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

[elcoholic]

You have to applaud them for going a completely different route than other affordable tables. They could have easily OEM'd a belt drive TT and written funny ad copy but they did something very different. It may have ended up to be a bigger pain in the rear than they were expecting but they'll get it right.
I need to take a trip to the Schiitter one of these days. It's not far but traffic sucks and I'm lazy.

I need to go back. Lots of great equipment and cans to hangout and listen to.

 

[archiek]

“My first go round was using a NOS Shure M97xe. After some tweaking and several hours of listening, I thought the sound was on the thin side, lacking low end oomf. So SOL is now running a Denon DL-103 with the "Capper" and some additional tricks to bring total arm mass up to where the 103's compliance is happiest.”

I appreciate your sharing this comparison. If the Shure was thin sounding, wouldn’t adjusting the stylus rake angle have adjusted the thinness and improved the bottom?

 

[FauxHall]

I'm giving the Sol a hard look as my first upgrade table over the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon I have.

I really like the tough "instrument-grade" look about the Sol. The 11 inch tone arm is a significant technical advantage over shorter arms (closer to tangent over a 9 incher's arc.) But did anyone else google "Igus bushings"? Turns out to be a plastic bearing and thrust washer, not a close tolerance metal bearing.

From the photographs, the motor electrical switch looks in an awkward spot - what do you users think? Might get a foot switch for the power. I would love to see an electronic frequency regenerator like Pro-Ject's Speed Box. I can't buy a Sol yet since we have 50 Hz power here in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking of dust....I have an electronic air cleaner for my music room and never open the room's window and that seems to do a good job of keeping the gear clean even in this notoriously dusty part of the world so I will wait and see re the dust cover.

I'll probably get a replacement mat too - the leather mat that Pro-Ject sells could be it.

I see that Schiit offers a Grado Platinum2 cart as an option with the TT but I've a hankering for an open frame cart like a Sumiko Blue Point Evo or Micro-Benz Glider. Recommendations?

 

[ClusterChuck]

“My first go round was using a NOS Shure M97xe. After some tweaking and several hours of listening, I thought the sound was on the thin side, lacking low end oomf. So SOL is now running a Denon DL-103 with the "Capper" and some additional tricks to bring total arm mass up to where the 103's compliance is happiest.”

I appreciate your sharing this comparison. If the Shure was thin sounding, wouldn’t adjusting the stylus rake angle have adjusted the thinness and improved the bottom?

That was my though as well. IME: to "get in the groove", elliptical styli is much more sensitive to tracking angle than conical so I spent a fair amount of time on that during set up. The shorter head shell on the original arm may be playing a role in this cuz there was definite finagling going on during first pass. I'll go back and recheck/retweak the Shure and give it another go-round.

 

[ripblade]

I really like the tough "instrument-grade" look about the Sol. The 11 inch tone arm is a significant technical advantage over shorter arms (closer to tangent over a 9 incher's arc.) But did anyone else google "Igus bushings"? Turns out to be a plastic bearing and thrust washer, not a close tolerance metal bearing.

Compared to other skeletal plinths like the Oracle Delphi or the M-S DDX-1000, it's more spindly-elegant than tough, especially when you factor in the plastic bushing and thrust pad. A good way to provide isolation, but not heavy duty. I put it in a class with other lightweight decks like the Regas and Pro-jects, except without the sonic bloat that a wood slab entails.

From the photographs, the motor electrical switch looks in an awkward spot - what do you users think? Might get a foot switch for the power. I would love to see an electronic frequency regenerator like Pro-Ject's Speed Box. I can't buy a Sol yet since we have 50 Hz power here in Abu Dhabi.

It seems an awkward place at first but you get used to it. Of greater concern to me is the possibility of vibrations from the motor being kicked back to the plinth through AC umbilical that connects the two. I stripped the insulation away on mine which helped considerably but looks goofy. I need to rethink it....or Schiit needs to...

I see that Schiit offers a Grado Platinum2 cart as an option with the TT but I've a hankering for an open frame cart like a Sumiko Blue Point Evo or Micro-Benz Glider. Recommendations?

I tried a Grado Blue, amongst several others so far, and can confirm it is a good match. Overall, I'd say any cartridge of a warm class of sound would be a good match, which would include the Glider. However, I have not yet tried mine on the Sol as it is a cartridge notoriously unforgiving of mistakes made in the handling, and I'm not yet entirely comfortable using the arm as the bearing moves quite freely and there's no solid way to clamp it down otherwise. Once things get comfortably boring and I'm itching for an upgrade I'll put one of my LOMC on it, but for now, I'm ok with a needle that won't hurt too bad if I prick it.

 

[FauxHall]

It seems an awkward place at first but you get used to it. Of greater concern to me is the possibility of vibrations from the motor being kicked back to the plinth through AC umbilical that connects the two. I stripped the insulation away on mine which helped considerably but looks goofy. I need to rethink it....or Schiit needs to...

Why do you need a switch on the table anyway? I'd explore alternatives that bypass the switch. If you put a separate manual switch to connect the two leads you could put it anywhere you wanted. Or just join them and put in a foot switch to the power supply. I especially like the floor switch idea as it lets you devote both hands to the table and tonearm.

 

[Masonavenut]

For a few that may be part of Sol’s appeal, you can mod it any way you please. It’s all out in the open and easy for you to work it to make sense to you.
As for me I’ve settled into a rhythm with it that I like.

 

[ripblade]

Why do you need a switch on the table anyway?

All the electrical bits are on the one board....I think that's the way Schiit operates. I would've preferred it on the motor unit itself but that would've raised cost, I'm guessing, and might've caused issues with motor placement. Anyway. it's not that big of a deal if vibrations are not hopping along the umbilical.

Of bigger concern should be separating chassis and signal grounds. I did just that a few days ago and the improvement in stereo separation was not subtle. Instrument mages are bigger, with greater space between them...it's like putting on a better cartridge. Also, if you have issues with static, check to make sure the plinth is grounded....mine wasn't.

 

[RobRoy]

The market sure is crowded with many turntable options. I wonder what will make this product stand out from the crowd?

Unobtanium plinth.

 

[RobRoy]

well I am in fact not a big fan of their their dacs and amps...

I hear a lot of good stuff about their $99 DAC. Frankly, I got a cheapo one to plug my "hdmi/optical only" TV into my Mitsubishi DA-C20 and was thinking of upgrading to that one (My CD's an BlueRays go through the same player).

It sounds like it may not be a Bugatti, but it would at least be a BMW, beating the Chevy I'm currently using.

 

[DaaDaa]

I hear a lot of good stuff about their $99 DAC. Frankly, I got a cheapo one to plug my "hdmi/optical only" TV into my Mitsubishi DA-C20 and was thinking of upgrading to that one (My CD's an BlueRays go through the same player).

It sounds like it may not be a Bugatti, but it would at least be a BMW, beating the Chevy I'm currently using.

actually their modi 3 is great. i wrote that comment only having listened to a couple of previous generation models.

 

[periclimenes]

All the electrical bits are on the one board....I think that's the way Schiit operates. I would've preferred it on the motor unit itself but that would've raised cost, I'm guessing, and might've caused issues with motor placement. Anyway. it's not that big of a deal if vibrations are not hopping along the umbilical.

Of bigger concern should be separating chassis and signal grounds. I did just that a few days ago and the improvement in stereo separation was not subtle. Instrument mages are bigger, with greater space between them...it's like putting on a better cartridge. Also, if you have issues with static, check to make sure the plinth is grounded....mine wasn't.

Can you give us some more info about how you separated the chassis and signal grounds?

 

[ripblade]

It wasn't easy. You have to isolate both the input signal grounds and output jacks. This last requires removing the jacks from the board. You have to cut away all the tabs that link the solder pads to the ground plane surrounding them on both sides of the board. I used an X-acto knife but an engraving pen with a small tip probably would've been easier. I then jumpered the signal grounds direct to the output jacks when I resoldered them back onto the board .

The center pin is for the headshell ground...this one can be left alone. The ones on either side of the center pin are the signal grounds.

 

[T68]

Is the Sol saga near the end before its main launch? This reply from Schiit in another forum indicates they're considering whether to go into production or not.

https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...alks-about-mcdonalds.5246/page-39#post-284535

 

[judsonw]

Jason goes into more detail in his thread at head-fi:

Idiocy #3: Screwup on Sol. This is the big boy. I think we just had been running prototypes for so long that we figured everything was fine. But between parts tolerance issues, bad machining, and other production glitches, we went from “selling” back to “beta” in just a few days. We continue to work on this product with the voluntary beta-testers (anyone who wanted out was given a full refund, including shipping, and beta testers were given a discount), but it’s slow going. Don’t be surprised if there are further delays. This is a complex product, and, if we start selling again, we want it to be right.

 

[T68]

I hope they decide to go into production with the Sol. I really like the idea that there would be a turntable on the consumer market that allows tweaking and adjustments at a reasonable price that doesn't look like the boring bunch of cutting-board-mdf-spinners that seem to rule the world.
And I also hope there would be an European version for 220-240 volt.
But being a realist: they will probably ditch it if they´re putting ut signals like this and the lucky few that got a unit and kept it for beta testing will have a nice collector item.

 

[crustyjumper]

I can see why the holding pattern. There have definitely been some hiccups with it.
The platter machining issues and headshell maybe the biggest. I love mine, but maybe it's just the tinkering, mechanical side of me that has me hooked. My setup sounds and looks complete as is really. And I guess it is, if I have the anti skate set correctly?!! Seems like it anyways ha.

 

[archiek]

I wish and hope Schiit can get the SOL's bugs worked out. Even if they raise the price point a bit, It will be a market changer.
I'm ready to purchase a SOL!

 

[DavidTT]

How cool would it be for current owners to end up with something of a collector's item? It would be best for them to get this figured out but @T68 seems right in guessing that they are perhaps signaling that this product might not make it.

 

[Masonavenut]

How cool would it be for current owners to end up with something of a collector's item? It would be best for them to get this figured out but @T68 seems right in guessing that they are perhaps signaling that this product might not make it.

Exactly