New from Naim – Solstice Special Edition turntable

Agree with Varyat - I can’t speak for ARO2 but having spent a lot of time and effort at one time using various Koetsus in the ARO 1 I recall longing for a middle counterweight - the heavy was too heavy for RSP and Urishi for example and the light was really far back on the stub with others so I remember preferring to add blue tac to the light when the heavyweight was too heavy! Also some of the stone bodies vary in weight depending on the cartridge vintage (Onyx for example). Ian’s and Steve’s posts explain everything. Maybe a set of 2 or 3 counterweights in a box would be a nice stocking stuffer for Solstice owners if the numbers (costs) work out for Naim to produce it.

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:astonished:

I think that Solstice owners should be realistic, here. A reasonable argument can be made, in my view, for there to be a lighter counterweight, around the mass of the former Original ARO standard weight.

Hoping for 2 - or 3 - additional counterweights is - IMO - simply too much to ask of Naim.

YMMV, as always… :expressionless:

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IIRC, the Dynavector DV 17D also had a similar stylus to mounting hole distance (7.5mm) as the Troika.

Funnily enough it was a cartridge that really performed particularly well when mounted in an ARO…

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Dealer hat on - we plead for two or three and hope to get one. :pleading_face:

I have used three different Dynavector cartridges with my ARO, and all have worked very well indeed - DV 17D, three XX2 MkIIs and I am currently on my second Te Kaitora Rua.

(Although some helpful person on this Forum claimed recently that the TKR did not fit the mounting holes on the ARO headshell!)

Thats Local Council thinking… IMO.

Better to ask for just 1 additional counterweight - and hope that Naim are gracious enough to make some of those. Which - based on @110dB 's experiments - should be around 110 g. And should give coverage for carts from around 8 g to 14 g.

(The existing standard ARO2 counterweight gives coverage from 11 to 17 g. )

Aiming slightly lower (on Counter Weight #2) might give coverage down to 5g (Hana) or 6 g (Rega), perhaps…

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Spot on Ian.

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Another idea - for those seeking perfektion… Might be an early Ittok style, 2 piece counterweight.
My 1982 Ittok has this, with a removable section to deal with lighter carts. However… it never been removed. I have used several DV10X, a Linn Asak and a Linn Asaka in it. Currently back to another 10X.

I suspect cost would work against this - and the perfektionists still wouldn’t be happy… :thinking: :unamused: :rage:

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I always thought that a counterweight with some threaded holes in the back was a good idea. Not sure if it’s ever been done. You could then screw in grub screws of various sizes to make up the weight. Maybe depleted uranium for the really heavy cartridges adding a nice nighttime glow :grin:

As pointed out earlier, Clearaudio already provide a “set” of weights for (some of) their arms.

If all the logistics are in place, I’m not so sure that after a run of 500 of one size, a run of 500 at a different size would be all that time-consuming.

And there should be NO CHARGE . . . recompense for the fact that three years later I’ve still not received that “special edition LP” I was promised :scream:

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Not quite the same, but the Rega R200 has a threaded hole in the back of the stub which can be used to add extra weight. I use this to balance my DL-102 which is a particularly heavy cartridge.

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Same with the Technics 1200G. Comes with at least one extra counterweight to cope with different mass cartridges.

@Bart - Yes, my vinyl LP has yet to arrive as well. One could say that our Solstice sets are “Incomplete”.

I’ve not received my LP either after REPEATED communications with my dealer, importer, factory. Radio silence.

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Interesting, I have had mine for a good few months. Are those that do not have them outside the UK?

Honestly I blame the current importer. Their response to my last inquiry was met with a shrug. No effort has been put in to resolve the issue. In the old days of Naim USA my email would have been followed up with a phone call and quick resolution. That was the pinnacle of Naim customer service.

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Seriously, after years Naim still haven’t delivered everything for your Solstice packages? Wow!

The Clearaudio distributor sent me an immediate replacement for a defective cue mechanism directly to my house, along with a copy of the Clearaudio DG reissue of Accardo/Paganini Diabolus in Musica as a gift. Maybe Naim should have contracted with Clearaudio for Solstice customer service? :stuck_out_tongue:

Yes, outside of the UK here. Seems that the Solstice Team has “left the building” and Naim is not that concerned… Not cool imo and very unlike Naim who have historically supported after-sales quite well.

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Chris, I’ve been chatting with James at the factory today about this and he’s not entirely sure what has happened here as your distributor has had all the LPs sent to them. Anyway, I think he will be in touch with you by email…

p.s. any other Solstice owners in the US still waiting on their LP, please flag up this post and let me know.

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