Which brings us to the Kuzma tonearms, arms that offer a similar range of adjustability and options to the Origin Live Enterprise. Pricewise, the obvious competitor is the 4Point 9, but it’s a shorter arm which offers the typically dynamic and pushy sound of a good 9” design. The Enterprise is more just as secure but also more rhythmically flexible than the 9” Kuzma, while its tonal sophistication and musical fluidity are far greater. In fact, the more logical (if often overlooked) competitor from the Kuzma stable is the Stogi Reference 313 VTA, an arm that combines a 12” arm-tube with accurate, repeatable azimuth and VTF adjustment, along with Kuzma’s superb VTA tower, to deliver the musical substance and impact that go with its substantial build. For those that value record-by-record VTA adjustment and have, or want to use a heavy, low-compliance cartridge, the 313 VTA makes a strong case for itself, especially if your turntable can support its significant weight. The longer 4Points offer the 313’s strengths with superior rhythmic and dynamic capabilities combined with greater musical flow and articulation – at a price.
In one sense, analogue customers have never had it so good. None of the tonearms listed above is going to disappoint. But looking at the options, the Enterprise can feel confident taking on all comers. Perhaps the strongest challenge comes from the SUPATRAC, although I suspect that the Blackbird’s construction and approach will trouble as many listeners as accept it unquestioningly. In contrast, the prosaic engineering, purposeful construction and beautiful finish of the Enterprise might well prove as reassuring as the SUPATRAC can be disturbing. It might not be able to match the sheer fun factor of the Blackbird, but it counters with its exceptional ability to let the cartridge and the recording speak for themselves. No, one product can please all the people all of the time, but it has to be said that the Enterprise is having a pretty good stab at the problem.
The Origin Live Enterprise’s strengths feed straight into the musical rather than the sonic aspects of reproduction. It’s not an arm where you find yourself marvelling at the qualities it brings to the system – because what it doesn’t do is so much more important than what it does. It doesn’t intrude on or allow the mechanics of reproduction to disturb the musical pattern. It doesn’t colour, bleach or slur the tonal or rhythmic cues. Most importantly of all, it treats the whole frequency range and all instruments within it even-handedly, without fear, favour or emphasis. In that sense it is genuinely neutral and if it leans towards the natural, the subtle, the expressive and the nuanced, I for one, am not going to fault it for that. Its adaptability and versatility, its availability to suit length and geometry as required and its compatibility with almost any deck out there, dimensionally and in terms of weight, are all just icing on the cake. As with any tonearm, the match with your chosen cartridge is fundamentally important to get the best out of both pieces, but the Enterprise is certainly compatible with all but the heaviest and lowest compliance pick-ups – and they occupy their own little audio world anyway. More mainstream choices like the Lyras and Ortofons abound, so you shouldn’t struggle for options.
