New from Naim – Solstice Special Edition turntable

I have a McIntosh MT5. Same Clearaudio magnetic bearing. I can confirm that the platter really floats.There’s no contact between the subplatter and the turntable base.

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IMO, what people hear - when almost any change is made to a system - are ‘differences’. Which may in their view be an ‘improvement’ - but to the ears of others may just be a ‘difference’.

Vive la difference…??

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Fair point Ian. However I would suggest that if you fitted an XV1s to your Ittok and replaced your 82 with a 52 you’d feel that the “differences” were “ improvements”.

Of course some folk for one reason or other resist the obvious. Like Chris did when he initially preferred the Solstice phono stage only to do a U turn recently and accept the “improvement” that Superline powered by Supercap brings. Easily done Chris so all cool man!

I liked the Equinox cartridge ( more so with the correct overhang🙈). It’s defo not a “throw away” but my XV1t made a “difference” over it a la phono stage.

The Solstice package is really good. No doubt. It’s just that IMO and that of some pretty important people at Naim the turntable with it’s P/S and the ARO 2 are real star performers. I hope that they sell them independently at some stage.

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My point - which I think you ‘get’ - is that it is differences that people perceive - and often regard as ‘improvements’. The examples you quote are probably valid (and do show that you did check my Profile - well done for that) - but both are ‘loaded’ with being significantly more expensive (esp. the DV DRT XV-1s, cf. the DV 10X) - and generally regarded as ‘better’.

The 52 and/or Supercap are a Rabbit Hole sitting waiting for me, which I am studiously ignoring…!!

The DV DRT XV-1s is sooo expensive, it is of no temptation at all, to me. A DV 20X maybe… But a newer 10X will do…

‘Differences’…

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Fair enough Ian.

Your system profile brought back happy memories to me. With the 52, XX2 ( I used an XX1L in an Ittok successfully) over and above your kit into SBL’s I spent many a happy hour back on the day listening to vinyl :+1:

Inspired by Varyat, I’m thinking of ordering a Lyra Phono Pipe lead cable. Since I use a Superline would BNC ends be superior to RCA? Looking at my ARO 1 cable lead it appears the BNC connectors are made of silver.

Naim obviously thought BNC was superior back in the day… Curious if anyone has thoughts on RCA vs BNC?

50Ω nickel plated I was told by Phil Harris when I asked Naim tech support. I felt Frank Schröder was a little sniffy about being asked to fit them to one of his reference arms but they work fine into my superline. Or did until I accidentally put the newly serviced superline on top of one of them and had to resolder it.

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BNC is said to be better (I remember @Richard.Dane saying, when I asked about my SuperLine). I still have RCAs though, as I forgot to ask my dealer about changing them when the LP12 was in dock earlier this year.

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While I would probably favour 50 ohm BNCs, they can be tricky to fit to some cables. The WBT Next Gens are about as good as RCA Phonos get so, without having done a back to back listening test, it likely comes down to personal preference. One little foible of the Next Gens though is that you do need to fit them just right - orientation is critical as is tightening of the collars. Get it wrong and you either have no sound or less than optimum sound. No such fiddling with BNCs…

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It amazes me that such a terrible diagnosis is required for people to understand that work and routine is unimportant.

Wish you well.

The BNCs I have are designed for coax, I presume they all are given their characteristic impedance.
The “+” wire goes up the pin but the “-“ has to be soldered to a ring that would usually go over the braid. You then have a plug hanging on two very slender wires. If you’re lucky your cable has a fat enough outer to allow the plug to get some grip on it but the heatshrink sleeve used to indicate channel is doing most of the work there in my case so some care in handling is needed.

Does the LYRA PhonoPipe in its condition (as describes on Lyra website) require any adjustment to fit the Solstice Aro?

@Ariel26 - Yes. The “standard” Lyra PhonoPipe will not fit properly in the tone arm sleeve/plinth of the Solstice. A different 5 pin DIN connector was sourced specifically for the Solstice deck- it is a smaller connector. The Aro2’s articulating Din ( male ) is fairly bulky and long which only leaves 63 mm of clearance for the phono cable’s Din ( female ) and cable collar to snake down and out of the plinth.
If you are speaking with a dealer you should designate that the PhonoPipe will be used with a Naim Solstice. Lyra should have this designation in their records and will fit the appropriate Din connector. If you are in the USA, I can refer you the dealer that I worked with to design the cable. He will be your best contact for this cable.

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Thanks for that!
I’m from Israel…
I have not yet decided whether to go with the Lyra or chord…
I’ll be glad to read about experience with chord music/ solstice by forum members…

Actually, I’m in the US, and would like to know the name of your dealer for the PhonoPipe, if it doesn’t break a forum rule.

Let’s see if this gets taken down:

Google: Rick Brown in Carlsbad, California.

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Thanks Chris, much appreciated.

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might want to add HiFiOne to that search…

Thanks, that’s good advice. I did eventually manage to find the right site, but there are more than 20 Rick Browns in Carlsbad.

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@Cohen1263 @ChrisBell

I see that ChordMusic Phono is another option for Solstice. But looking at the description on the Chord website, you can choose either straight or right-angle DIN connector, and slim or reference cable, depending on the geometry of the deck. Which version is compatible with Solstice?