This is an upgrade

If you already own a Rega RB250 or OEM version RB250, you can order this upgrade and send us your tonearm to have the upgrade done. 

Otherwise you can buy the OL1 tonearm from us (click here) , we will deliver it including all upgrades you ordered.

Structural upgrade:
Rewiring is known to do wonders for the RB250 & RB300, however the structural upgrade to the Rega / OL1 arm is far more significant. The upgrade entails reconstructing the rear end of the rega arm on which the counter weight is attached. This is an extremely critical area, as the counterweight represents by far the highest moving mass in the arm and affects tonearm performance more than can be imagined. The work involves removing the existing rear end stub (which is normally just screwed into the end of the Rega arm - a sonic disaster), and replacing it with a new stub, torqued onto the arm by a thin high tensile bolt. The new stub is designed to present a low contact area with the arm tube. It is therefore semi-decoupled, yet far more rigid than the original.

On an unmodified arm, the counterweight must not be rigidly coupled in this way due to the poor vibration characteristics of the standard arm / rear stub joint. This ingenious Origin Live upgrade elevates a good tonearm into the same league as much more expensive arms and at an insignificant outlay.

Slotted arm tube:
The “slotted armtube� upgrade is identifiable by a highly polished silver arm tube - The upgrade involves removing the powder coat from the arm tube which enables faster energy transmission and prevents the arm being over damped. A slot is then machined in the underside of the arm to reduce ringing effects. Lastly the arm tube is highly polished giving it a very high grade appearance.

Please note that Origin Live internal rewiring must be already included in your arm or ordered for this upgrade to be possible. The effect of this upgrade is to improve the musical transparency and incisiveness of the arm. Particularly noticable is that notes have very natural decay due to the reduced “ringingâ€� effects in the arm tube. 

Internal Rewire:
High grade Litz wire is used inside the arm tube. The Litz is to Origin Live’s specification and design. An internal dedicated earth lead is attached at the head shell and runs through to your amplifier).
The old cartridge tags are replaced with gold plated, copper beryllium versions.
The headshell wires are upgraded with robust, silver plated, PTFE insulated wire.

External Rewire:
A special low resistance cable, optimized for low level signals, replaces the existing cable - Origin Live have carried out tests on literally hundreds of different cable designs. Not many line level interconnect designs work well for the very low signal output of cartridges and so optimum design is crucial.
Tests have shown that it is more important to optimize the external cable than to use a very thin non-jointed wire all the way from the headshell to the amplifier.

High Grade aluminium phono plugs:
Standard brass phono plugs are replaced with high conductivity aluminium ones – Over twice as conductive as brass.