If you've had a chance to listen to Origin Lives Voyager turntable or their latest and greatest Renown tonearm, it will have been a rare experience indeed, up until a few weeks ago, that is, at the UK Audio Show. Here, the company's flagship system featuring the Voyager, Renown, and Discovery Ultra Phono Stage premiered for visitors alongside a mysterious pair of large black boxes...

Mark Baker and his sons have had their work cut out for them for years trying to get both a Voyager and a Renown available for public audition at a show. Mark told us, "Making our ultra-high-end products is an incredibly involved process. As soon as we get them made, they're usually out the door to a customer!" Mark adds, "It was a pleasure to finally demonstrate them for the Hi-Fi community, and from the visitors' reactions, it was definitely worth it."

The 27.9kg Voyager turntable features a complex aluminium alloy chassis with a series of micro shock absorption mechanisms built in. Its multi-layer platter is of particular note. Spun by belt via a massive sub-platter, the platter smoothly rotates atop a large-scale version of Origin Live's ultra-low-friction bearing. Rather than opting for the commonly used heavyweight aluminium platter, Origin Live lightens its platter with carefully machined profiles cut out of the underside. Finally, the top of the platter features several composite layers, which effectively transmit vibration through the platter without reflections.

The Renown tonearm also features multiple layers in its counterweight. We are told that the multi-layer structure and its asymmetrically weighted fine adjuster reduce harmful resonances across the arm tube. The tonearm's central yoke also features cut-out profiles, with its dual pivot bearings mounted on a black decoupling turret plate, where the arms name is engraved.

Playing through a Lyra Atlas Lambda, the signal was then plugged into Origin Live's Discovery Ultra phono stage.

Perhaps the most prominent presence in the room, second only to the sound, were two large black boxes made of speaker cloth. We're told these were covering Origin's new speakers that remain under development. Put together a few weeks before the show, Origin chose a 3.5-way active system utilising linear phase crossovers.

But Origin Live still put their quality all down to vinyl, "Nothing gets out of the speaker box like a high-quality record player. This weekend has yet again proven that for us and for a lot of the people we engaged with."

Origin Live looks forward to playing their system (if it's not already been sold) at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in February 2023.

Visit Origin Live for more information