Origin Live Swift Review

England is home to many famous turntable brands. Whether Rega, Linn, SME, or Vertere, to name just a few of the most common: they all, in different price ranges, stand for the passion to extract as much music as possible from the vinyl record. Behind them are manufacturers with decades of tradition, who put a lot of heart and even more brains into innovative solutions and sophisticated approaches. And of course, even in the heyday of the CD, when hardly anyone would have bet on the future of vinyl, they remained true to their métier, to which they seem almost fatefully entwined.

Among these, Origin Live in Southampton is still almost a youngster, but no less ambitious for that. On the contrary: Founded by analog enthusiast—there we have it again—Mark Baker after a career in shipbuilding, the British offer their fans an extensive program. Until recently, their distribution in Germany was rather low-key. But for some time now, the Augsburg High Fidelity Studio, which already successfully supports well-known brands such as Exposure, Grado, Hana, or MoFi in this country, has also been taking care of Origin Live. Reason enough to see what the British have to offer that is, well, “original.” For that, you don’t have to reach too high on their shelf. The Swift we selected for testing, costing around $3,830 along with the Silver Mk4 tonearm, is the second smallest turntable in the British portfolio, yet it is technically independent and full of interesting ideas.

Externally Placed “Motor Block”

The Swift, which lacks a housing and is instead constructed from different layers, mounts its drive unit, powered by an external power supply and including a DC motor, into a separate module mounted on hard rubber feet. This is slid into a corresponding recess in the base plate made of black acrylic and disappears partially under the platter, which is fitted with a firmly attached, resonance-damping mat.

In this process, the motor housing is to be turned in such a way that the distance from the platter axis to the pulley of the DC motor is between 21.7 and 22.7 centimeters. At least, this is what the extremely detailed, but unfortunately only English-language manual specifies, so that the correct belt tension is set. The belt itself is not off the shelf but is of in-house production and consists of a special rubber mixture. In addition, its surface is textured and roughened on both sides, which is intended to ensure optimal grip on both the motor pulley and the satin-finished acrylic platter. Origin Live promises a distinctly rhythmically accentuated sound image and a hefty bass reproduction from this.

Ever since we experienced how a Linn LP12 improved after its belt was rubbed down with furniture polish foam, the significance of this detail has been evident to us. In general, the supposed small things play a central role in the Swift. You can see this in other areas as well. For example, two of the three height-adjustable feet, which are underlaid with a thin plate of a cork composite, are made of plastic, while the third, rear one is made of firmer metal and apparently is supposed to take over the main part in resonance dissipation.

Decoupled Tonearm and Platter

The highlight, however, is the black lacquered steel board, which carries the 2.3-kilogram heavy multi-layer platter on one side and the tonearm on the other. This rests on a support made of metal discs and in turn isolating layers of a cork composite. Neither the platter, whose solid bearing protrudes into an opening in the base plate, nor the tonearm are thus in direct contact with it. A screwed-on wooden block serves for resonance and thus tonal fine-tuning. From the rich selection of tonearms, Origin Live equips its Swift with the 9.5-inch long Silver Mk4, which costs around $1,000 on its own. Attentive observers of the analog scene find the arms of the British on some other manufacturers’ turntables, as they are considered to be of equally high quality and affordable.

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The tube, made of an alloy borrowed from aircraft construction, is intended to guide the cartridge practically vibration-free. The counterweight, which moves stiffly and is thus secured against accidental adjustment, is also said by the manufacturer to effectively counteract vibrations. This is joined by extremely low-friction bearings, a progressively acting anti-skating via string and weight, as well as a permanently installed, cryogenically pre-treated phono cable. After setting the height, the Silver Mk4 is fixed via a flat nut under the tonearm base.

To set the tracking force, you need a tonearm scale, as the counterweight has no scale. Otherwise, the Swift is aimed more at the “active” vinyl listener. During setup, the chassis is to be adjusted in height via the adjustable feet so that the motor housing fits just under the platter. In addition to a bubble level for aligning the turntable, you should have a stroboscope disc ready to precisely adjust the speeds of 33 and 45 rpm using the tiny recessed potentiometers, into which a flat screwdriver fits. The unit is turned on and off via a handy, solidly engaging rotary knob.

The Sound? Made in Britain!

Although the tonearm needs to be installed, the bearing oiled, the axle inserted, and the platter put on, the assembly of the Origin Live is relatively simple for the moderately experienced, thanks to the detailed, albeit only English-language manual. Everyone else should have the Swift set up by the dealer. We received the turntable along with Hana’s MC cartridge ML for just under $1,210, which proved to be fitting in every way. With this, the Englishman unfolded his audiophile instincts. And these can rightly be called “typically British.” For those looking for artificial brightness or nervousness will be pleasantly disappointed. Rather, the Swift consistently builds its performances from a foundation that is by no means too slender in the midrange, without any peculiarities in the upper frequencies drawing the listener’s attention. Apparently, Origin Live’s sophisticated anti-resonance concept, both in its design and materials used, is successful.

But there’s more to note:

In any case, it was a consistent phenomenon how skillfully the Swift managed to unfold its sound images on the one hand and yet at no point let their inner cohesion slip. Thus, not only did Diana Krall’s rapid opener of her Paris concert run along a stringent thread. At the same time, the Swift found the middle ground in terms of timing between playful forward momentum and stumbling-free clarity. In Henry Mancini’s “Strings On Fire!”, characterized by offensively stormy as well as elegantly sustained passages, these contrasts were vividly juxtaposed, whereby the turntable from Southampton neither seemed overwhelmed by the former nor lost musical tension during the quieter sections. Thus, one gained the impression of an unexcited, mature performance that left behind the limitations of simpler turntables.

Not least did one notice “the Brit” especially when deeply moving singer-songwriter records rotated on its platter. The Origin Live managed, through elegiac ballads like Sara K.’s melancholic “Gypsy Eyes”, to create intimate closeness, to send thoughts wandering and—simply put—to let the emotional spark jump over.

And anyone who wasn’t already a “Swifty” became one at the latest during the live performance of Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia on “Saturday Night In San Francisco”. From the superior Impex pressing, their well-formed guitars in the body sparkled appealingly dynamically and plastically, and the soul was not neglected either. Applause!