OK so yesterday was interesting. Listened to a Solstice package via 82/250 into some Neat Motive SX1s. Wanted to keep the amplification and speakers in the realms of something I know well hence why it's a bit under-specced for the front end, but it gave me some sort of benchmark. Also listened to a Akurate LP12 with an Ekos/Kendo (I think) through the same system by way of some comparison.
So what is my verdict? Well I've never been very good at describing sound, but I will have a go here. First impressions are of a product that sounds like a Naim product of old to an extent. It is not the most neutral or analytical turntable/arm/cartridge combo, but it sure extracts a lot of information and presents it very musically with that light mid bass emphasis that old Naim products always used to have. The bass in general though is beautifully controlled and the top end never gets ragged but the extremities are fully explored as much as any turntable I have ever heard. Overall though the experience of each recording just made me smile and enjoy the music, I found myself just getting immersed in the sound and not worrying about things like whether there was too much sibilance or the bottom end was bloated... it just makes music basically. For reference we played a selection of my favourite tracks including Kraftwerk - Radioactivity (remix), Kate Bush - This Woman's Work, Talk Talk - Living in Another World, Talking Heads - Burning Down The House and The The - Uncertain Smile none of which are 'special audiophile test tracks', but tracks I know well and love.
Moving over to the LP12 (which I didn't have as long with and only compared a few tracks) I was greeted with a slightly different sound with more bass bloom and a definitely slightly higher noise floor than the Solstice, but again the turntable made a lovely job of presenting the music and making it cohese for want of a better expression. In the end (and I appreciate it was a shortish session in an unfamiliar room) I genuinely couldn't say which I preferred although both were demonstrably better than my own turntable (albeit a much lower specced Gyrodec), but neither can hold a candle aesthetically to a Gyrodec with the Naim being particularly ungainly in the flesh due to the platter size (not that aesthetics matter to many of course).
Fundamentally though it is a law of diminishing returns at this sort of price point and I felt both the LP12 and Solstice were excellent for their price and among the very best vinyl replay I have ever heard. I certainly see no reason to slag off Naim's achievement here other than to say I think the making it only available as a package might be short-sighted, but it's definitely a Naim sound and look regardless of who makes it. While it's not perfect nothing ever is and I think they should be applauded for their first foray into turntables. For me it will be interesting to see where they go from here.