I don’t think we’ll be hearing from Chris….for quite a while!!
Enjoy, and when you come up for air can you give us a full report…pretty please!!!
I don’t think we’ll be hearing from Chris….for quite a while!!
Enjoy, and when you come up for air can you give us a full report…pretty please!!!
Haha! Lot’s to say… I’m letting the Solstice and Equinox get some run-in time before I share my opinions.
It takes a village…
Ah, well look at that… all things in the universe really are possible. So glad it finally happened Chris! I hope you are truly blown away by it.
Thats very, very unusual for Peter, who is rightly famed for his customer service. I know he was away on a trip to France for work around that time. He may have missed it.
Congratulations Chris! …welcome to the club. Still pretty exclusive!
That was very nice of him!! Nice we Naim folks help each other out!
Aaaaand my turntable has landed at the dealer in California. I feel like I’m the last man standing in America!
Congratulations Chris, can’t wait to hear your impressions.
Jeremy (Basil Audio)
I noticed that Chris has a Superline / Supercap. His feelings on using that over the Solstice phono stage will be interesting to read about. For me that was a “game changer”.
Please email again. I have not seen your enquiry. Just very busy at Cymbiosis and not on here unless requested. I do appreciate I seem to be the go to guy for loading advice for many Superline owners worldwide.
KR, Peter
Thanks Mark, it wasn’t France as I was there in October. This time I was helping out an owner in the Canary Islands.
Although part of Spain it’s actually outside of the EU and so I was able to help.
KR,
Peter
I bought an Airplug (via AVOptions) for a Dynavector XV-1s (453R) and might change to a Lyra Etna or Etna SL, and was just wondering what the loading would be for the Lyras.
Lyra don’t give specific loading recommendations on their website currently. They just say conduct listening tests. Anyway, given the choice of Kleos or Kleos SL? The Kleos SL is my choice every time and FYI I use the Z453R Airplug when I compare it against other cartridges for clients into an LP12/Aro/Naim/Kudos 808!active system at work.
Peter
Thanks Peter. That’s good information for now. I have a Superline/SCDR so it seems the SL versions of Lyras are the way to go. It will be some time before I decide what to do.
25 hours on the Solstice and it’s time to share my initial reactions. Like any new Naim product I could hear lots of promise from the first record I played, but the sound was rough and harsh for the first week. Since then it has started to open up and mellow out. I believe the sound quality will continue to improve as I put more hours on the Equinox cartridge.
Here’s what I’m hearing so far:
Incredibly wide and detailed mid band, intoxicating and holographic. To say this cartridge digs out detail is an understatement. I’ve not heard a modern playback deck (my LP12 had the cirkus bearing, Aro, Lyra Kleos SL)… there’s no doubt I was not hearing all the detail on my records. Of course detail can be a double edged sword, but comparing familiar recording on my ND555 confirms the Solstice is on par and often superior sounding to the digital version. Bass is taught and tuneful, and there’s a definite groove to the sound. It’s cliche to recycle the Naim signature PRAT, but there is tons of energy and boogie on hand. It’s not a laid back sound, but thoroughly modern and involving.
Operation is quite simple, but I do miss cueing the Aro by hand. The tall record platter makes this difficult and I rely solely on the arm lifter. One reason for my upgrade was the ability to play 45s without employing the Rube-Goldberg gymnastics the LP12/Armageddon required. Progress!
I have been primarily using my Superline/Supercap DR with a Chord Sarum Tuned Array 4-5 DIN, but I have spent some time with the Solstice Phono stage. I think its is quite good, an excellent match for the Equinox cartridge. It does not dig as deep as the Superline but if the Solstice is your first high-end turntable I would not feel short changed by supplied phono stage. It would benefit from a power supply upgrade.
The more I listen to the Equinox cartridge the more I like it. The head shell “armor” seems to be designed to reduce microphonic effect on the moving coils. A very Naim solution. I briefly mounted my Lyra Kleos SL on the Aro2, but returned to Equinox as I wanted to get more time on it. A future post will focus on alternative cartridges.
A New Dawn for music? For me yes, a musical but very modern sounding record deck. Quite different from what I expected. More thoughts soon and my opinions are fluid.