1- they needed MoQ’s for the phono-stage which, along with the cartridge, is the most replaceable part of the package. It wouldn’t have been a complete package without this – bearing in mind the product was more marketed as lifestyle IMHO (akin to the SMEs).
2- it sounds very good in package form per most reports, but in Naim-land, it’s obvious many would already have Superlines (ignore any words about the new phono-stage being close to/as good as a SL).
So, the package aspect narrowed the interested market quite a lot IMHO, certainly the switch from a good-spec LP12 was going to be expensive, the moreso if a SL was already being used and the dealer didn’t want to compensate/trade back the phono-stage. And then we get to the cartridge limitations. Ho hum.
@Cohen1263 has placed a $9800 RRP cartridge on his $20,000 Solstice package.
No one should think that @Cohen1263 or anyone else thought they were getting a cartridge of that quality in this package. That’s just silly talk.
There is nothing “wrong” with the Equinox cartridge. Nor is there anything wrong with the supplied cables. If anyone is shocked that a certain percentage of hi fi owners want to ‘play with’ different cables or cartridges, they’ve not been in this hobby long. Coming from me who’s only been in it ~ 13 years. It’s just drama for people to talk about. “Slow news days” until the NC 300’s dominate discussion.
I’ve read a lot of phono stage reviews and the SuperLine is one of the best reviewed (for what that’s worth) phono stage at any price. I think this says more about the SuperLine than anything else.
I’m sorry it’s not more positive. If I was a Solstice owner I’d take comfort from the fact that adding weight to the headshell isn’t hard. As the arm was presumably optimised for the weight of the Equinox, if I wanted to use a cartridge that weighted 6g less, I’d just add a 6g lead weight - like those used on alloy wheels. That would leave the counterweight at the same distance from the pivot, effective mass etc would remain the same and it should all work happily. Some of the design decisions do seem a bit potty, but it is what it is and there is a simple solution.
I think at least part of the rationale behind the NVC TT was to have a new phono stage. It seems to integrate with NSC222 and NAC332 pretty nicely, and adding the NPX300 gives the NVC a dedicated rail IIRC from a post from 110db. So I suspect it was designed to fit into the NC range in a way the Superline and Stageline won’t. More rationalisation. Maybe the NVC is the only phono stage Naim will produce going forward?
Actually in effect I only bought the deck and arm Bart. I had an agreement with my dealer for them to credit me for the rest of the Solstice package as I bought XV1t/ 300 ps and Superline/ Supercap. The Solstice/ ARO2 actually cost me around £10k GBP so the majority of the money that I’ve spent on my vinyl front end is on those replacements.
Based on the what seems high RRP’s for the recently independently released Solstice Phono/PS (the Equinox is around a £2k cartridge at retail) upgrading shouldn’t break the bank for anyone going forward with the relatively good residuals.
All the upgrades were worthy IMO. The caveat being the tweaks needed.
Sorry, I meant that when the NPX300 is used to power the NSC222 or NAC332, then one of the rails is used for the powered 8 pin DIN. The phono stage receives a dedicated feed like the Superline powered 52/252. IIUC
I am delighted that someone on this thread pointed how silly the line ‘it is sold and intended to be used as a package’ really is. The package includes a phone stage capable of supporting mm or mc cart, high or low level mc, and a ton of reistance and capacitance combinations of mc carts. If it was only to be used with an Equinox it would not include such a phone stage.
I’m out in terms of considering the Solstice. In my view Naim has somehow pulled deafeat from the jaws of victory. They had a beautiful design, amazing ‘Naim’ sound, and blew it based on packaging. No committment to the availabilty of the Equnox, no ability to use the arm with most of the carts people use with high end turntables, all or nothing approach ro the package itself. Really honestly this is a suprising mess. Nobody who knows Naim as the great company that it is would have predicted this would have these problems. It really is shocking to me…just calling a spade a spade. For those who carried on and made it work with$9000 cart, the Sline stage, the anti skate magnet, the wire issue on the cart, etc carts i salute you - you have something extraordinary.
