BLOG POST

Upgrading Turntables

Turntable
sovereign-turntable-with-tonearm

Innovation You Can Employ in your deck

Innovation is often thought of, as those huge groundbreaking ideas that change the planet. Things like the wheel, the computer, telephone, aeroplane etc. However innovation must also include the countless micro-ideas that are needed to exploit the “big” idea.

For example there have been innumerable developments on the turntable since Thomas Edison first invented it back in 1877. You would be right in saying this is all very obvious but the point is that most innovation is slow and almost imperceptible in comparison to the “big idea”. The first computer was a huge innovation but it’s taken around 70 years to get fromTuring’s large room filled with valves to the far more powerful handheld devices now available.

The temptation is to imagine that a few great ideas will lead to an amazing product. The truth is that it’s much more a matter of getting a vast array of different aspects very right. I would suggest that most innovation is the refinement and evolution of existing ideas in a way that cannot be patented.

Development also takes time and is no less important than innovation. However because its less glamorous, it can tend to be neglected. If the difference between development and innovation is unclear then I would suggest an example. If we test 12 different solders to find out which one sounds the best, this is development. But say we introduce a material that no one has used before, this is innovation, because its a new idea.

Innovations you can use

At Origin Live we pay inordinate attention to the details of each turntable component. The advances made here have been so significant that we offer them as upgrades for most decks in existence. Examples are:

  • The Award winning upgrade platter mat – A unique material to absorb record vibration better.
  • The upgrade belt – A special type of rubber with high grip and low stretch.
  • Platter glide turntable oil – Very low friction oil to reduce microscopic ?juddering? of bearings
  • The DC Motor kit – dramatically reduces motor vibration.
  • Damping feet – Absorbs vibration and prevents reflections.

These work effectively on virtually all turntables, regardless of their brand and price. You can read the client and magazine reviews on our web site. However its worth noting that these products are all spin offs from years of design work carried out on our own turntables.