Schiit Sol- The Next Great Turntable?

If this thing takes flight, someone will eventually come up with a standalone pod for the arm. I think Schiit would be remiss not to, since they already have the tooling for the VTAF in hand. But, maybe serving the aftermarket is not what they're after.

 

When working with the arms on the bench, I have a simple pointed post on a round base. It's not much different than the old base for a Dust Bug. That's all you need, with maybe a header for the wires to get to some RCAs.

 

What material it's made of?

 

The pointed post should be steel, regular or stainless, with the point ever so slightly rounded and polished. 1/4" or a bit smaller is OK unless it's a mile long.

 

It’s certainly an idea worth suggesting to the company.

 

For whatever it's worth - the Sol has been absolutely dominating my attention lately. I've got an MP-200 on it, and it's hooked into a Mod Squad PhonoDrive via an Audio Sensibility Impact cable I hacked the DIN end off of, and replaced with WBT RCA's.

For perspective, it wasn't long before Sol joined my room that I turned it into a surround sound theater with a projector and mad scientist HTPC for all the movie funz. And I have quite enjoyed that, but I keep pulling vinyl off the rack. I feel like I'm just getting back into vinyl, just without all the constant waiting for new records to show up in the mail

I've sorta stopped thinking about it as a product that can use a bit more improvement. I'm convinced it will continue to improve and get better, but even as it sits right now, it's... hard to describe. It's just a great deal of fun to listen to.

edit - tagging @action pact as he mentioned the Sol in a different thread on a pic I posted, so figured he might want to see what I have to say 'bout it.

 

IsoPucks under my Sol. Liking what I'm hearing. Bought four - one for each leg, one for the motor, "leveled" with a bit of blue tac, but it thankfully didn't take much.



Edit - mods, this is a crosspost from the Tweaks thread; hope that's ok.

 

There's a tweaks thread? Where? I have a few submissions for it...

 

So , I've been reading this thread with great interest, because by nature I'm a do it yourself audio and video kinda guy. In fact, I just finished a rehab of my 1959 Garrard type A.

Anyway, it seems to me that the SOL is just too MUCH of a diy project. There seems to be just too many adjustments to make correctly. I'm sure an engineer could make them , but can an average audio guy?

 

It's true, the table as shipped is/was deeply flawed, but all of it is fixable and well worth the effort. Only thing left outstanding is the arm length, which I find is still too long.

 

Yea, I actually dont like that arm. Its too small a diameter to look right.

 

All long arms look that way lol

 

[QUOTE="Ripblade, post: 22822862, member: 88
All long arms look that way lol[/QUOTE



Not the arm in my Rega P1.

 

That arm is 2" shorter.

 

Its shorter but its wider, and it looks like a tonearm, and not a straw!! LOL

 

Here you go Your most recent system tweak, did it help or hurt the sound?

On the arm being too thin? I don't know. The arm on my VPI Classic 2 wasn't exactly a baseball bat, and it seems like the Sol tonearm is a very similar diameter. But so long as it's made of a stiff, inflexible material, I fail to see what the girth of the arm has to do with the sound. And I'm sitting here listening to it - it's got plenty of drive and bass, so it seems appropriately sized to me.

It's also a paltry $200 for an additional one, to mount a mono (or other) cart to, for easy swapping.

 

Awful quiet here, any news from owner/testers, or those in the know?
Will it be back for sale again anytime soon?

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...alks-about-mcdonalds.5246/page-39#post-287248

 

Looks like the original question has been answered. No - The Sol will not be the next great turntable.

 

There are some updates in the FAQ on the product page too. For example if you buy it with a cartridge, it'll come set up at the factory then shipped to you for a much more plug and play experience.

I am completely in love with mine. Sol, MP-200 cart, and a McCormack PhonoDrive - which I have about $1000 into it fore everything? It's freaking fantastic. And I've mostly been enjoying Jazz lately. I mean it does just fine with metal but the way it gets out of the way on Jazz and acoustical music is phenomenal.

 

I wouldn't agree with that, at all. And I've had turntables of a much higher cost and pedigree than the Sol.

 

Yes. I was a beta tester for Oppo for years.

 

Right. Paying to be a beta tester? That’s the exact *opposite* of every beta testing program I’ve ever been on.

 

The way I see it - I got a turntable for $500 that will outperform literally everything at that, or double the price. I'd go even further, but the 1200GR starts showing up, I think (pricewise, don't recall its price exactly off the top of my head).

And from following this process a bit - Schiit has extremely slim margins. They're not exactly peddling a ton of high dollar, high markup gear. They only sell direct, even, to keep costs and price to market down. There was a point, even in the middle of beta, where they almost pulled the plug due to rising costs to get everything worked out.

That said, I think if they had to furnish 20 users with turntables as part of the beta program? That was going to send the ROI far enough out that they likely would have just killed it right there. I'm only speculating on that part, but I can say that I am quite happy I paid, and participated in the beta.

 

It’s not yet available for purchase, correct? Is there any inkling when it will be returned to the regular product lineup?