I thought that the discount was 20%? You get a completely new cartridge under that deal.
It’s just the forum norm Ryder. To be fair dealers selling new ones at less than 10k isn’t doing much for resale value is it?
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That is with the counterweight in the recommended orientation as far as I remember (i,e the concave bit on the outside)
It is all good (especially since I paid nowhere near £16k for my new old stock one 
You can add a SUT. That will support using a LOMC into a MM input.
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I believe they rebuild the XV-1s and XV-1t. For the other DV cartridges what you say is true.
The magnetic and so relevant part of the device is on the inside. It pulls the arm back to create the anti inertia. The closer the magnet to the cylinder the more anti skate is applied.
I think Fatcat was referring to the counterweight rather than the anti skate?
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I enquired into this after 1st Equinox failed (tip simply fell off) and the 2nd got damaged by 1 (if not all 3) of the under 10yo’s messing around. With the replacement taking 4wks to get an Equinox (under warranty) I opted to ‘upgraded’ to the XV-1s.
Anyway, it appears that Clearaudio cartridges are not ‘repairable’ or exchangeable.
Isn’t that looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope - they’re being sold for so little because no one is buying them even at that price?
There may be few if any actual owners who are unhappy with the Solstice, but isn’t the problem that there are plenty of Naim customers who do not want to be Naim Solstice customers?
I count myself in that number-I am very tempted by the concept of a Naim turntable (been waiting decades!) and by my very brief listen to the Solstice. It sounded great.
Despite this, the lack of long term support mean I am am less and less inclined to pursue having a proper listen with a view to replacing my LP12 and if I do, it will probably be with a Naia.
I suspect I’m not the only one in this position, hence why there are still NOS models out there at substantial discounts…
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Yes.
On the photo I posted, it looks like there is plenty of room to slide the weight towards the pivot, allowing a lighter weight cartridge to be used.
I don’t remember what discount PearAudio give on the Dynavector trade-in, but you certainly do get a brand new cartridge.
I took the opportunity, when my last XX2MkII was traded in, to upgrade to a Te Kaitora Rua, which is an utterly fabulous cartridge. It has all the delicacy of the old XX2, but with added treble and bass detail, and the two forward mounting points could almost have been made for the ARO.
Got it. Note that the concave side of the counterweight is outward and the cartridge is an Equinox not my DVXV1T. To get my counterweight to engage the spring bearing I had to turn it around.
As Cohen mentioned the issue is that the Counterweight “floats” on a bearing and is a wider diameter than the armtube (typical Naim decoupling I guess) this means if you move it further in it disengages from the bearing.
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Fair points.
I would be interested to know how you found the change from Equinox to XV1s altered the sound.
Yeah, wallet permitting the TKR is one that I may be considering at next renewal. Can’t beat the XX2 Mk 2 for bang for buck though !
At this point the failure of the product to deliver what was sold is factual and not really anything that can be argued. Game set and match.
The only issue as HungryHalibut suggested above is whether Naim is going address the problems to aid its dealers (who can’t sell them) and its best long term customers who have purchased the unit. Either it will do the right thing or it won’t.
Btw the comparison to the Naim 50 issue of only offering a MM phono stage is another red herring in a long list of red herrings on this thread. There is nothing wrong with Naim only supporting MM carts on a product. The product clearly says what is supported. The equivalent right now on the Solstice is that Naim would need to say ‘this turntable only supports the equinox cartridge which is not officially for sale and may not be available in the future. There are reports of some customers using other very heavy cartridges with some experimentation and modification. Buy at your own risk.’
I trust everyone sees the issue.
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Sure Jas. At the end of the day it’s up the buyer to decide if he thinks the Solstice as a package is worth the price it’s currently going for and also for any potential buyer looking at upgrading it to determine whether doing the sort of thing that I have done is too much trouble. No one is being forced to buy or do anything.
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If you can possibly stretch to it, the step up in performance is well worth it, I assure you.
That said, I was a very happy user of three XX2MkIIs for many, many years.
I don’t think that Dynavector cartridges get the praise that they deserve. Their range of cartridges is so wide - in terms of style, price, and performance - that I think potential buyers get confused, and go elsewhere for a ‘simpler’ choice.
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