Schiit Turntable: the giant-slayer that slays giants and schiit

That's one of the nicer shots I've seen. I'd love to say something illuminating but remember, my involvement is pretty limited lately as they work on getting production parts and and learn how to produce a more complex mechanical product. I do see some geometry issues that no doubt will be corrected- the cartridge is all the way out on the head shell slots and the arm is too close to the base casting, but the beauty of the design is that everything is adjustable. I was surprised they reprinted my words from so long ago (you can't imagine how long this thing has been in the works) and hopefully I don't sound like too much of an idiot, but be careful what you say or write, as it can always come back to haunt you!

I'd love to talk about the long and painful selection of a motor, but that's probably not my place. Suffice it to say there were more inexpensive off-the-shelf choices years ago than today. Today you have to go custom to get anything decent and affordable. When I started, I designed everything for very low volume production. I was shocked when Schiit decided to go out for castings, because the cost is crazy high, but that made things possible that were otherwise impractical or unaffordable. They're way more committed to Sol in terms of time and treasure than you might think.

On the subject of measurements, turntables are tough. Basically, if you can measure it, it should probably be improved until you can't. I spent many hours with accelerometers, looking at how the parts interacted and handled vibration, motor coupling and bearing noise. Naturally there were hours of listening tests and signal measurements. My test records are the same ones used back in the day, the CBS STR series and a few others. If things are done right, you often see the limitations of the records. In spite of all that, I wouldn't want to publish numbers for a prototype without testing production samples. It comes down to design choices based on how one thinks something should be done, design choices to meet cost goals and just the overall look and operation of the thing. If cost were not object many things might be done differently, but cost is an object. We'll see how well the original design translates into a production product. This is absolutely not the table for everyone, but hopefully it will please the people that get the concept.
A great post big C! Love to see the dedication and hard work, and people getting recognized for their contributions. Looking forward to seeing and hearing the final product.

Cheers
Mister Pig
 
The arm looks a bit too DIY but I love what I'm hearing about all the ways that it and the rest of the table are adjustable. I think it's key. If it preforms that is.
 
Last edited:
Kudos to Schitt for the effort, but why?? It's not particularly attractive looking, looks kinda fragile, takes up a lot space (must the rubber band be sooo long?). And since this is a first pass at a product category they have not experience with, I'd have a hard time believing they found a way to break new ground performance-wise.. Other than friends and relatives of the guys who own this company, i have a hard time understanding why anyone would choose that over, say....this - Technics brand new SL-1500C, which includes both an integrated pre-amp (that can be bypassed) and an Ortofon Red Cart.. ..Which is the product of many decades of experience engineering turntables.

..But again, applause for the effort. ..At least it's not yet another wood plank w/ an exposed rubber-band.

View attachment 1412261
Because everyone on earth has a technics, or that style table already, that is what we dont need another one of. For many of us this would be a second or third table along with our direct drive. We like to tinker and it looks like tweaking is possible with the schitt, that naked style table has a high end configuration similar to tables that are $10k, so its a bargain for us. They have great US made equipment already for quality proof. This is awsome .
 
My impressions of the Sol's sound are limited. There were too many people milling about, playing with the On-The-Fly VTA and as Conrad pointed out the cart wasn't set up correctly. What I can say is that I heard nothing that indicated the speed was anything other than dead on. There was zero mechanical sound from the motor or turntable. No vibration felt in the base. Super smooth and quiet. The massive 1/2" ID x 3" bearing is apparently excellent. The powder coated base casting looked first rate. The arm lift mechanism is good sized and cues the arm smoothly.

These guys are very open about this project and they are really committed to getting it right. Stoddard and I talked for 15 minutes at least. They plan on making additional arms available for cartridge swapping ASAP. They are targeting below $200 for them. One guy (not an employee) was expecting a $600ish price. It looks more like a $2k table to me. A heavy 1/4" plate steel tray to set it on is under consideration and apparently Moffat is thinking about active suspension under the plate. My wife got one of the principals to say he expects availability in the 2nd quarter.

The Schiitr would be Schiit Audio’s retail store in Newhall. It’s really a demo hangout with free coffee where you can buy Schiit or pick-up what you order. It's a fun place. I had a flashback to the 1st University Stereo that wasn’t in a garage. It was a house on PCH in Long Beach. Think audio speak easy. Locked door. They let you in only if you don’t look like a narc. The speak easy part doesn't apply to the Schiitr. After all a lot has changed since the 70's. They have about 10 demo systems with various DACs and Amps to demo. They've over a dozen quality headphones AKG, Senn, BD, Fostex and even some Mr Speakers head phones. The Mr. Speakers Ether 2's driven by the Mjolnir amp and Yggdrasil DAC combo made me want to sell off what ever gear I had to to get that package for my very own.

9351E529-4F32-40A2-BB42-35FE5BFD14E7.jpeg 474903D7-D932-4378-A790-5453C854409A.jpeg 681BBB0A-066B-470E-9198-849D942ED110.jpeg 164997B8-F226-457F-964D-5F5B5773ABCA.jpeg 1133C19F-135B-4652-A26E-92AFC60237DA.jpeg E72D0B9E-ACA1-461F-87FF-E5F10F57D3B4.jpeg E60AC1B1-4BFF-48C8-8B98-B662902055CF.jpeg
 
Wow thanks for the pictures! I could see using a slate base under the table, a base would be up to the owners interpretation of the table, industrial, vintage, modern , exc,,,,this is great.
 
Last edited:
..The Schiitr would be Schiit Audio’s retail store in Newhall.....Locked door. They let you in only if you don’t look like a narc...

I think that’s not quite true - I probably look exactly like a narc and they let me in; even sold me something. *_*
 
I don’t know so I’m asking.
What do ou guys think about the totally separate motor?
I assume it isolates any noise or vibration but is keeping the motor located correctly (belt pressure) an issue?
 
Wow thanks for the pictures! I could see using a slate base under the table, a base would be up to the owners interpretation of the table, industrial, vintage, modern , exc,,,,this is great.
You’re welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t get a shot of the bearing. The base plate came up when my wife asked how do you keep the motor in the correct position to tension the belt. It may have facilities to locate things.
Simple style Open Baffle Speakers next year would complete the lineup
They have a lot of new products slated for this year, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for speakers. I’m expecting a phono stage in their mid or top level lines.
I think that’s not quite true - I probably look exactly like a narc and they let me in; even sold me something. *_*
We used to call them cop mustaches. Now they call them porn star mustaches. Do you look like this?
E5386250-0E3E-4FFA-A673-95C3980CA13A.jpeg
 
I owned a turntable (Marantz TT-15) with air-gapped motor and while it ran smooth and quiet, vibration and motor noise definitely made it through to the platter from the belt itself. There's just no way around that facet of noise transmission even with an air-gapped motor. Depending on the surface on which the turntable is mounted, and the smoothness of the operator in turning things on and off, movement of the motor pod could impact speed performance, but I guess that the Schiit machine doesn't require the user to turn on the motor at the pod itself, and it appears that the motor casing is very heavy and stable, minimizing all of these potential impacts.


I don’t know so I’m asking.
What do ou guys think about the totally separate motor?
I assume it isolates any noise or vibration but is keeping the motor located correctly (belt pressure) an issue?
 
The color is a bit greenish, I'd prefer silver or black, as the rest of their units.

I'd buy the tonearm with a pillar to use it on a Technics 1200 as a second arm. Any word on that?
 
The color is a bit greenish, I'd prefer silver or black, as the rest of their units.

I'd buy the tonearm with a pillar to use it on a Technics 1200 as a second arm. Any word on that?
Not green in the least and I even checked with my wife who has the eye for color around our casa. It’s the standard Schiit grey. No nothing said about selling arms as a stand-alone product.
 
Back
Top Bottom