Post by Owen Y on Feb 20, 2019 15:29:40 GMT 12
Spotted at CanJam New York 2019 & shipping around the end of March say SCHIIT, Herb Reichert reports for Inner Fidelity. - 11" uni-pivot carbon fibre tonearm. - Extra arm wand-counterweight-headshell assemblies will be available. - On-the-fly adjustable VTA - Heavy cast aluminium platter - "Inverted" bearing - Belt-drive motor separate from "plinth" - Estimated price US$799 (without cartridge) - US$599 (see 12 Mar post below). 
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Post by Owen Y on Feb 20, 2019 15:33:10 GMT 12
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Post by cooksferry on Feb 20, 2019 19:38:37 GMT 12
you'd never call it beautiful. The pivot area on the arm has a very back yard garage look to it.
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Post by Owen Y on Feb 24, 2019 13:19:42 GMT 12
In this CanJam video, you'll see a close-up of the 11" tonearm & the SCHIIT Sol TT in operation (at 4:22)...
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Post by Owen Y on Mar 12, 2019 11:45:09 GMT 12
A new image of the SCHIIT Sol TT spotted on AudioHead.com, at a SCHIIT-hosted event in Sthern California just recently: " The Sol player will retail for $599 when it becomes available in April of this year. The table will ship without a cartridge... " The tonearm implementation appears a little nicer, as does the whole TT. 
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Post by Graham on Mar 12, 2019 12:41:17 GMT 12
Still looks pretty fugly to me !!
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Post by michaelw on Mar 12, 2019 14:12:57 GMT 12
agreed !
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 5, 2019 14:14:28 GMT 12
SCHIIT Audio have finally announced shipping of their 'SOL' turntable - US$799 Technical highlights & more detail on previous announcements, from the SCHIIT webpage: - Die-cast aluminum vs MDF and acrylic. Sol is made of large aluminum die-castings, which are heavy and dense when compared to the typical MDF and acrylic starter table.
- Giant bearing, vs baby bearing. Unless you’re talking cost-no-object turntable designs, the critical platter bearing is usually, well, somewhat anaemic. Frequently based on the 0.28” record spindle, they may only have an effective 0.5-1” height. Sol’s is a ridiculously overdeveloped 0.5” diameter, 2.5” long inverted bearing with Igus bushings, for much higher performance.
- Giant arm vs baby arm. In turntables, tonearm length is all-important. Sol’s 11” arm beats the living crap out of other entry turntables with 8.X-10” arms.
- Easily swappable arm, vs arm that’s permanently attached. Have more than one cartridge? Get additional (very affordable) Sol tonearms and set them all up, for cartridge swaps in seconds.
- True unconstrained unipivot vs other schemes. Other entry turntables use constrained unipivots, kinda killing the advantages of a unipivot—namely, the unique freedom of motion it provides—or conventional designs, which don’t work like a unipivot.
- Totally isolated motor, vs bolted to the plinth. No entry turntable can match Sol’s freedom from rumble, because the motor is completely separate.
- On-the-fly adjustable VTA, versus, well, maybe some VTA adjustment when the table isn’t moving. Sol is the only turntable anywhere near its price to include this insanely high-end feature, allowing you to precisely dial in the performance—while listening.
- Complete adjustability, vs limited adjustability. Since literally every parameter of the Sol turntable is adjustable, it can accommodate virtually any cartridge, including those that are thicker or thinner than usual.
- 5-year warranty. On a mechanical product? For $799? GTFOH. Nobody is anywhere near that.
  
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Post by Citroen on Sept 5, 2019 14:54:46 GMT 12
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Post by Graham on Sept 5, 2019 15:18:35 GMT 12
It's still an ugly sucker in my opinion !
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Post by Citroen on Sept 5, 2019 15:25:56 GMT 12
Prototypes looked messy but the black skeletal design has a lot of appeal for me. Just need to get rid of the brass accents.
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Post by cooksferry on Sept 5, 2019 15:50:06 GMT 12
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Post by michaelw on Sept 5, 2019 19:04:50 GMT 12
i see...
the potential for accidents with the location of the power switch in board of the arm,
especially as there is no arm lock,
no mention of how to locate the motor pod correctly,
no label recess on the mat ?
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Post by cooksferry on Sept 6, 2019 7:08:43 GMT 12
no mention of how to locate the motor pod correctly, One of my first thoughts. Simple for them to provide a plastic template as per my Project RPM10. Setup guide isn't too bad and helpful for a novice but I wish he'd lock the platter while setting up the cartridge, an accident waiting to happen. The motor pod doesn't look like it has a lot of weight. A stand alone pod like that should have some substance to prevent any movement. I still think it has the air of a garage DIY project. I know they're trying to keep costs down but it's always best to do it right first time and for me it's not quite there yet. It'll be interesting to see the reviews and how it fares in the world.
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 6, 2019 8:51:08 GMT 12
I wouldn't be anxious about the outboard motor, not much different from other TTs with free-standing mtrs, eg WTT. I like the flexibilty of some choice of belt tension (will affect sound I'm guessing) & placement to some degree,to suit your TT stand or platform. I'm sure it will be suitably high mass to avoid random movement.
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Post by michaelw on Sept 6, 2019 10:24:37 GMT 12
the original WTT motor is quite different to the schitt, first it's mounted in a 5kg lead brick, there's no chance of wobbling about, secondly, it's placement is well prescribed, it will fit in only one location relative to the turntable. 
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 6, 2019 10:57:52 GMT 12
Free-standing mtr TTs - numerous examples out there... VPI  Brinkmann  Pro-Ject  Aura (!)  I say give them (SCHIIT) a chance to prove themselves. For US$799, they're off to a good start I reckon.
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Post by michaelw on Sept 6, 2019 11:21:50 GMT 12
do the others provide a motor location template like project ?
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Post by Citroen on Sept 6, 2019 13:56:08 GMT 12
No motor template with the Aura, or with my previous VPI Scout
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Pundit
Post by belbo on Sept 11, 2019 7:52:52 GMT 12
Engineering looks good (at least on paper) but I also have a problem (like the friend above) with the looks.
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 11, 2019 9:56:25 GMT 12
I don't have a problem with the looks (actually i like the skeletal, space-saving footprint) - as long as it is well engineered, well-finished & ergonomically user-friendly - for the price at least 
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Post by Citroen on Sept 11, 2019 23:16:54 GMT 12
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Post by michaelw on Sept 12, 2019 10:47:48 GMT 12
the MA 2002 cartridge they use is from the 1970s !
nos or refurbished ?
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Post by Owen Y on Sept 12, 2019 11:22:15 GMT 12
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Post by michaelw on Sept 12, 2019 14:45:25 GMT 12
NOS 
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Pundit
Post by belbo on Sept 12, 2019 19:43:32 GMT 12
I’m familiar with the Micro acoustics 2002E as it came with my Denon table when I bought it. It is of the electrek condenser type. The cartridge was shot so considered retipping but never gotten to it. There are quite a few NOS available.
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Post by cooksferry on Sept 14, 2019 9:18:11 GMT 12
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Post by michaelw on Sept 14, 2019 20:44:21 GMT 12
mea culpa. from the hooffmann thread
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Post by Citroen on Oct 14, 2019 19:24:04 GMT 12
Looks like flat replacement platters, new arm wands have been shipped to the "beta" testers.
Platter wobble, belt travel (wavering up and down platter), tonearm geometry, lack of clearance for cartridge wires (so not able to put cart further back enough in headshell) etc might be on the way to being fixed.
Lack of adjustable feet, ie levelling, maybe contributing to belt travel/platter wobble?
Sounds like the manufacturing process wasn't made to be within acceptable tolerances.
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Post by Graham on Oct 14, 2019 19:31:08 GMT 12
Looks like not enough R & D carried out before release.
This is also an unfortunate practice in some of the auto industry that relies on feedback from early purchasers to sort out problems.
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