Having just read your post about your experience, I would say that this is all about synergy.
Your LP12 is a nice spec, but I have to say that I didn’t like the Urika phono stage when I heard one, it was just too like a digital source sound, it might work well in a complete linn system, but you don’t have that.
The dynavector is a stunning cartridge but needs the right phono stage to shine as I found out and I guess the Urika is not doing it for it, and is set up for linn cartridge’s.
This brings me back to synergy and this I feel is the solstice strong point, its all designed to work very well together and especially if the rest of the system is naim, that is of course as long as you like the naim sound, and why wouldn’t you as its bound to boogee well as that’s what naim does. SME has done the same and actually called it synergy and that also sounds fantastic, but the complete package is a great idea and guaranteed to work.
Enjoy.
You may be right in this but I will never know
What I will find out though is if my cartridge (Dynavector drt xv1t) will better the Equinox?? My dealer will set up 2 Solstice to compare this before I take delivery. This will be interesting!
Well for certain the solstice phono stage will be adjusted/made with the supplied cartridge in mind, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it sounds better than the dynavector, but will certainly sound different and good to try I guess.
But that’s the point I was trying to make, the solstice has been built to all work as a package and it does that well, start messing with it and I think you are just going to be wasting your time, just as like I said in my other post, I don’t think your phono stage on the linn is working in harmony with the dynavector at all, and I Don’t think you have got near what it can sound like with it
I guess that for some people the sport is in the trying? Definitely not for me. Especially this early in the release of Solstice. I have no idea why someone would be jazzed to buy it and then immediately start changing parts around in light of it being designed as a system.
If one trusts Naim’s engineers and developers and ears, one would assume that it’s all been tweaked for the sound they wanted. N’est pas?
As said you might as well try it as its a fantastic cartridge, I am on my second one now, brand new still in the box right now, but I will try it at some point very soon
Yes the solstice is more a plug and play and a very good one at that, but if you are going to mess then little point buying it, as I feel you will only be left with the deck and its power supply
It’s also ok to just have multiple turntables setup on the same system, my interpretation is Naim created their turntable as a complete optimised whole including the cartridge, otherwise why not just make it without a cartridge?
If you own one of course you’re free to swap or replace what you wish but it doesn’t seem that was the intention when designed it.
A case of not better or worse, just different perhaps!
I’m planning on recycling the HiLine that came with my ND555 package for the Solstice - it’s never been used since I bought SuperLumina as part of the deal to get the Streamer, and I suspect will give a nice “family sound” upgrade
I may try one of the Chord ones, but my eyes always tend to go to the top of the line and that’s a very painful place to be with those guys, so I’ll proceed with caution. I do hear very good things about Chord Music, but…
My original image title having added the Solstice Picture on the wall (after Jamie’s keys removal) was A Sense Of Longing… but with the double meaning of that, I didn’t want to upset Clare, so I changed it to A Sense Of The Future!
