That’s totally untrue - not least because there are customers building their Solstice decks in the comments above!
As noted from Day 1, this was never going to be a product where 500 complete collections (Solstice turntable, Aro arm, Equinox cartridge, Solstice phono stage, Solstice power supply and accessories box) were going to drop all at once. We have always planned a phased approach through 2021, with batches of products despatching as they are made.
We are still planning to have all 500 Solstice Special Edition units produced this year.
The current run rate isn’t at peak, due to a huge range of issues (components; production availabilty), but we always ramp up production from September, and that’s on track, assuming (and that can be a dangerous assumption to make in current times) all long-pre-ordered components arrive on schedule.
I have every sympathy with people waiting for their turntable, but to echo earlier points, this is not a mass-produced collection. In a few weeks or months, people whom have ordered a Solstice will be one of only 500 customers to experience this very Special Edition.
One final point. Naim does not charge its distributors/dealers for products until after they are shipped from our factory. How retailers then charge their customers is, of course, up to them, but I thought it was worth pointing out that we’re not asking for pre-payment here.
Covid has had a huge effect, by driving up demand for electronics due to WFH, travel restrictions etc. as well as slowing production due to factory staff shortages. I doubt Brexit comes close, especially when so much production comes from the Far East rather than the EU.
Brexit is a factor when it comes to logistics, for sure - the shortage of HGV drivers being just one example.
But you can’t blame one thing - COVID, Brexit etc - it’s the combination of factors that are causing the problems. And that list is legion.
This is an interesting read - and it just covers chipsets.
There are wider supply chain issues with raw materials - even cardboard. We’re more fortunate than many specialist brands, as we’re part of a wider group.
The problem is that many of our lorry drivers are/were from the EU, and with Brexit they have gone back to the EU, so we don’t have as many lorry drivers as we need (about 100,000 down, one sixth of the lorry driver workforce). It doesn’t matter where the goods come from if they aren’t being delivered around Britain. There is a shortage of drivers throughout Europe (because of the pandemic and its knock-on effects), but Britain is significantly harder hit than elsewhere. When we were in the EU it was easy for drivers to cross borders between the EU and Britain. Now there is more hassle from bureaucracy, so it is easier for them to work in the EU.
As @Naim.Marketing and @ChrisSU among others have pointed out there is more than just one issue affecting supply chains worldwide, ranging from lack of shipping containers of all types (who would have thought that a container ship with ~30,000 containers stuck in the Suez Canal for weeks could cause such a ripple effect, can’t plan for that), to production shortages of key components as raw materials for the manufacture of the items becomes tight as demands outstrips production, workforce and travel issues related to Covid, Brexit, changing geoplitical situations, etc. all are taking a toll on many, if not all industries. Unfortunately this will be an issue for the next several months, if not a year or more going forward; hopefully it will not become the new normal but … Some of us have been extremely fortunate wrt the SSE, hopefully all who have ordered one will get theirs in due course (possibly sooner than expected) and that the wait will be well worth it for them.
Anyone who is an avid cyclist knows just how bad it is. I have issues getting replacement parts (chains, tires, etc) for my bikes, and getting new bikes is challenging. I’ve ordered a new hand-built custom bike. The frameset won’t be finished until 1st qtr 2022, but I’m still hoping all the other parts can be acquired by then, and worried about snags/delays in that regard.
So, if Naim do decide to manufacture and sell more Solstice’s TTs as either a complete package, like the 500 for the Special Edition, or as stand alone components I guess that these will be not be on the market until well into next year. But, there again I may well be wrong.
…perhaps with the potential upside that by then the dealers will have had chance to conduct and report on comparables with things like using a Superline and/or other potential cartridge choices?
Indeed, a royal mess with bikes. I took delivery or my new one weeks before covid hit and bought the new Naim system in last autumn before it got really bad with the supply, so I am feeling very pleased with myself
I’m a huge fan amd started seeing them live in 1996. From the [Tool (band) - Wikipedia](https://Tool wiki page):
“In 1997, Tool named King Crimson, Melvins and Peter Gabriel’s Passion as common influences on its development. In describing their wide range of styles, critics have noted that they are “influenced as much by Pink Floyd as by the Sex Pistols.” In a 1993 interview, Adam Jones mentioned Joni Mitchell, King Crimson, Depeche Mode, and country music as being among their inspirations. In 1997, Maynard James Keenan named Hejira by Joni Mitchell, Holy Money/Greed by Swans, Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin, Red by King Crimson, and Passion by Peter Gabriel as his five favorite records.”
I don’t have much KC experience, but I’ll surely be spinning Tool on my SSE whenever it arrives.
Fair enough. I am more of a casual listener if I want to hear something heavy. I would be interested to know what you think sounds like floyd from them, genuinely. Their recordings a very good, but I find I need to really be in the mood.
My plan for later today is to dig out of the mover boxes a few of my 1970’s vintage lp’s to play on the Solstice. Thus far I’ve only played a few very new “audiophile” pressings. Much more reminiscint of the ND555 presentation (I’ve been playing digital files too) than I recall the Rega being.
What I do remember about the Rega P10 is what I wrote here some months ago – as enjoyable as the ND555 digital playback but the ‘background is not as inky black.’ By that I mean for example when I play The Wall on the ND555, the background is SILENT. What I call “black.” Not just devoid of clicks or pops, but just silent. Hard to express in words.
On the P10 it was just a little less silent; more of a “gray.” Could have been surface noise but I don’t think so. For something like The Wall, with all those little bits of little sounds they put in there, coming out of that blackness, is really something. (Maybe more hi fi than music but it’s very enjoyable to hear.) Let’s see how my nice 1970’s pressing sounds.
I remember my Rega RB300 sounded grey compared to Naim digital, an Aro didn’t. I’d have hoped that an RB2000 wouldn’t have this character at its price point, or is it another shade.
Tool is more a cross b/t Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. But try these songs “Reflection > Triad” (album Lateralus), “Third Eye” and “H.” (album Aenima), or “Rosetta Stoned” and “Wings for Marie > 10,000 Days” (album 10,000 Days).
Maynards vocals can be ruckus (think “Be careful with that axe, Eugene”). Tool is actually quite psychedelic, and the music & lyrics are infused with the Fibonacci sequence, among a lot of other cerebral elements of life & being. If you can get past the stereotypical Tool fanbase, Tool is rather incredible. The lead singer is wildly intelligent, a successful business man (he launched a vineyard in the desert of Arizona) and has 3 successful, concurrent bands.
In trying to describe Tool to someone who’d never heard them, I suggested he think of a cross between Crimson and Metallica, I wasn’t thinking of Moonchild. Never thought of Floyd as a comparison.
