Schiit Sol- The Next Great Turntable?

I love the modular design of this TT. I’m not advanced or have much experience but this looks like a big headache but rewarding project

 

@Billy Budapest - speculation is it will go back on sale in February, just not sure when within this month.

@Firehead - Basically, it's no different than most "higher end" tables that offer things like adjustable VTA. Sol does offer adjustable pivot height - don't touch it. There is just no need to.

Adjustable platter height and adjustable motor height are kind of interchangeable. If you don't need to change one, you don't have to change the other. But there are some best practices that, once setup, one never has to revisit. Conrad Hoffman has a video out there that goes into some detail on the platter height setting, which then requires a slight change to motor pulley height. In total, these take a couple minutes to adjust and there's not really much mystery therein.

Otherwise? It's really not too bad to setup, but that's also due to the beta program and just general maturity of the product and parts it now ships with.

I haven't touched an adjustment on my Sol in awhile, since getting it dialed in. It's nice that it affords such flexibility, but it's not as if I'm constantly fidgeting with it by any means.

 

I came up with this mod to make adjusting the platter easier.
The OEM feet are attached using 4-40 screws. I dug up some 4-40 risers from my stash of computer parts. Just for giggles I epoxied ball bearings to the bottom and drilled holes in some coins for a quick base. It is now super easy level the Sol.





Hex Standoff Steel 3/16" HEX Head 4-40 Male-Female 3/16" Long QTY-10 D35 | eBay

 

Nice mod!

I've done something similar in the past, using acorn nuts thread-locked to a stud for the feet, and fender washers for the support disc.

 

Clever! Is there a difference between heads and tails sound quality?

Oh, and now you can say that your Sol turns on a dime-- 3 of 'em actually.

Sorry.

 

I have to say that the casting and machining looks really good. I can see how it would be a point of pride owning this turntable. Too bad the engineering has been a little incomplete. Hopefully, the bugs will be sorted out soon.

The design of the table looks a lot like the Brinkmann designs, sort of like a cross between the Balance and Bardo, except belt drive and 1/10th the price! (Or under 1/30th, considering the Balance’s $30,000 price tag).

 

Scratch that December 13 note, it is still not for sale but the price is back to $799... suspect that means it will be for sale soon.

 

It does appear it comes with an Audio Technica ATVM95EN for the extra $100, but seems to be included, there is no "no cartridge" option showing.
Hopefully you can still buy the extra tonearm w/o a cartridge when it comes back.

 

I recently asked Tony that question. He responded spare arms will be available again.

 

Love this table, I'm waiting patiently for a 240volt export version

 

And now you can buy one again, $799 w/ the Audio Technica ATVM95EN cartridge.
Funny, the images show a Grado cartridge...

No sign of spare tonearms currently.

 

$799 complete with a cartridge with nude stylus is not bad at all.

I'd like to see where the screws line up in the slots....

 

The Sol is now ready for prime time. Arms will be available soon per Jason.
Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in California

 

So do we know what changes have been made (other than the headshell)?

 

I thought beta testers were supposed to get another package with slipmats? I haven't heard any more about it.

*Edit: Just found this on another forum from Jason...


"I also expect Tyler and Amy will be sending an email to the beta testers, letting them know about the mats and such. Please email [email protected] if you have additional questions on the beta program."

 

Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up

 

my fluance rt82 with a Nagaoka mp-110 cart outperformed the schiit sol with the Nagaoka mp-110 cart, the cart the table comes with is garbage it was not fair to compare. I set up the table with an lp test record and everything until it was almost exact. I would not recommend this product, I'm returning it. I've tried the rega rp1, schiit sol, audio technical lp120, and the fluance rt82 is my endgame

 

I'm actually kind of envious, in a way, probably a lot of us around here wishing we could say something like that instead of continually sinking boatloads of sometimes not so disposable cash into a fleeting glimpse of what might be our endgame...

oh well, we have fun along the way

 

Please. The Fluance RT82 is a good table for $300. But, let's not go overboard on the praise. It's not better than the Schiit Sol........

 

yeah thanks for not jumping at me for my out-there opinion, I was very happy with my fluance but I saw a video from this guy hifi news and he talked about the tonearm not being good and missing out on details, so I got the schiit sol for fun to see what kind of resolution I'm missing from my records. I use to go crazy over my hardware I think it was just procrastination or something mental it really took a toll on me for a bit because I would just watch youtube videos about audio trying to get the best sound, but I got off the internet and started to help myself more and my hifi is out of my mind and I can enjoy records without comparing everything, it feels good. I blind tested the turntables with my friend and we both preferred the fluence, It might be because I set up the schiit sol wrong but I couldn't find anything wrong with it so who knows. the schiit sol is built amazing and looks great but it didn't perform. I played with it for days to figure it out if something was wrong but I couldn't find anything. Thanks guys stay safe

 

I'm not quite clear though: Did you only play the Sol with the cart it came with or did you swap it out and it still didn't meet your standards? I ask because I plan on trying the Sol with Orotfons (particularly one of their mono carts).

Also, I wouldn't mind some more specific criticisms you had of the Sol. Your OP is pretty broad and general.

 

I first used the table with the stock cart and it was very dull almost no life to the music, I switched to the Nagaoka mp-110 and it sounded better.

 

Are you saying the Sol sounded better with the Nagaoka mp-110? but still not as good as the Fluance RT82?

 

sounds crazy but yes, that was my outcome
I have audio clips I can post later this week

 

While I find the SOL really, really interesting as the DIYer that I am, I'm wondering how many folks will really be able to adjust all the parts correctly to extract all the sonics it has to offer.
It *seems* to me that there are too many things to adjust and worry about. Not a knock on it, just a thought.