Origin Live Calypso Mk5 Turntable / Encounter MK5 Tonearm

With almost all components made in house in the UK, our precision engineering, high-quality materials and relentless development make these turntables the best instruments for spinning your vinyl. Our turntables earn the highest praise from satisfied owners and acclaim from critics as the best they have ever heard.
For out-and-out performance, this deck has all the attributes you could ask for. Strengths lie in superb transparency, timing, musicality, dynamics, and tangible sound-staging. Capable of outperforming much more expensive, respected decks, the Calypso MK5 is not going to disappoint you. Also, being neutral and system-friendly, it suits most applications very well.
The Mk5 Motor Power Supply introduces a new PCB in the PSU on all decks offering even more speed stability and improved sonic performance than the former Light Speed Controller. Common problems like speed drift, motor jitter and cogging are avoided. Speed settings for 33.33 and 45 RPM are operated through one knob with no need for belt/platter change.
These high-grade Swiss motors demonstrate the powerful, smooth-running needed in a good turntable motor. Ironless cores eliminate eddy currents which result in low “clogging”, low vibration and speed stability. Motors are decoupled to minimize vibration and reduce audible noise.
The belt is manufactured in house using special material which increases grip and reduces stretch under instantaneous loading, using a unique material which dramatically improves on widely used neoprene rubber - benefits include increased dynamics and deeper bass performance.
Carefully selected cables from premium suppliers are attached to motor circuitry that is designed to ensure the motor, the platter and your vinyl are running smoothly on a consistent power supply.
A well-researched special plastic pulley enables maximum belt grip, resulting in increased definition and dynamics.
Our standard armboard provides premium performance for the price point. Decoupled from the rest of the turntable, the armboard is balanced in equilibrium with the platter and bearing house.
Made in house, the new MK4 bearing has ultra-low levels of vibration. The spindle rotates on a Tungsten carbide ball bearing centred on a hardened thrust pad for low friction and long life. Low bearing friction is essential to avoid vibration. Unlike decks which “float” the platter using air or magnetic bearings, we believe “earthing” the energy out of the platter is essential for sound purity.
The sub-chassis plate balances the armboard with the platter and bearing house, decoupling both from the turntable plinth. Its mass heavy design also helps to effectively damp vibration travelling through the armboard and platter.
Our unique suspension avoids both the softening of leading edges often found in suspended designs and the hardness in many non-suspended designs.

The results are:

• Superior pitch, rhythm, and timing
  
• Rock-solid imaging
  
• Reduced colouration
  
• Refined presentation of low-level information
  
• Easy to follow separation in the music and vocals

Heavy Inertia Disc adds a large mass to the plinth, greatly reducing resonance. Placed at the point of its connection to the sub-chassis, this weighs down the plinth, effectively reducing vertical modes of vibration traveling across the plinth and into the sub-chassis. This minimizes any vibration that could travel into the platter or arm board to disturb your vinyl.
As well as the heavy inertia disc, these smaller inertia discs are positioned at the extremities of the plinth, where the plinth may be susceptible to vibration. The small inertia discs resist rotational forces arising from ground and airborne vibration. This maintains the plinths equilibrium and in turn the equilibrium of the whole turntable.
The Calypso’s circular forms evoke curving mid-century designs. The unmistakable profile and black polished finish make it an eye-catching asset for any decor.

Encounter Tonearm

The premium range includes transformative features like our arm tubes, built from multiple layers to improve stiffness, energy transmission and damping. They also employ dual-pivot bearings to reduce friction and improve de-coupling. These features give a world-class performance with the promise of many long hours of enjoyment.
The Encounter arm introduces dual-pivot bearings to the Origin Live tonearm range. Dual Pivot bearings decouple the arm from its environment in a far more competent way than conventional bearings. The result is similar to Uni-pivot arms in terms of a natural fluid-like quality to the sound. However, this comes without the drawbacks of Uni-pivot arms - namely the fiddly setup, wobbly cueing and decrease in bass performance.
Dual Pivot bearings have the advantage of very low friction which helps give the encounter greater transparency and musicality than the Zephyr arm, allowing you to hear previously unnoticed details in your music. It’s also fast and enables musical rhythms to keep in time with one another. As with all our arms, tonal balance is neutral allowing it to work well in all types of systems.

Features:

• Arm Tube is a high-grade aircraft alloy t0 reduce the effect of resonance. This has the enormous benefit of allowing your cartridge to function correctly without unwanted movements caused by resonance.
  
• High Strength Rear-stub improves counterweight stability in vibration - thus enabling the arm tube to hold the cartridge more steadily.
  
• Headshell features improved de-coupling and lightweight finger-lift.
  
• Dual Pivot Bearings - For vertical arm movement, the bearings consist of Ultra-hard tungsten carbide points sitting in hardened and burnished steel cups. This combination not only delivers incredibly low friction levels but is also much more robust than jewelled bearings which tend to shatter under stress. The results are incredible transparency, fluidity and retrieval of fine detail.
  
• Precise & Accessible VTA Adjuster - VTA can be adjusted precisely and infinitely using a large diameter calibrated dial. A further advantage is that all adjustments can be carried out above the arm-board (unlike lower arms in the range which demand access below the arm-board).
  
• Azimuth Adjuster
  
• Falling Weight Side Bias - Tests show this to be the highest performing method of achieving side bias. It has lower friction, better constant force and lower resonance than other alternatives such as magnets, springs, levers and twisted threads.
  
• Internal Wiring is high-grade copper Litz wire, cryogenically frozen to reduce discontinuities in the conductors. This wire allows great transparency, detail and freedom from artefacts.
  
• One Metre Upgrade External Cable (6 mm diameter) Low resistance cable with high conductivity Gold Plated RCA plugs to fit directly into your phono-stage or amplifier.

Calypso Turntable
Multi-layer Platter: Yes
High Performance Armboard: No
Motor: DC100
Sub-Chassis Inertia Disc: Yes
Heavyweight Plinth: No
Maximum Decoupling on Main Bearing: No
Overall Dimensions: 490 (W) x 360 (D) x 170 (H) mm
Footprint Dimensions: 400 (W) x 290 (D) mm
Weight: 11.5 kg

Encounter Tonearm
Effective Length: 237 mm
Overhang: 17.24 mm
Offset Angle: 22 degrees
Mounting Distance: 222 mm - Platter Centre to Arm Hole Centre
Diameter Of Mounting Nut: 23 - 24 mm
Size Of Base Mounting Nut: 32 mm across flats
Maximum Armboard Thickness: 27mm
Length Of External Cable: 1.2 m
Length Of External Cable (DJ): 2 m
Capacitance And Resistance: 130 pF % 0.0017ohm per channel
Effective Mass: 12.5 g
Weight: 654 g
Packed Weight: 1734 g

Turnaround

Orders will usually dispatched within 2 working days of receiving cleared payment.

Shipping Rates

We calculate your shipping rate based on the total weight of your items and your delivery address. Standard shipping to the UK Mainland (excludes Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands) is free, except where specifically indicated. Don't worry, you'll always see the final shipping charge displayed before you reach the payment step (on the checkout page).

Carriers

We despatch the bulk of our UK mainland items on a 24 hour service.  Non-Mainland locations – Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, the Scilly Isles, the Scottish highlands and Islands, the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland may take a day or so longer. Smaller items are delivered using Royal Mail 24 or special delivery. Larger items are delivered using a courier service such as UPS and occasionally by a Pallet service.

Order Tracking

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