Schiit Sol- The Next Great Turntable?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by msinderson, Sep 5, 2019.

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  1. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Fraud?

    Those are pretty harsh words for a company making a product for a niche market, where final configuration (cartridge selection) and assembly is to be performed by the (hopefully) experienced end user.

    Honestly, I haven't found any posts indicating people have been unable to actually use their turntables.

    I'd have the cartridge terminals replaced in about a half hour, and be working on the belt issue next (maybe fixable by simply adjusting the height relative to the motor pulley).

    This isn't fraud, nowhere near.
     
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  2. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Well one can simply solder some different terminals onto the leads, and find a replacement belt (I'm sure someone is already contemplating molding one and selling it for $50).

    There is still a lot of value in that table.
     
    Derleth likes this.
  3. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Sure, one could do that, just like the reviewer with the nylon belt. Or they could return the whole shebang and buy something that works out of the box.
     
  4. Hymie the Robot

    Hymie the Robot Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Funny you mention it is out of your wheelhouse and then continue to ramble on.
     
  5. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    It won't be for everyone.

    But some will certainly see it for the diamond in the rough that it is.
     
  6. Melted Townes

    Melted Townes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    Knowingly shipping a flawed product to consumers isn't fraud? When you make a statement like this on the ad for the table. "Sol was also designed to help you extract the maximum performance from every cartridge. Literally everything is adjustable. From on-the-fly VTA, cartridge angle, anti-skate, and even tonearm pivot height, platter height, and motor pulley height, we have you covered. You’ll be comfortable using an expensive cartridge with Sol, knowing you’re getting the most out of it."
     
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  7. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    Even if you enjoy the "kit" aspect of the Sol, why would a serious audiophile want a table designed with so many flaws in the tonearm alone? The fact that they claim the arm is compliant with literally any cartridge is a huge red flag in my opinion, as it suggests a lack of understanding of how cantilever resonance affects playback (or disregard for it).
     
    izgoblin, DaleClark, Robert C and 4 others like this.
  8. Melted Townes

    Melted Townes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    I get it now. It's not SOL. It's S.O.L. as in Schiit Outta Luck.:)
     
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  9. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    So many flaws? Are you counting each cartridge lead terminal as a separate flaw?

    Are there other flaws I'm unaware of?
     
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  10. Victor Martell

    Victor Martell Forum Resident

    Indeed - everything is up front with those guys. You know what you are getting into... lemme repost here a post I made in other forum... apologies if bad form.

    And back to hoffman forum - re: the cart space thing - will wait a bit and see how it plays out - maybe more info on how to do will come out. Still a bit away from putting together the money for it - might end up getting something else! (or more records...) :D

    v
     
  11. Melted Townes

    Melted Townes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    A
    At this point, the size of the head shell and the anti-skate issues are the two things I would consider flaws on the arm. A very simple design adjustment would have fixed both.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  12. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    In addition to the wire terminals, posters have mentioned problems with counterweight and anti-skate, and I'm counting the compliance issue I stated above, so that's 4.
     
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  13. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    The anti-skate monofilament should be replaced with polyester thread. Attach it to the arm as intended, and align it such that its height matches the height to which the pivot is set (the reason the designer provided a longer shaft to which one can attach the anti-skate, is that the user is able to set the thread to the height of the pivot).
     
  14. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    None of these problems seems insurmountable but are certainly enough to put someone off their feed. I'd think the headshell spacing thing would be the first thing the company could address. The belts- well, that's been a thing for a long while with the old Micro-Seiki. All kinds of threads and other materials were employed. A.J. Conti who made the Basis tables claimed that standard belts were inferior and wound up making his own. If the belt dimension and thickness are identical to replacement belts for other tables, why not look to those? (Knot tying could be tricky; what about belt tension beyond the size and thickness- I don't know). What else? Motor pod mass is easy enough to rectify, isn't it?
    Hey, didn't they tell you that you could tweak the hell out of this thing? I'll bet there are some interesting DIY tweaks that show up. I wouldn't mind getting one in here to play with, though I really don't need another turntable. I'd look at it as one of those experiment kits-- you know, like when they used to sell kids stuff that was a little dangerous?
    I guess if I wanted to just set it up and play records, that could be a little frustrating....
     
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  15. Angry_Panda

    Angry_Panda Pipe as shown, slippers not pictured

    From the early reviews, I get the impression this isn't just a PITA, it's the whole blinking gyro. However, if one can get it working, everything I've seen seems to indicate it sounds fantastic. Still undecided on whether I want one or not, but thanks to all the early adopters who have shared their experience!

    For those with unipivot experience, am I correct in understanding that the pivot, antiskate, and stylus should all be in the same plane?
     
  16. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC
    Whats really interesting to me is that I'm a DIY kinda guy, love to tweak, experiment, etc. But this table seems daunting to me.

    Heres a good questions: Does anyone know how this table actually SOUNDS? Is there any video of it actually playing a record with audio?
     
  17. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    There's no problem with the counterweight that I know of, just a tad difficult to adjust. As for the compliance, if the arm is medium mass then it is compatible with most all cartridges, similar to the Rega arm or the S-shape arms used on Japanese turntables.
     
  18. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Meh:

    (1) IF you have problems mounting your cartridge, find a friend handy with a soldering iron to replace your terminals with shorter ones.
    (2) Replace the set screw on the counterweight with a socket-head cap screw of sufficient length to provide adjustment and a way to finger-tighten the weight.
    (3) I addressed the anti-skate above. Replace the monofilament line with polyester thread, and set the height on the arm to match the pivot height.
    (4) IF this actually a problem you can add your own sliding weight in the form of a metal spacer to the wand.

    FWIW, if anyone buys one of these and gets stumped, post here or shoot me a PM/E-Mail and I'll help you out.

    I see all these same sorts of complaints in the forum devoted to my CNC router. If you want a CNC router where everything was thought of and addressed, be prepared to write a much larger check. I'm happy to be able to "make it mine," as I save money and address issues as I see fit.
     
  19. Ripblade

    Ripblade Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Six
    Fair warning to those waiting for Schiit to make improvements before they jump in: it will cost more.
     
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  20. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    Sounds like fun! I'll just be over here, listening to music.

    I kid. If you enjoy the tweaking, more power to you.
     
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  21. Melted Townes

    Melted Townes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    Good advice, just realize that #1 is going to be required for the majority of hifi cartridges. If you haven't seen this reviewers picture of his Denon 103 you should take a look. Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  22. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    I don't consider Rega arms compatible with all carts, as Schitt claims their arm is. For instance, the DL-103 they reccomend isn't compatible with Rega arms (people do it, but it's not an ideal choice), so if the Sol arm has similar effective mass, I wouldn't use the DL.
     
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  23. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    The majority? That Denon seems pretty large.
     
  24. Melted Townes

    Melted Townes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    The Ortofon family won't work.
     
  25. Melted Townes

    Melted Townes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio
    I won't get into compliance as I haven't seen an official spec from Schiit. I thought maybe someone mentioned they heard between 12 and 13 for the arm's effective mass?
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
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