Schiit Sol- The Next Great Turntable?

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

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  1. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    Don't think the videos provided so far do it justice?
     
  2. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC

    Honest answer, I've only seen a couple. I'm going on all that I've read on it, with the adjustable everything.
     
  3. pressureworld

    pressureworld Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATL
    It's cool, I was just curious about your experience. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the Sol apart from SBAF. I want to hear opinions from more owners.
     
    AlmanacZinger likes this.
  4. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    It does seem daunting, but hopefully some of the initial owners can hand more wisdom down to us possible future owners.
     
    pressureworld likes this.
  5. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC

    I hope so too. I'm rooting for the SOL, maybe the answer is some of the more advanced users write a very detailed set up manual that explains everything to do in plain english.
     
    pressureworld likes this.
  6. chifanpoe

    chifanpoe Member

    Location:
    IL
    Thanks for the info Kyhl. Did the Cruise Control make any difference with the motor?
     
  7. BeauZooka

    BeauZooka Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    The Grado Opus3 is now also a cart option at $955.
     
  8. Gmsingh

    Gmsingh Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Rockford IL
    It's not possible. I think these Schitt guys are millennials and don't know much about arm/cartridge matchups, although their engineering is certainly sound. It will take a few user/pro reviews to get to a consensus.
     
  9. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    The entire arm/cartridge matching thing has been way overblown. If you just look at the math you'll see that until you get to extreme mismatches, resulting resonant frequencies are still acceptable/in-range.

    And then there is the fact that the equations being used were contrived for cartridges with actual spring suspensions, not rubber.
     
  10. AlmanacZinger

    AlmanacZinger Zingin'

    Location:
    The Land of Zaat
    o_O
     
  11. The Schiit guys are baby boomers.

    https://www.schiit.com/about
     
  12. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Welcome millennial-bashing new guy, you’ll fit in fine here.
     
    Big Blue, trd, NOS300B and 5 others like this.
  13. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    That's a damnation of the Schiit rather than elevating Fluance to serious hi-fi quality. If you want something better you have to pay more I'm afraid. Some of us who owned good tables when they were quite affordable are compelled to spend a lot of money to better those. In the long run it is worth it though I would say certain hi-end brands offer rather less sound for your money than others.
     
    The Dragon likes this.
  14. AXPERT

    AXPERT New Member

    Location:
    CHICAGO AREA
    No question in the mind of several of my audiophile associates; - - - the SOL could be the "missing link" between the mass produced "low fi" turntable packages being marketed for beginners, and the "MEGA BUCK" products that glitter more than they perform at times. OF course, if you have unlimited resources, then my comments are moot.
    Being very much intrigued by this new SCHIIT entry into the TT market, I did as much reading as possible, and went to the trouble of contacting SCHIIT engineering, concerning the first production stumbling points reported on the SOL. Must admit, they were extremely forthcoming. Answered all my inquiries in detail. Nothing held back.
    Subsequently, this lovely pile of SCHIIT called the "SOL" is now on the top of my list of future purchases. The product to performance ratio achieved with the SOL is definitely keeping true to what SCHIIT audio has accomplished in the audio market to date. Just waiting to hear a little more current critical feedback before making the jump.
     
  15. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Have we had any definitive reviews that place the actual sound capability of the Schiit SOL in relation to other serious hi-fi turntables? I'm not taking the Fluance comparison too seriously at this stage. I think it's DIY nature should put it well above entry level even for the current asking price. There are other self assembly turntables (in practice) for not a great deal more that offer an easier and more consistent set up.
     
    PoeRaider and JohnCarter17 like this.
  16. Dougthesnail

    Dougthesnail The Big Gabagool

    Location:
    Winnipeg
    As an owner of a few Schiit products I've ran for years without issue this is very intriguing. I'd wait for more reviews as the speed & tracking accuracy at this price point from a first time TT manufacturer have me worried.
     
  17. doctor fuse

    doctor fuse Forum Resident

    Fluid damping adds resistance to deceleration? I'm having a difficult time visualizing this.
     
  18. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Imagine pushing your hand through the water. As you push it harder, you feel more resistance. Bring your hand to a stop, and you can feel the water you set in motion push on your hand.
     
  19. The Dragon

    The Dragon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, AL
    Think of it as completing the suspension system. The fluid is an oil, similar to fluid in the shock absorbers on a car. Ever see a car with bad shocks? It's not quite that bad because some damping is provided by the cantilever rubber bushing. Remember the damping brush on the Shure cartridges? Same basic concept.
     
  20. winders

    winders Music Lover

    Location:
    San Martin, CA
    Nope. Fluid damping doesn’t work that way. It always resists acceleration and assists deceleration.
     
    doctor fuse likes this.
  21. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    What does it do when direction changes?
     
  22. winders

    winders Music Lover

    Location:
    San Martin, CA
    A change in direction is an acceleration event so that is resisted.
     
  23. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    So you're standing in the water, moving an oar back and forth, bank and forth.

    The greatest resistance is felt when you change direction, right? That is also the point when the oar is moving slowest, right?

    So the water is pushing the oar in the direction it was previously traveling, as you attempt to slow the oar and reverse direction.

    So that doesn't sound like fluid damping "always resists deceleration," does it?
     
  24. Agitater

    Agitater Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    The problem with the analogy, from the standpoint of Physics, is that it doesn't work due to the dramatic differences in viscosity (water vs. silicone damping fluid), dramatic differences in acceleration or deceleration imparted by a stylus to a tonearm (compared to the grossly coarser action of a hand or an oar being pushed back and forth in water), and dramatic differences in object mass (a stylus and cantilever vs a hand or an oar).

    Just as important, unlike a hand being moved back and forth through water, a damping paddle is moving far more slowly at a nearly constant rate through the damping fluid as the tonearm traverses an LP at a constant rate. The water analogy also falls apart because, at the other end of the tonearm (the headshell, cartridge and stylus) are also not traversing anything under their own power, nor is there any fluid density issue to deal with. The cooefficients of friction between a hand or oar and water are dramatically different in drag and in action compared to a rigid, unpowered tonearm to which are attached a stylus in a flexible cantilever that can only function accurately sound good if there is a sufficient amount of friction and drag (due to the stamped variations in the LP groove) imparted as a movement of the stylus. That movement creates a sufficient electrical signal to be amplified into sound.

    Any added fluid damping of a tonearm - i.e., damping is not an integral part of the original design of the device - is not a completion of the tonearm suspension or turntable suspension or cartridge suspension. Such an idea is technically unsupportable. All that such added fluid damping does is change that resonant frequency of a system that is already in balance (given an appropriate cartridge and an accurate installation). There is no guarantee that any such change will be beneficial. In my experience with the KAB fluid damper - with the sole controlling factor being a extremely well-match arm and cart and a highly accurate, lively, and accurate cart installation - it turns a great-sounding system into an average sounding system.
     
  25. periclimenes

    periclimenes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami, FL
    As a physics teacher and Schiit Sol owner I am hoping it's okay to observe that:
    • You are both correct
    • You are not talking about the same thing, as the situations you are describing are not analogous.
    • Nothing on the Sol is fluid-damped, AFAIK
    I think the Sol is great. My daily driver was a Vinyl Nirvana TD-125 mk. ii with a Jelco TK-850 tonearm and the VTA-on-the-fly micrometer adjuster. When I got my Sol, it took some dialing in, but I got it sounding great (and looking great, depending on your aesthetic tastes) and never felt the need to put the TD-125 back in the main rig. The longer tonearm has helped on some records I have that are cut practically to the label and are prone to IGD. I think it's a great value for the money if you don't mind tinkering. I can't say what it's like out of the box now, since I was a beta tester. The motor I have transmits some mechanical vibrations into the audio signal and I had to isolate the motor pod. That could very well be fixed now and/or a function on the surface on which my Sol rests.

    Again, aesthetically, this is not going to be everyone's cup of tea:

    [​IMG]
     
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