Onyx Tonearm Mk5

The Onyx Tonearm gives you supreme value with a performance that exceeds many £3000 arms. With its superior low friction gimbal bearings, you will expect to hear greater transparency and separation in the sound, giving you a clear defined mid-range. You’ll hear contrast and detail between instruments and vocals giving you an immediate, coherent sound.

Sonically, it marks a significant step up from any budget tonearm tonearm, with improved resolution, clarity, dynamics and fluidity – and indeed from most tonearms on sale. It comfortably outperforms the original Origin Live Silver MK1, which was thought to be one of the best arms on sale at its release. Indeed, it still outperforms many arms in the £3,000 region.

The Onyx was designed as an affordable performance benchmark – a tonearm that would flatter any budget or mid-price turntable and still be happy on a high-end deck. The Onyx was only possible thanks to Origin Live’s decades of tonearm design expertise. It’s difficult to design a great high-end arm, but harder still to do a brilliant budget product. Knowing where to spend the money in the overall design is why Onyx sounds so good, and that knowledge doesn’t come easy.

Features

Arm Tube

is a single piece, made from high-grade aircraft alloy. Stiffness is critical to provide a stable platform to hold your cartridge steady and reduce movement caused by resonance. The results are better dynamics and tight bass performance.

Superior Yoke Design

encompassing precision bearing fit. This results in an incredibly transparent arm with superb tonal balance.

Bearings

Are highly researched and purpose made to meet our specifications. These bearings are used in both the horizontal and vertical axis.

Integral VTA Adjuster

consisting of a threaded top nut above arm-board and clamping nut underneath arm-board.

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 allows great transparency, detail and freedom from artefacts.

1 Meter Upgrade External Cable

 (6mm diameter) Low resistance cable with high conductivity Gold plated RCA plugs to fit directly into your phono-stage or amplifier.

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