“Following the launch of the limited-edition Solstice in 2021 - Naim’s long-awaited first ever turntable - we are now confirming that production has come to an end, meaning no more units will be manufactured.
Naim will continue to provide after sales support for all Solstice units sold."
‘Twas never really in my sights (as a dyed-in-the-wool Linnie**) but a valiant effort nonetheless.
**although at the time, I did suggest to my DB that it might be a good investment for the kids‘ inheritance…. but there were no takers.
I dunno. Maybe to test the water? @Richard.Dane might know.
Of course, it’s a Naim design built by Clearaudio and a lot of both company’s design influences are in it. I’d say if you wanted a Naim approved turntable that’s not an LP12, a Clearaudio might be it.
But the reality is, there’s just so many darn good decks on the market. I was hoping Naim would buck the trend and do direct drive to be honest.
That was exactly my thought. It seems an awful lot of effort just to show that they can build a lovely record deck.
Still, it’s idle speculation for me, as I will never part from my lovely LP12/ARO/Dynavector deck, which is making very lovely music from all the new LPs that I’ve been buying - and the old ones too, of course.
If only Naim had revived the ARO tonearm or at least produced something akin to this.
I know it’s niche but I think there would be a market. I guess it doesn’t sit with the broader Naim-Focal philosophy to make something designed for another manufacturer’s product. It does seem a missed opportunity to have brought a new turntable to the market and to not have done this though.
The new SuperLine replacement R&D came from this. That phono stage is very nearly the Solstice stage and that is a new announced (not leaked) product available generally soon.
We don’t know the deck R&D was wasted. I think it’s a “watch this space” scenario. But the wheel was not reinvented. Clearaudio built and helped design the deck based on existing knowledge. That certainly changes the ROI ratio. How much, we’ll never know.
What i was thinking. I remember that 20 plus years ago all MF amps etc. were limited edition. But they rarely made the number quoted as they just didnt sell.
IIRC it was 500 of the Special Edition, the package of TT, PSU, phono stage, LP etc. I’ve been reading the most recent news that there will be no more TT. It’s always been very vague though, and I’m still not sure what the most recent announcement really means.
I still think it a shame if that’s it for the TT bits, regardless how much it all cost to do. Sure it might not have all sold out (from dealers) yet, but it’s a really expensive bit of kit! I cannot imagine that was the plan all along, make a cracking TT and ancillaries, do loads of marketing, update the products section of the website, then mark it discontinued?
All 500 were spoken for very early on. You had to be quick from what I heard. If you scour the Solstice thread you can sort of clock the short space between release and the first comment from Naim that all are spoken for. Ones floating around now are either ex dem or second hand AFAIK.
Ah yes, I remember Naim said they had dealer orders for all of them. Whether they fulfilled them all is another question I guess. Some dealers may well have scaled back their orders. Certainly not all sold to customers yet though
They where all sold if you take that as, all sold to dealers for stock to sell.
There are still a few about at dealers for sale and at discount.
I just think naim dipped its toe in to see, thats why they only committed to 500 right from the start, maybe this was the minimum amount clearaudio wanted to get involved, or maybe naim thought that was the maximum they would sell?
But as others have said, lots of great turntables available these days from turntable manufacturers, but i feel that because naim didn’t make it put a few people off.
When I was at a London Naim dealer’s place last summer (not my usual dealer; I was buying something non-Naim), he gave me a good look round and a chat. A Solstice was in one of the dem rooms, looking lovely. I asked how they and customers were finding it and how well they were selling.
He was, shall we say, circumspect and measured in his responses rather than effusive. I drew my own conclusions.
If it really was a market hit, and demand exceed supply, they would be selling for more than the original price by people fortunate enough to get hold of one. As it is, dealers can’t shift them despite big markdowns, and some of those who bought them have swapped out half the bits because they didn’t consider them good enough.
People say ‘I’m sure there would be a demand’ for the Aro, but as there was no longer a demand for the excellent original, why would there be a demand for an overweight supersized replacement that can’t even go on an LP12?
It was always a limited edition so it should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that there won’t be any more. That’s what limited edition means.
