I doubt using washers etc will get the best out of those carts vs the intended designed for direct mounting. Yes you can usually jury rig solutions if you are willing accept compromises. Why you would want to a accept compromises on a turntable of this spec is beyond me.
You can add clearaudio to my list…nothing at 12 g or higher.
If you want to mount a cart correctly you either pray for equinox being available and not deteriorating in storage…or you apparently go for a 6k or 9k Dyna if you want to spend 3 or 5 times more.
Regarding the copper washers that’s not what R@D had to say about it. The decoupling of cartridge to headshell whilst maintaining good contact works really well.
The Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement is 15 gr. That might work if it’s not too heavy, and it’s only $17k. 
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Cohen as i said i respect what you did with the table. You probably ended near perfection…so congrats. I am positioning my comments more from the perspective of a potential purchaser…rather than someone trying to optimize what they have already pulled the trigger on.
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Josquin…ok thanks for the humor…yes you are right there are now 3 options…6k, 9k, and 17k. Or pray the equinox is in stock at Naim and hasnt deteriorated. I assume it fits my $2k ± 20% target.
I appreciate that Jas. But the fact is that I have a good relationship with Jason Gould and he told me that he actually likes the Equinox with the washers in situ. No degradation. You know how Naim love to decouple.
I do appreciate and totally agree with many of your points though. The Solstice can be considered a conceptual failure. I bet Naim are glad to see the back of it 
Koetsu Rhodonite comes in at 13.5g… just saying 
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Ah good…we have another option from Koetsu. Ony $14k so a real deal vs the Clearaudio option.
Re the use of washers normally with just about any company who provides an answer that they in a sense they have to provide because it is the only answer to solve a situation i call BS. In this case given it is JasonG maybe i give the benefit of the doubt. Barely.
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Exactly. I trust and respect both him and Steve Sells
A potential alternative to copper washers might be what I used in the past (for other reasons) as a head shell spacer. Look for “Ebony Mpingo Wooden Headshell Damper Spacer African blackwood clubWOOD” on the auction site. It’s from Korea.
Mine is 2mm thick and weights 1 gr. I used it with a DV XV-1s because I needed to mount the tonearm a tad higher to enable uses of a VTA lifter accessory for my tonearm. I no longer need it, but I certainly didn’t notice any differences in performance using the spacer.
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Maybe, Koetsu cartridges have compliance that make them more suitable for higher mass tonearms, like Kuzma. I considered the brand at one point but my tonearm has an effective mass of 10 gr. and I didn’t want to add mass to make the Koetsu work. I don’t see spending that kind of money for non-optimal compromise in setup.
I have heard great things about them though.
JasonG and SteveS seem like terrific guys for sure. I don’t know them but as i said this might be the time because of their reputations that i would believe something my brain says is BS. Ok so go with the washers or the thingie Josquin recommends. For me…i’ll skip this product. I was really into it but i have too many doubts. No biggie…20k buys a lot of other stuff or just leave it in the retirement acount.
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VPI, a manufacturer of some very nice tables, sells . . . (gasp) a headshell weight.
"VPI Stainless Steel Headshell Weight the perfect fit for cartridges that are too light for your tonearm and counterweight. This 3 gram weight will help you achieve optimum performance out of your cartridge. "
Adding weight at the headshell isn’t some cludge fix.
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I think you need to get rid of the solstice and invest in a decent turntable
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Clearaudio also sells them, fashioned in the star-like shape of their premium LOMC cartridges (i.e. from Concerto on up).
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When I tried my Lyra Delos and rega atheos I just stuck a blob of blu tack on the head shell, does that make me a bad person?
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No just someone who isn’t confident in fitting a cartridge
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It does not sound terribly serious for hi end audio freaks
For the Solstice you will need apparently more like 6g and not 3g. If it works then great.
For the poster who said buy a decent turntable and get rid of the Solstice i want to clearly say something. I have not commented on this thread because i don’t like the Solstice. I have commented because i LOVE the Solstice. Looks great and sounds amazing. My comments basically revolve around the notion that Naim near missed something extraordinary here and what a shame that is. Great company…almost great (almost amazing actually) table but they didn’t pull it off and they should have. The particular way they missed is really suprising. I can’t believe it.
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