Schiit Sol

Been following this for a while and I have to say this deck is pretty perplexing to me, mostly because of who is making it. Seems to be at odds with the simplicity of Schiit's core product line. The list of features does seem nice, but priorities seem a bit skewed to audiophile neurosis (long arm, carbon fiber materials, unipivot etc) while neglecting to perfect the tablestakes. The wow / flutter at 0.045 is certainly better than entry level Pro-Jects and Regas but can't really compete with the next price bracket up for belt drives like the MoFi StudioDeck or direct drives like Technics Mk7 / 1500c. At this point I'd like to see reviews too.

I will say it's frustrating to see Schiit joining with Technics and MoFi in not disclosing the deck's arm mass. I really don't get this trend, as it's quite important for me to know when shopping for carts.
 
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Interesting. I see that they have a second tonearm available, but I can't quite tell if it's swappable or attached to the table somehow.

Edit: looks like the whole arm is swappable. I'd rather swap a $40 headshell than $200 tonearm to change carts.
 
Hogues said:
Interesting. I see that they have a second tonearm available, but I can't quite tell if it's swappable or attached to the table somehow.

Edit: looks like the whole arm is swappable. I'd rather swap a $40 headshell than $200 tonearm to change carts.
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Yeah I think the whole thing is swappable thanks to the unipivot, like some VPI decks. I think you just have to remove the little din cable, then replace it. I guess the argument could be made for increased rigidity over a SME style headshell, or a potential to have different arm masses / materials, but all in all it seems fiddly in current state. Here's a blog post about the deck with a shootout of carts playing on it, and you can see how much space the arm collection would take up. Quite a rouges gallery of new and OOS carts though.
 
What is the benefit of a unipivot arm?

Also curious to hear reviews. Although I'm guessing those will be dependent on how much time and effort the reviewer is willing to put in to get the cartridge working just right, since they are selling this as a highly tweakable product.

And @zombie.modernist regarding tonearm mass, looks like they have that info, but just forgot to publish it to the website and the guy who knows is at RMAF. Or something like that :p

www.head-fi.org

Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up

Is the electronic Sol user manual on schiit.com missing pages? It seems to only have 1 page, and it kind of leaves you hanging. Yep! Fixed.
www.head-fi.org www.head-fi.org
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Is it me or did that platter look pretty, how you say, not flat?
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You are not alone in that view. Big risk for Schiit given that anyone buying one will likely being purchasing based on videos and curiosity.

I'm sure they'll get one to Guttenberg very soon if he didn't already get a review sample. He always gives high praise to Schiit gear. But if you watch enough of his reviews he does drop little hints if something is a little off.
 
displayname said:
You are not alone in that view. Big risk for Schiit given that anyone buying one will likely being purchasing based on videos and curiosity.

I'm sure they'll get one to Guttenberg very soon if he didn't already get a review sample. He always gives high praise to Schiit gear. But if you watch enough of his reviews he does drop little hints if something is a little off.
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That's what I like about Steve, he's very "diplomatic" about it ;)
 
Holy moley! The thread below starts with a detailed review of the Sol. Then on page three a Schiit rep posts that they are halting sales to fix "a lot more problems than we expected" then relaunch in 1-2 months.

www.superbestaudiofriends.org

Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.

Didn't I say that this is not a turntable for beginners? Well after opening the box and finally getting the thing to work, and work rather well, I...
www.superbestaudiofriends.org www.superbestaudiofriends.org
 
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Total mess IMO. I thought this would largely cause some user confusion due to prototype level hardware design, but it seems to have more serious kinks to iron out.

At least they seem to have been swift in course correction.
 
Wow reading that is insane.... I like a tweaky table, I mean I have a 50plus year old deck, but that's a nightmare. I thought the unipivot would be the issue but wow. Stringing your own counterweight is literally insanity. I can barely tie my shoelaces let alone a tiny knot on a thin nylon line.

I like Schiit a lot. I love that they're trying new things and pushing HiFi toward more affordable prices. But the Sol sounds like a mess right now. At least they're trying to make it right.
 
dansomeone said:
Holy moley! The thread below starts with a detailed review of the Sol. Then on page three a Schiit rep posts that they are halting sales to fix "a lot more problems than we expected" then relaunch in 1-2 months.

www.superbestaudiofriends.org

Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.

Didn't I say that this is not a turntable for beginners? Well after opening the box and finally getting the thing to work, and work rather well, I...
www.superbestaudiofriends.org www.superbestaudiofriends.org
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The poster in the link says the SOL is "for 87 level vinylheads with patience".

I'm an 87 level guy with patience and I don't even want it.

They took forever to come out with this and the initial reports aren't good. The headshell is a disaster. The Denon DL103 is the wrong cartridge for this arm, but it points out that any large bodied cartridge will either be a challenge or a no go. The anti skate isn't confidence inspiring either. Cartridge alignment isn't possible to get remotely close to correct. No mention of bearing lube.

They need to get their Schiit together.
 
I found this post from Jason Stoddard (co founder of Shiit). This is how to handle problems. Bravo!

"Okay, so here's the deal: we dun phucked up. We should have done a beta.

Soooooo...let's do a beta.

Soon, all Sol owners will be getting an email that goes something like this:

Okay, so it looks like the Sol launch has uncovered a lot more problems than we expected. Please accept our apologies for any trouble you may have had. We want this to be a really exceptional turntable, so we're putting a pause on sales.

We're also making you the following offer: please keep your Sol and help us improve it.

If you choose to do so, we'll refund $300 of the Sol's original price, making your cost $499. Then, we will send you a selected set of updates and changes to improve your Sol. Also, if you have any functional problems right now (like wobbling platters), we will swap those parts as well. And, at the end of the beta period, if you still aren't happy, we'll refund the rest of your purchase price.

Alternately, if you're just done with Sol right now, that's fine too. Contact us for an RA and we will refund 100% of your purchase price, taxes and shipping when we receive it back.

We sincerely hope you'll help us make Sol what it should be. If not, we completely understand."

So, yeah, I hope you stick with it. We're going to be doing everything we need to make this right, up to and including flying out Conrad to help us in real time. When we know a bit more, we can start sending updates to the beta testers. With luck, we'll be able to address the problems you've had and start shipping again within a month or two. If not, it might take a little longer. And when we relaunch, we'll make sure every turntable is pre-set-up for a "typical" cartridge, and there will be a standard cartridge option.

Again, apologies for the stupidity.

Thursday at 12:14 PM
 
HiFi Guy said:
I found this post from Jason Stoddard (co founder of Shiit). This is how to handle problems. Bravo!

"Okay, so here's the deal: we dun phucked up. We should have done a beta.

Soooooo...let's do a beta.

Soon, all Sol owners will be getting an email that goes something like this:

Okay, so it looks like the Sol launch has uncovered a lot more problems than we expected. Please accept our apologies for any trouble you may have had. We want this to be a really exceptional turntable, so we're putting a pause on sales.

We're also making you the following offer: please keep your Sol and help us improve it.

If you choose to do so, we'll refund $300 of the Sol's original price, making your cost $499. Then, we will send you a selected set of updates and changes to improve your Sol. Also, if you have any functional problems right now (like wobbling platters), we will swap those parts as well. And, at the end of the beta period, if you still aren't happy, we'll refund the rest of your purchase price.

Alternately, if you're just done with Sol right now, that's fine too. Contact us for an RA and we will refund 100% of your purchase price, taxes and shipping when we receive it back.

We sincerely hope you'll help us make Sol what it should be. If not, we completely understand."

So, yeah, I hope you stick with it. We're going to be doing everything we need to make this right, up to and including flying out Conrad to help us in real time. When we know a bit more, we can start sending updates to the beta testers. With luck, we'll be able to address the problems you've had and start shipping again within a month or two. If not, it might take a little longer. And when we relaunch, we'll make sure every turntable is pre-set-up for a "typical" cartridge, and there will be a standard cartridge option.

Again, apologies for the stupidity.

Thursday at 12:14 PM
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Taking responsibility, apologizing and fixing the problem right from the get-go? Well done!

Now imagine if the manufacturer had been VMP.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I found this post from Jason Stoddard (co founder of Shiit). This is how to handle problems. Bravo!

"Okay, so here's the deal: we dun phucked up. We should have done a beta.

Soooooo...let's do a beta.

Soon, all Sol owners will be getting an email that goes something like this:

Okay, so it looks like the Sol launch has uncovered a lot more problems than we expected. Please accept our apologies for any trouble you may have had. We want this to be a really exceptional turntable, so we're putting a pause on sales.

We're also making you the following offer: please keep your Sol and help us improve it.

If you choose to do so, we'll refund $300 of the Sol's original price, making your cost $499. Then, we will send you a selected set of updates and changes to improve your Sol. Also, if you have any functional problems right now (like wobbling platters), we will swap those parts as well. And, at the end of the beta period, if you still aren't happy, we'll refund the rest of your purchase price.

Alternately, if you're just done with Sol right now, that's fine too. Contact us for an RA and we will refund 100% of your purchase price, taxes and shipping when we receive it back.

We sincerely hope you'll help us make Sol what it should be. If not, we completely understand."

So, yeah, I hope you stick with it. We're going to be doing everything we need to make this right, up to and including flying out Conrad to help us in real time. When we know a bit more, we can start sending updates to the beta testers. With luck, we'll be able to address the problems you've had and start shipping again within a month or two. If not, it might take a little longer. And when we relaunch, we'll make sure every turntable is pre-set-up for a "typical" cartridge, and there will be a standard cartridge option.

Again, apologies for the stupidity.

Thursday at 12:14 PM
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How refreshing, no diluting the problem, no dancing around blame, taking it 100% in the teeth and even phrasing the email like a normal person ".....if your just done with Sol right now", I may never buy a Schiit product, but as a company they have my utmost respect now, swaying that pendulum in their direction in a big way. Kudos
 
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