advertisement


Naim Solstice vs LP12 Klimax

K

Kovit

pfm Member
Hi folks,
Has anyone made an audition both Naim Solstice and LP12 Klimax with the same hifi system?
 
There's a thread on the green place, thousands of user replies, most likely a few members point out an aparte platter.
Award for those reading in full.
 
Given the amount of time the Solstice has been out the silence about it's actual performance relative to the obvious competitor has been deafening.

First used one has now appeared on Ebay
 
Try the Naim site for hundreds of comments on this. Much discussion on Solstice versus LP12, mostly from people who have just bought a Solstice. Also much discussion about whether the phono stage included is as good as a Superline and whether the supplied cartridge is (a) great or (b) a clear weak point.

Actually, there isn't much comparison with any deck apart from a high=spec LP12...
 
To be fair, @colasblue they only made 500, and sold them pretty much straight away, so no need for a marketing exercise.

I have only seen two journalists' reviews - again, hardly a surprise, but they don't even compare it to Clearaudio - perhaps an even more obvious comparison given who makes the Solstice and whose technology it uses.
 
Ok so 500 are out there and 120 are in the UK. I'm not so sure how big the market for the top spec LP12 is but I doubt it's much bigger for people buying the whole setup in one hit. At least a few people on here have the means to play in that league but not had any reports of anybody even attending a demo.
 
NickofWimbledon said:
Try the Naim site for hundreds of comments on this. Much discussion on Solstice versus LP12, mostly from people who have just bought a Solstice. Also much discussion about whether the phono stage included is as good as a Superline and whether the supplied cartridge is (a) great or (b) a clear weak point.

Actually, there isn't much comparison with any deck apart from a high=spec LP12...
Click to expand...

Really? ...I'd put a complete P10 setup up against it any day of the week.
 
In fairness I've never heard the latest Karousel or Radical variants of the Lp12 but I jumped off the band wagon long before they were released in favour of a different path which to my ears was both cheaper and better.

On that basis I'm sure there will be those who say they're both equally poor VFM relative to the best you can get at that sort of price point (which I'm sure is something that the Linn & Naim dealers happen not to stock)

Is there any dealer out there who can race the Lp12 and Solstice against the Avids, Brinkmanns, TW Acustics, Clearaudios SME's and such which are at similar pricepoints?

Might also be interested in racing them against my own Orbe/Graham combo probably at about half the price of the solstice all in.
 
I am sure Linn would be saddened if the UK market for £15K-ish turntables were quite that small @colasblue

https://community.naimaudio.com/t/new-from-naim-solstice-special-edition-turntable/17415

Some of the 4000 entries are from people not only commenting on how it compared to the LP12 but getting down to swapping a Superline for the phono stage, so it sounds to me like they are among the 120.

@tpetsch - that''s fair. There are lots of good options for those who can spend that on a turntable - unsurprisingly. If my LP12 vanished in the night, I'd feel duty-bound to demo a P10, along with Linn, Vertere, Avid, Michell, Clearaudio, Brinkmann, maybe another higher mass offering, Well-Tempered, VPI and a direct drive option perhaps. I reckon that that probably means 6 different dealers, so I hope I don't ever have to do it...
 
NickofWimbledon said:
I am sure Linn would be saddened if the UK market for £15K-ish turntables were quite that small @colasblue

https://community.naimaudio.com/t/new-from-naim-solstice-special-edition-turntable/17415

Some of the 4000 entries are from people not only commenting on how it compared to the LP12 but getting down to swapping a Superline for the phono stage, so it sounds to me like they are among the 120.

@tpetsch - that''s fair. There are lots of good options for those who can spend that on a turntable - unsurprisingly. If my LP12 vanished in the night, I'd feel duty-bound to demo a P10, along with Linn, Vertere, Avid, Michell, Clearaudio, Brinkmann, maybe another higher mass offering, Well-Tempered, VPI and a direct drive option perhaps. I reckon that that probably means 6 different dealers, so I hope I don't ever have to do it...
Click to expand...

Well, to be honest I never personally did a comparison between a Solstice and a P10, but simple math shows:
Complete Solstice TT with Cart and Phonostage = 20K US retail.
Complete P10 with Aphelion II and Aura = 17.7K US retail.
Also considering that most of the Rega kit is built in-house Vs. the repackaged Naim kit -colabed & purchased thru Clearaudio- and then stepped on again by Naim to finally get to the retail price, I can only assume the Rega offers more value for the money here.. Also we can be pretty sure that Rega, Linn & Naim pay somewhat close attention to what each other is doing concerning retail price points is all why I think it's worth doing the A/B ../C.
 
Its a prestige profit project.
If Naim sold them all, investors are happy.
There's always a market for uber expensive hifi.

Guess next they can release various revised or separate items outcome.

I like the G comment, how many would buy one Solstice ?
 
tpetsch said:
Well, to be honest I never personally did a comparison between a Solstice and a P10, but simple math shows:
Complete Solstice TT with Cart and Phonostage = 20K US.
Complete P10 with Aphelion II and Aura = 17.75K US.
Also considering that most of the Rega kit is built in-house Vs. the repackaged Naim kit -colabed & purchased thru Clearaudio- and then stepped on again by Naim to finally get to the retail price, I can only assume the Rega offers more value for the money here.. Also we can be pretty sure that Rega, Linn & Naim pay somewhat close attention to what each other is doing concerning price points this is why I think it's worth doing the A/B ../C.
Click to expand...

Interesting, its never crossed my mind a P10 could end up in such price.
Maybe the new P12 (or P50 ?) will reach above ?
 
I have heard both into a Naim 500 system and ATC SCM50s at a dealer comparison. Both sounded very good and whilst the Solstice had many strengths at the time I thought the Linn was slightly better. This might be different though with a better cartridge on the Soltice and a Superline moving coil phono stage and putting both decks at a more similar price point. If I had the money (premium bond jackpot needed for this) I would probably go for the Linn, but as I have a much lower spec Linn with a more modest Naim system and SCM40s already this is probably to be expected.
 
NickofWimbledon said:
To be fair, they only made 500, and sold them pretty much straight away.
Click to expand...

News to me? I do know all their dealers had to take one and the last time I spoke to my local dealer, which wasn't that long ago, they still hadn't sold theirs. It doesn't matter how you try and spin it, this turntable was not a success.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top