While not as well established as John Michell or Ivor Tiefenbrun in the turntable manufacturing stakes, Mark Baker has been making vinyl spinners longer than I care to remember. Moreover, he’s recently become something of a legend for his tonearm tweaking process - without his Origin Live counterweight mod, many impoverished vinyl junkies would be forced to buy far more expensive pick-up arms!

More than most in hi-fi, he’s a man whose ears I have a lot of time for. He has a forensic knowledge of turntable design, and a clear philosophy which informs it. Mark believes it’s all about vibrations - or controlling them to be precise. This is the key to record deck design because stylus movements are so incredibly small, and the slightest unwanted motion will cause colouration. As records are played, a stylus experiences tremendous acceleration in the record groove, with forces measured in tons per square inch. This also creates vibration that causes unwanted resonances, if not properly controlled.

Mark says that what divides a top turntable from an also-ran is how this unwanted vibration in eliminated. It’s an intricate process that requires clever mechanical engineering solutions - tweaking a couple of caps in the power supply simply isn’t enough! The object of the Oasis-S is to rotate the record at a constant speed free from this vibration. This is achieved by extensive use of carefully selected, resonance reducing materials and matched material interfaces. Components are meticulously dimensioned, with attention paid to their shape and form (be it solid, hollow, tubed, or flanged), method of attachment (be it bolting, gluing, welding, screwing) and decoupling (using springs, spikes, elastic bands, rubber, foam, air cushion).
The Oasis-S is cleanly styled and exquisitely finished - it’s just a shame that its thick, solid wood plinth resembles a number of much older turntables, from Ariston’s RD11 to Heybrook’s TT2. Scratch the surface though, and the similarity ends. Most obvious is the translucent polycarbonate platter, chosen for its close mechanical impedance match to vinyl. It’s more acoustically transparent than the standard issue Mazak (of the Linn et al), but in the case of the Oasis-S also de-coupled from an inert sub-platter. The rigid sub-chassis isn’t a sprung suspended design, and instead uses a unique centre point support arrangement which makes it very easy to set up with nothing to ‘go out of tune’.

Origin Live claim that the new 4mm minimal contact ball bearing is extremely highly toleranced, and runs in high-grade, military specification Arctic oil. A very ‘quiet’, ironless, non-cogging DC motor is used in preference to the more noisy Impex AC synchronous type found in most of its rivals.

Its power supply is a regulated, load compensating device claimed to be stable across a range of temperatures. Speed control is electronically switched between 33 and 45, while 78 is also available on request.
The supplied arm looks superb in its polished alloy finish. It’s an extensively modified Rega arm that’s lost its tapered armtube and acquired VTA (vertical tracking angle) adjustment, making set up much easier.

Sound Quality

Thanks to its non-suspended subchassis design, the deck itself is relatively easy to set up. Just put the (many) bits together, plug in and switch on. To my eyes, the only let down was the rather crude looking connections between the turntable and its offboard power supply - two crude bullet connectors that would look more at home behind a car dashboard. I placed the deck on my Audiophile Furniture BASE SP-01 sub-table, which is my preferred support for my regular Michell Orbe (QC) - which served as a reference. An Ortofon Kontrapunkt B moving coil was fitted.
Essentially, the Oasis S has a tight, clean, even sound with a conspicuous lack of colouration and overhang. Cueing up High Tension’s ‘British Shuffle’ on the original Island twelve inch revealed an extremely detailed and tangible sound. Most impressive was the way it did the hi-fi ‘start-stop’ thing with alacrity, whilst still giving real insight into the textural aspects of the acoustic instruments being played. Bass guitars assumed a physical presence, rather than being notes playing up and down a scale - but were never overblown or excessively coloured. Cymbals were sweet and shimmering, and midband detailing - including the vocals - was superb. All very natural, beguiling and musical.

Interestingly though, the Oasis-S doesn’t sound similar to other decks that go for the ‘organic’ approach, such as Linn’s LP12. In fact, it’s closer to the Michell Orbe (Papst AC synchronous motor version) in its open, analytical, widescreen presentation. Cue up Randy Crawford’s ‘Someday I’ll Fly Away’ and you get an amazingly vibrant sound, with shimmering timbres from those acoustic instruments and that sublime voice - from drum kit to keyboards, the whole recorded acoustic feels alive with atmosphere. In other hi-fi respects though, the Oasis-S is no less accomplished - best of all were those strongly articulated images which hung out from the soundstage and were completely unmoved by other instruments positioned in front and behind them. Factor in the firecracker dynamics, taut basslines and an infectiously toe-tapping sense of rhythms and it’s a powerful performer.

It’s best to think of the Oasis-S as a good stab at bringing the best of both the Linn and Michell sound. Ultimately it betters neither at their respective fortes, but many vinyl junkies will actually find it a more sensible option. It lacks both the LP12’s hypnotic swing and the Orbe’s stunning insight, power and projection, but still ends up sounding superb. It’s very natural, supple and cohesive with tremendous delicacy and an impeccable sense of timing. It takes you deep into the music and doesn’t preoccupy you with the minutiae of production and recording details. Rather, it strings the whole thing together superbly and just cuts to the chase of the music. As such it’s superb value - especially considering that brilliant bundled arm.

Arms and the Man

Mark Baker is the guru of Rega arm mods. This is the fruit of his thinking - a re-tubed RB250 using a new kind of copper wiring with high-quality cartridge tags one end and alloy phono plugs the other, and a separate earth wire terminated at the headshell. The counterweight mounting stub is modified and locked to the counterweight with a high- tensile Allen bolt. Origin Live has also added a useful height adjustment for the arm, courtesy of a sleeve over the mounting pillar. When setting the VTA, OL recommend tightening this as little as possible, to avoid a bright sound.

Verdict - Brilliantly judged package with tremendous strength indepth. Not as characterful sounding as its more established rivals, but certainly none the worse for it. An essential audition.