I am considering to add a turntable to my 552/300/ND555 system. It will be for myself but also family so ease of use, fuzziness and ease of setup is important.
Is the soltice relatively plug and play like I would expect from a rega, or is it more on the sensitive / fuzzy side?
There seems to be unused packages still around and wonder if thats the one to go for given I am fully bought into the naim sound and it should be a good match w the rest of the system. Would otherwise go for rega 10. LP12 too fuzzy from what I hear.
Any thoughts from soltice users and others highly appreciated
I donāt know about the Solstice but my LP12 hasnāt been touched since Peter Swain set it up for me a few years ago. To my ears, it still plays perfectly and doesnāt need tweaking.
I guess in a āhostileā environment they might need adjusting, but in my 35 years of ownership, I havenāt found that to be the case.
I set up my Solstice new out of the box when they first shipped . . . and it hasnt needed any adjustment.
I check the tracking force occasionally, but it hasnāt changed by more than a tenth of a gram or so.
I have some setup tools on order and once they arrive Iām going to swap cartridges; weāll see how that goes!
And Iāll also use the occasion to re-oil the bearing surface; at least I think itās due.
It really doesnāt. Itās easy to use and can be left untouched between cartridge replacement. The Solstice does sound good. Given it has a Unipivot as standard perhaps that deck is āfuzzyā. Buy which sounds best to you.
I built vintage LP12 myself through reading Peterās guide. Could confirm it doesnāt need tweaking for long long period once the setup done right, yeah quite a fussy design like fortune telling for most people. But Iām sure Soltice sounds great.
For some its quite aparte looking with that high platter.
Apart from this forum, you donāt hear much about this turntable, maybe because it was limited made ?
Not sure where its current retail price is, but Iād consider a Vertere or Rega Naiad, if spending that kind of money. Maybe the new Rega P12 if it materialize. The best turntable Iāve ever heard were a Vertere, not cheap though.
As I understand Solstice is build by Clearaudio, being a Naim design, not available from Clearaudio. Guess tonearm and /or phonostage are build by Naim. No idea what level the cartridge is compared to other high end MC.
Many tx Per! No I have not seen it in flesh and the box is new/sealed. Its a good point as will be very visible in the middle of the living room. Hmm, yes so quite risky from a visible standpoint.
Which Vertere would you consider at this level? I would normally likely go w Rega (started my first system w regae planar 2 and NAD), but I find the rp10 design too spacy.
I have not noticed their hierarchy number, just heard them a handfull times, not the same edition, all sounded terrific.
Another option could be an old idler 301/401 fully restored with a fancy arm, Technics flagship model comes to mind.
Indeed, maybe worth a travel/holiday to get closer seeing it in the flesh before decision. Maybe the DK distributor have one for display ?, or Malmƶ/Sweden, maybe Berlin or London is the better opportunity ?
Having seen pictures of the Solstice online, I thought it looked a bit ugly with its tall platter. But having looked at it closely at the Naim factory I think it looks great. The Perspex fronts of the deck itself, the power supply and the phono stage look great, with the Naim logo hanging in space. Itās beautifully made too, and looks really solid.
I was looking at upgrading from an Aria to an Aura on my P10/Apheta3 My dealer offered me an opportunity to demo a Solstice package, for relatively modest increase in cost over the Aura. I went from P3 to RP8/Ania to P10 combo, and was very very happy with each upgrade.
The Aura was a huge improvement on the Aria, but the Solstice was on another level. To my ears the Solstice has more of the NC sound signature. However it is more musical, with better separation and a more defined sound stage than my 333.
Iāve had my Solstice for around six months now. It sounds absolutely amazing, looks fantastic, and itās exceptionally easy to live with. It was set up by the Naim rep, after an issue with the Aro 2 arm. Itās been an absolute delight since. The most difficult bit of the setup looked to be installation of the platter which is very heavy.
I didnāt have an opportunity compare it against Naiad, Linn, Vertere or Clearaudio equivalents and only listened to the Solstice with its matched PS and phono stage.
Just to be clear, you compared the P10/Apheta3 combo with the Aura against the Solstice package and found the latter a notable improvement over the former?
As a P10 owner I do wonder if the Solstice would be better than what I have. I would use my own Esoteric E-02 phonostage over the one bundled with the Solstice, however.
I would not trade your P10/ Aura for the Solstice stock tt. Donāt think the last is better.
But with another cart and much better phono, yes, easily. Or I would keep the Aura and take the Solstice.
Well thatās the question. Is the Solstice by itself (turntable + arm) better than the P10 (turntable + arm)?
My phonostage is excellent and I have both the Shelter Harmony and an Ortofon MC A90 (original, re-tipped) cartridges that I could use on the Solstice alongside the supplied Equinox cartridge.
Not that Iām looking to buy one anytime soon, itās more of a thought experiment.
