This has probably been covered somewhere but I was just about to hit the button on ordering a Vertere MG-1/Mystic to get in before the September price hike and the dealer has apparently got a Solstice in stock! I won’t have time to demo the Naim but has anyone put the MG-1 and Solstice into battle? If so what were the thoughts?
Would you seriously buy a £16,000 piece of hifi based on what others say and without listening to it yourself? Surely you could make the time?
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Agreed it sounds crazy, I’d decided on the MG-1 so I thought I’d order it before the price hike but this Sostice came up ex display (£12,500) and stupidly (maybe) I didn’t want to miss it
Is your dealer selling both, has both to demo, and is pressuring you to choose without comparing them? If the pressure is self imposed could you ask your dealer to help delay the decision, perhaps for some % of the MG-1 price increase, to let you listen to the Solstice? At that level I would hope dealers are a little flexible!?
I keep seeing TTs I’m about to demo come up for cheaper prices than I know the dealer I’m using will sell for. I’ll pay more, but that’s for the service they’re offering (putting on a 3-way demo of my shortlist)
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Very good points and the pressure is totally self imposed, I’d made my decision (MG-1) and happened to see the Naim on his stock list ex demo and it was my fear of losing the choice should the Naim sell as I can’t get to demo for a week or so
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If it was me then I’d call them - knowing you liked the MG-1 I’m sure they’d be able to advise if the Solstice was likely to appeal. At least I hope they’d be objective enough to guide you and not be recommending based on the profit of either option. That they haven’t already suggested it might tell you something too!? I hope my faith in dealers isn’t misplaced!
It’s a lovely position to be in! I’m fairly bursting at the prospect of a new TT at 1/4 that budget 
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It is indeed very much a first world problem I know! His preference (genuinely I think) is the MG-1 but the very idea of a Solstice at the same price as the Vertere is sooo tempting, help!! Also I will understand very little sympathy for this issue.
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I have absolutely no skin in the vinyl game so can’t comment on SQ but from the aesthetics side of things the Vertere is the hands down winner 
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Spending this sort of money, it still is your preference that matters surely?
Not heard the Solstice but must be a hell of a deck if it outperforms the MG.
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It is indeed I just can’t get there quickly and my worry is the Solstice will sell
It’s only a guess but I think the dealer referred to is also a renowned Linn dealer too and that Solstice has been up for sale for a little while now based on comments in the Naim FB Groups I’m a member of. I know them well enough (I think) that they’d put both aside for the OP until a proper head-to-head’s been performed.
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That sounds like the one, they will indeed and I do trust them, obviously I can order another MG-1 as they are 7-10 days delivery if I miss stock now but the Solstice a bit more difficult to source? I wish I hadn’t seen the Naim as my mind was made up!
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The Solstice is indeed more difficult to source as they were all sold so the fact that one has become available at an attractive price is certain to be a big pull I’m sure! Bear in mind the MG-1 is going to need a suitably talented PS (whereas the Solstice is complete), so unless you already have one, that’ll need factoring into the budget.
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Yes indeed these are my issues the fact it’s come up at such a good price for the full package and the rariity (if that’s a word!)
I hope you get a demo in because as others have observed, to spend that sort of money on something you’ve not seen with your own eyes, let alone heard could be a very, very expensive mistake. My advice would be to book yourself in with a handful of your fave records and if you already own a deck, either bring it along or have them rig one up for you with your amps and speakers (if possible). I’d be doing that if it were my dosh because my own LP12 is the benchmark by which all others are judged.
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I should really and the dealer has got more or less my set up in amp, speakers etc. I guess I’ve just got carried away with the fact I could have the So;lstice now! LP12 would be the dream but out of my busget 
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“LP12 would be the dream but out of my busget”…
It absolutely isn’t and that same dealer can build you one using a mixture of secondhand and new parts to your 'spec that will be cheaper and more performant than buying new.
That’s what I and many other LP12 owners on here did and don’t forget, with an LP12 you’ll have endless upgrade options whereas with both the Naim and Vertere, you’ll have hit the end of the road. £12,500 is going to get you a helluva Linn deck!
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You carefully chose the Vertere and were happy with your decision. If the Solstice hadn’t come up you wouldn’t have thought about it surely? To buy something you hadn’t thought of just because it’s cheap is never wise.
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I don’t blame you 
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