Origin Live Turntable Sovereign-S MK 5

from $11,740.00

The Sovereign deck is a true high-end design. Extremely well specified, it looks and sounds fantastic – simply a near-ultimate deck. The award-winning Sovereign Turntable is a favourite of many audio experts – and is owned by Hi-Fi magazine editors and reviewers alike.

Mk5 Motor Power Supply

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.

Suspension

Our unique single-point cantilevered 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

Belt & High-Spec’ Pulley

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. 

Our highest-tolerance plastic pulley enables maximum belt grip, resulting in increased definition and dynamics.

Option:

The Sovereign deck is a true high-end design. Extremely well specified, it looks and sounds fantastic – simply a near-ultimate deck. The award-winning Sovereign Turntable is a favourite of many audio experts – and is owned by Hi-Fi magazine editors and reviewers alike.

Mk5 Motor Power Supply

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.

Suspension

Our unique single-point cantilevered 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

Belt & High-Spec’ Pulley

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. 

Our highest-tolerance plastic pulley enables maximum belt grip, resulting in increased definition and dynamics.

Heavyweight Plinth

Using three high-mass layers in the plinth helps to decouple the attached platter, bearing and arm board from the deck’s environment. Multiple layers help to absorb and dissipate resonance through the destructive interference of vibrational waves.

Ultra-low Friction Bearing

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.

High Specification Power Supply

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.

High-Performance Arm Board

The high-performance arm board is double the thickness of the standard arm board, but also features a weighty steel insert for the tonearm attachment. the added thickness, insert and mass help to minimize any unwanted vibration traveling through the tonearm Decoupled from the turntable plinth, the arm board is balanced in equilibrium with the platter and bearing house.

Heavyweight Pods

Decoupling the turntable from its environment is critical to high-end turntable performance. For this reason, The feet are housed within heavyweight pods attached to the central layer of the three-part plinth. This not only helps to decouple the plinth, but the mass of the plinths also helps the plinth to resist and manage any resonance from the platform and direct energy transfer from the bearing/arm board away from the platter.

Suberb Styling

The Sovereign is an arresting, centrepiece design. Like the name suggests, its has an authoritative aesthetic, to match the authority in its sound. The unmistakable profile and black polished finish make it an eye-catching asset for any décor.

High Performance Turntables Produce the Ultimate Sound Quality

The record player still reigns supreme in terms of performance. Experts agree that leading turntables provide a more satisfying musical experience than any digital counterparts. Unlike digital streaming & CD, there seems no limitation on the musical information that turntables can extract from vinyl. In recent years, advances in some turntables have caused the gulf between digital performance and vinyl to widen even further. Origin Live draws together many long-established principles of high-end turntable design, along with advanced innovations, to reveal just how much the vinyl medium is capable of.

Why invest in a quality turntable?

If you are unfamiliar with Hi-Fi you may be unaware of the major sound quality differences between one turntable and another. There are over 800 different decks on the market. Faced with such a colossal choice, many buyers take the shortcut and assume “if it looks good, and has a good review, it must be good”. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. To its credit, the Hi-Fi press has long extolled the importance of a good turntable for high sound quality. If the source signal is degraded in the first place, everything else in the Hi-Fi Chain can only exaggerate the problem. It is important to choose your turntable based on its sound quality, which comes from its engineering and design.

Here at Origin Live, we make almost all of our components in our own workshop in the UK, this means we are in total control of the materials, quality control, and design of our products. You won’t find any chipboard, plywood, or flimsy components in these turntables. Using mass effective design in our bearing houses, plinths, arm boards and platters, all possible areas where jitter and vibration can be removed have been carefully considered. Through relentless development, we have selected materials that produce the natural, uninhibited tone from your vinyl.

Turntable Differences Are Greater Than Any Other Item Of Hi-Fi Equipment

CD players sound different to one another, but not a lot in comparison to turntables. Turntables have more influence on the sound of a system than almost any other item of  Hi-Fi equipment and the differences between them are massive. A better turntable will improve the clarity, dynamics and ability to follow every strand of the music plus other aspects too numerous to mention. Gone is blurred, woolly bass and general confusion in the sound. Better turntables also have increased pitch stability adding a sense of sub-conscious sense of rhythm, security and confidence to your listening experience.

Rewards Of Higher Investment

A cheap £165 turntables will fall well short of CD performance, whereas a good £1500 turntable should outperform CD. The pursuit of the ultimate sound goes well beyond CD quality however. Turntables can improve a lot further with the right choices in equipment, and often this involves higher investment.

No one could blame you for being sceptical that a truly high-performance turntable is worth the investment.  It’s usually only by hearing a direct comparison between two similar-looking decks, that the penny drops. The difference in musical cohesion, dynamics and ability to follow music effortlessly is simply jaw-dropping. It leaves one wondering how such massive differences can possibly exist when outward appearances can look so similar. Usually, this is down to materials, design and engineering. We explain further in our article: what makes the best turntable.

The conclusion is that it’s worth hearing turntable differences so you know what’s possible in terms of sound quality.

Warranty

All of our turntables come with a 5-year warranty against manufacturing defects. Accidental damage is not covered under this warranty. Tonearms are not included in the 5-year warranty.