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Naim Solstice officially unveiled . . .

yuckyamson said:
I'm quite certain I never discussed it with you because I had to find out about it after I'd already left the store to live in TO.
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My mistake, Jeff, it must have been one of the lads from the shop, then.

But, hey, thanks for confirming it all the same.

P.S. I think all of this went down back when you were off off-Broadway, NY.
 
Hook said:
If you ever get the chance to try the DD, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a similar result as when you tried the Technics SL-1200GR.
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You may well be right. I’ve tried very hard to like direct drive, but haven’t quite managed yet. I think the bog standard SL-1200 MkII is a superb deck, and just impossibly good value when they were being bunged out at £350 or so from DJ outlets, but they don’t connect with me the way a good idler does (or a good Linn, though that is very different). I’d like to spend some time with an L-07D, SP10 or one of the DD EMTs to see if that did it for me.

The thing I love about the 124 is the coherence, timing and phrasing - it just makes music make sense (even with quite a humble vintage arm). It’s light on its feet the way say a P9 is, yet weighty and big like a Linn. Just agile and alive. It is probably worth noting that my 124 is very light as they go, the Stereolab plinth has no mass to it, I’m using rubber mushrooms, so really all the mass is in the iron sub-platter. I may think very differently if I had one of the huge high-mass plinths. I have a suspicion what I didn’t like about the SL-1200G was the high-mass and damping rather than the drive system. I also suspect the TD-124’s flimsy top-platter is part of its sound too, the two platters together have the rotational stability of high-mass, but there is a ‘broken bell’ aspect almost like the screwed-baffle of a BBC cab. That’s my best theory at this point anyway. They are an utter PITA to really get working right, but when you do they are a superb turntable.

PS I assume you like yours?!
 
Tony L said:
I have a suspicion what I didn’t like about the SL-1200G was the high-mass and damping.
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You could be right, because when I modified my Stanton ST150, the first thing I did was to throw away the heavy rubberised plinth and put the top plate in a lighter wooden one. I guess the reason they're so heavily damped is because of the environments that DJ's are likely to use them in. I think that direct drives for ordinary consumers are likely to be very different.
 
wylton said:
Naim should have made a turntable a long time ago. It was ludicrous that they continued supporting Linn, with the Armageddon, which was made especially for the LP12 & the Aro, which was made especially for the Troika , long after Linn had lost interest in the previous arrangement between the two companies. So the Solstice is an about time product, but I would like to see it turn into some spinoff projects, with the new Aro & cartridge being made available as separate items & maybe a scaled down turntable too.
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I’ve always thought the reason why Naim never made a TT is simply because they cant. The solstice
is put together by another company (clear audio), Naim’s spin doctor head of PR has made it clear it’s a Naim design. So phono stage, Power supply, Aro 2, plinth and cart are of Naim design Origin, I think Naim god Roy George has his name pinned to it. (I wonder if he claims fame for the S400 speakers) The really really important bit you know the bearing is a clear audio design and they say it’s very good. So make no mistake this project is not the romantic Naim of the past like some people believe, eg the SL2 speaker cost more to make than they could sell for. It’s a limited-edition moneyspinner which may turn into a precursor for a permanent production TT. Should be interesting to see how fast they sell. Or a Michelle orb, Graham’s elite, and a Lyra Atlas May be a better tasting cup of tea.
 
MrPinkEyes said:
Oh no post police alert! Here’s an idea maybe you need to go to another thread? Just a thought
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I am genuinely surprised you can tear yourself away from your anti-Naim mission long enough to have another thought especially as thinking seems quite hard for you. Maybe you need to get a grip and stop posting conjecture as if it were fact. You have no idea how much input Naim had into the Solstice project and no idea how it sounds (none of us have) yet you keep whining on getting increasingly annoyed as not everyone is falling at your feet and agreeing with you. We get it, you don't like Naim (you and many others on here), but 35 pages in it's all been said... several times... so how about you try and find another topic to post about... however long that might take you ;)
 
Surely the whole idea of a forum is for people to post their opinions?
I genuinely don't get why people who question NAIM products are classed as "anti NAIM"
It's almost like if you're not for NAIM then you're against it in certain people's eyes
 
John Tobler who owned Studio 99 changed to a B & O centre Dave Davis used to run the Audio shop and I remember a young James Herriot working there I think he used to set up the LP 12’s. I think the majority of the staff left after the change to B & O. I knew they had another shop in Harpenden but never went there, I went to Studio 99 after the demise of The Sound Organisation in the Borough.

Regards,

Martin
 
I wonder if Linn were ever approached to do a collaborative Naim deck.
Given the history, at least in the early days and we'll into the life of JV Naim that would seem sensible.

It would appeal to the old school Naim diehards though perhaps less so to the current market.

Then again would Linn participate in such a venture.

A Linn LP12 derivative with Aro 2, Naim phono section and PSU would surely have a decent market.
 
wd40addict said:
It ended its days as a B&O centre (now gone). Don't know if it was the same management.
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I have checked...same company...two branches.
martin dawson said:
John Tobler who owned Studio 99 changed to a B & O centre Dave Davis used to run the Audio shop and I remember a young James Herriot working there I think he used to set up the LP 12’s. I think the majority of the staff left after the change to B & O. I knew they had another shop in Harpenden but never went there, I went to Studio 99 after the demise of The Sound Organisation in the Borough.

Regards,

Martin
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Sound Organisation that was it (no relations to the company in York)...they moved to close to Bishopsgate in the City of London before closing ..they were close to Studio 99...'friends' as it were.
 
Robert said:
I wonder if Linn were ever approached to do a collaborative Naim deck.
Given the history, at least in the early days and we'll into the life of JV Naim that would seem sensible.
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In the early days there was no need, Linn made turntables, arms, cartidges, speakers, Naim the amps, they were collaborating already. Once they fell out there was no chance as I understand it. Within Salisbury SBL didn't just stand for Separate Box Loudspeaker ...

Robert said:
Then again would Linn participate in such a venture.
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I suspect the answer is over their cold dead bodies. See above.
 
Tony L said:
I (and therefore pfm) really can’t get involved with hearsay from ex-dealers etc, that is of zero interest to me. It is clear Naim under its current ownership has adapted to new markets and decided how it wishes to compete. I have no issue with that, nothing stays still. Every business has the right to define how it designs and sells its products. Some things will appeal to me, other things won’t and it has nothing to do with being able to afford a product or not. I’m personally far more interested in design concepts, performance, build quality, long-term reliability, serviceability etc. I see nothing to hate about the new Naim deck, it looks nicely made and should have a long service life. The stuff I detest is all the cheap plastic landfill crap at the other end of the market that works badly for a couple of months and then ends up in toxic landfill of finds its way out to choke a sea turtle or whatever. I can’t see any Naim Solstice ending up there so I’m completely chilled out about its existence.

I still don’t understand why this is such a long thread. I guess it is kind of interesting that Naim eventually made a turntable, but I’m not sure it is a hugely interesting turntable. I really want to see a full tear-down at some point to better understand the design and underlying thinking. I guess pretty much everything that can be done has already been done when it comes to turntable design, but I still find say Rega really interesting as they are chipping away at uncharted territory with regards to removing mass, using composite materials etc. The rest of the market tends to be ‘more money buys more mass’ and I am far from convinced by that as a concept.

If I were to list the truly great turntables my list would look something like; Garrard 301, Thorens TD-124, EMT 930, AR XA, Transcriptors Reference, Linn LP12*, Rega Planar 3, Technics SP-10, Trio L-07D, Roksan Xerxes**, Pink Triangle, Platine Verdier, Well Tempered, Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck, Rega Naiad and many more. I could justify all of these with a good few paragraphs detailing genuinely original thinking.

*I accept the LP12 is evolution of the existing rather than new thinking, but it can’t not be in the list!
** I know it had all the build quality of a £20 MFI bedside table, but there was some genuinely original thinking in the Xerxes, e.g. the motor on a pivot & spring. It deserves to be in the list.
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Having recently acquired a Pink Triangle Anniversary (upgraded to Anniversary by True Point) I have been so impressed by how good it sounds and this is without having to add a huge amount of mass. Sometimes less is more.
 
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