 4mm holes as close as possible to one another in the shape of the cut out you need. Then finish off the job with a chisel.

After fitting a new arm you can find printable instructions for setting up your Linn at Linn Sondek LP12 turntable instructions

Alternatively you can order all Origin Live arms with “Linn geometry” – see arm options in ordering process. This means the arm effective length is manufactured as identical to Linn geometry. We also provide a sleeve/base which allows you to fit Origin Live arms directly to your existing Linn arm board. This overcomes the problem with some later Linn decks where the armboard is integral with the sub-chassis and thus non detachable.

Fitting to an SME mount

If your arm has an SME nount there is an SME adaptor plate available which bolts to your existing mount and provides the correct hole and position for mounting Origin Live arms.

Modifying your current arm board

If you modify your current armboard you will need to cut a hole in the board to locate the arm at the dimensions given above. This will leave you with the old hole looking unsightly. To hide this, make up a large circular plate washer of black card, aluminium or other material and glue this to the armboard – the spacing washers we supply with a new arm have an outside diameter of 48mm and will normally fulfill this function for most situations (the thickness of the washer is 1.5mm or 4mm). The advantage of gluing the washer to the armboard is that it also locates the arm in the correct position.

Arm Heights

For Enterprise to Renown

Min | Max height between top of armboard and underside of headshell is 40mm to 55mm (i.e 15mm upward adjustment)

For Encounter to Conqueror arms

Min | Max height between top of armboard and underside of headshell is 39mm to 54mm (i.e 15mm upward adjustment)

For Alliance to Zephyr

When fitted to a 4mm thick armboard – Height between top of armboard and underside of headshell is 43mm(i.e 30mm upward adjustment). For every 1mm extra thickness of armboard deduct 1mm from upward adjustment (30mm).

Cartridge heights normally vary from 15mm to 18mm with 17mm being the average