Illustrious Review Quotes

“The best tonearm I’ve heard to date… brilliantly detailed yet utterly musical, this arm is set to join the ranks of the all-time greats. Wholeheartedly recommended.” Read the full review >
David Price, Hi Fi World

“The winner is the Origin Live Illustrious, a pick-up arm that is quite simply breathtaking…” Read the full review >
Albert Lee, Hi-Fi World

“The Origin Live Calypso Mk4 with Illustrious tonearm is flabbergastingly good! Tonally neutral, it has absolutely no coldness or hardness or any other sonic clue that can sometimes be attributed to a technically extremely well-executed reproduction.” Read the full review >
Hi-Fi Advice, Christian Punter

Sonically, the Resolution/Illustrious offers comparable precision and focus to the big, heavy-go-round behemoths out there. But being lighter and less heavily damped, it reproduces music with superior fluidity and flow, plus greater subtlety and finer tonal gradations than many I have heard. Indeed at its best, it hardly sounds like a turntable at all. Instead, you get the impression you’re listening to a master tape, such is its effortless poise and precision. Read the full review >
Stereonet, April 2021

“Combining the sonic virtues of both unipivot and gimballed bearings in a fuss-free package, it should work exceedingly well with a wide variety of cartridges and turntables. It is certainly the best all-around tonearm I’ve ever had in my own system. Highly recommended!” Read the full review >
Bruce Kinch, Positive Feedback

“…you have a standard tonearm which outperforms virtually everything at up to four times it’s price, will take very expensive cartridges and make them sing and has the ability to be upgraded out of recognition, what’s not to like?” Read the full review >
Tony Sharman, Restek UK

“The sound is very dynamic and always effortless, with the silent background the performers seem to appear out of nowhere. This is what analog is all about! The bass isn’t overdone as some other tables are (i.e. VPI), but everything is very well balanced in tonality. Very natural while always rich and engaging…” Read more owner comments >
Bill