And an altogether more substantial price.
Ahhh, the Schiit Sol has 'acquired angular momentum'. :)
- Thread starter mhardy6647
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And an altogether more substantial price.
At two the three times the price...I would hope so!
Yes. This is not an ab initio turntable, neither in design nor price.
I for one am not sure what the exact criticisms are. Is it the price? Build? Complexity? Wobbly tonearm or platter? Lack of remote?
I had been wondering when it would finally come out. The price is somewhat higher than the $599 or $699 it was rumored to be, which I can understand as I thought that was too low a projection. Schiit is certainly an interesting company; it also seems to me to be one of the most divisive. People either absolutely love them, or think they’re positively horrible. I happen to fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. I personally have a Gungnir and Mjolnir, and I have been mostly satisfied with them overall. They were purchased back in 2012, and I had an issue with the original DAC board in the Gungnir that would cut out with some lovely static-like noise every so often. They took it back, confirmed that there was an issue, and installed the first one of a new board revision to be distributed to a customer. One of their guys even hand-delivered it to my house as he was in the area and gave me a free pair of their (at the time) new balanced cables for the trouble. It has since been completely problem-free. I haven’t had as good luck with the Mjolnir. There is a slight, fairly quiet, intermittent hum in the right channel that I can only describe as electrical noise. A hospital-grade isolation transformer didn’t solve it, and I couldn’t link it to any other appliances in my house or a wireless technology. The only thing they’ve come up with is that something is amiss with the wiring in my house (which I doubt). I did have to send it in a few months ago for an out-of-warranty service to replace the volume pot and I believe the output op-amps(?). This came to less than $100 including shipping both ways, which I considered reasonable. Besides those issues, I have been quite satisfied with the sound quality of the two devices I own.
Some of the less-than-stellar measurements recorded for Schiit products on a certain science forum give me some pause, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to know how those measurements impact real-world sound quality. Even so, I would be unlikely at this point to purchase any of the products that didn’t test well compared to other comparable products.
Obviously more than some thought has gone into the design and production of the Sol, and I wish them all the best and hope that it is a great product at its price point. Of course, not everyone is going to be enamored of its design and the complexity of its setup, but I believe it was designed for people who are (very) familiar with turntables and want good bang for their buck. Anyway, apologies for the somewhat off-topic diatribe on this. I just thought I would offer my two cents.
Some of the less-than-stellar measurements recorded for Schiit products on a certain science forum give me some pause, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to know how those measurements impact real-world sound quality. Even so, I would be unlikely at this point to purchase any of the products that didn’t test well compared to other comparable products.
Obviously more than some thought has gone into the design and production of the Sol, and I wish them all the best and hope that it is a great product at its price point. Of course, not everyone is going to be enamored of its design and the complexity of its setup, but I believe it was designed for people who are (very) familiar with turntables and want good bang for their buck. Anyway, apologies for the somewhat off-topic diatribe on this. I just thought I would offer my two cents.
Like (and, believe, me, I offer this with great trepidation) America's current president, Schiit has a knack for staying in the 'news' within their play space.
Bless their hearts.
I should mention that I am a Schiit agnostic, too -- wouldn't mind trying one of their (tube) preamps, although it have to be the 'spensiver one.
Bless their hearts.
I should mention that I am a Schiit agnostic, too -- wouldn't mind trying one of their (tube) preamps, although it have to be the 'spensiver one.
👍👍 Ive been eyeing the Freya + as well. Also the non-tube Freya S as it is 300 cheaper and I am still a tube virgin. I'm afraid once I go tube I won't go back. 
There is an Asian hifi dude online
whose reviews I enjoy and he has great things to say about the +. Like just baaarely less in performance/sound quality than his Cary at a small fraction of the cost.
There is an Asian hifi dude online whose reviews I enjoy and he has great things to say about the +. Like just baaarely less in performance/sound quality than his Cary at a small fraction of the cost.
My bad, that review is for the original Freya. Also in the last sentence replace where I said "baaarely" with
"slightly". The Freya+ is an improvement over the original Freya (and a few Benjies more).
"Freya+ is a refinement of the original Freya, with higher performance, more features, and enhanced ease of use. But it’s still a true no-excuses, balanced, remote-control preamp. Switch between passive, differential buffer, and differential tube gain modes, enjoy the fine control of a 128-step relay-switched stepped attenuator volume control with perfect channel matching, and control it all from the comfort of your favorite chair.
Whisper-Silent Tube Stage—With Tube Shutdown
Now, you can enjoy a tube preamp without the hiss and hum of classic designs. Freya+’s all-new tube stage with new-production 6SN7 tubes, DC heaters and semi-circlotron, noise-cancelling output stage is whisper-silent. Better yet, it turns off when you’re not using it! That’s right, both the tube heater and high voltage rails go away when not in use, so you can preserve lifetime of costly tubes.
Differential Buffer Stage—Versatile Interface
Freya+’s buffers aren’t just buffers—they’re differential. That means they convert single-ended signals to balanced, so you can interface more easily throughout your system. In addition, you can use it to convert SE sources to drive mono Vidars and Aegirs.
Easiest 128-Step Relay-Switched Volume, Ever
The benefits of a relay-switched stepped attenuator for volume are clear. Compared to a potentiometer, they give you essentially perfect channel matching and near-unmeasurable distortion. However, some preamps with relay-stepped attenuators confuse you with buttons and screens. Not Freya+. Freya+ has a volume knob that works just like a volume knob—just grab and turn. And if you use the remote control, the motorized potentiometer changes to match the remote setting. "
"slightly". The Freya+ is an improvement over the original Freya (and a few Benjies more).
"Freya+ is a refinement of the original Freya, with higher performance, more features, and enhanced ease of use. But it’s still a true no-excuses, balanced, remote-control preamp. Switch between passive, differential buffer, and differential tube gain modes, enjoy the fine control of a 128-step relay-switched stepped attenuator volume control with perfect channel matching, and control it all from the comfort of your favorite chair.
Whisper-Silent Tube Stage—With Tube Shutdown
Now, you can enjoy a tube preamp without the hiss and hum of classic designs. Freya+’s all-new tube stage with new-production 6SN7 tubes, DC heaters and semi-circlotron, noise-cancelling output stage is whisper-silent. Better yet, it turns off when you’re not using it! That’s right, both the tube heater and high voltage rails go away when not in use, so you can preserve lifetime of costly tubes.
Differential Buffer Stage—Versatile Interface
Freya+’s buffers aren’t just buffers—they’re differential. That means they convert single-ended signals to balanced, so you can interface more easily throughout your system. In addition, you can use it to convert SE sources to drive mono Vidars and Aegirs.
Easiest 128-Step Relay-Switched Volume, Ever
The benefits of a relay-switched stepped attenuator for volume are clear. Compared to a potentiometer, they give you essentially perfect channel matching and near-unmeasurable distortion. However, some preamps with relay-stepped attenuators confuse you with buttons and screens. Not Freya+. Freya+ has a volume knob that works just like a volume knob—just grab and turn. And if you use the remote control, the motorized potentiometer changes to match the remote setting. "
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It’s a good thing they figured out that people didn’t wanna burn through their tubes while using this thing in passive mode (after I bought mine).
I can't imagine that the original ran the tubes very hard -- IMO and IME, except when not used as directed (as sometimes occurs - because some hotshot EEs think they're smarter or more clever than the RCA Radiotron handbooks' creators!), small signal tubes will last a long, long long time.
I think George Harrison wrote a song about that, in fact...
I think George Harrison wrote a song about that, in fact...
Saw his on Facebook. I mean...the wobbly platter was evident in their own setup video.
Whatever you think about Schiit, there are companies out there that have been making turntables for decades. They're not idiots and they don't all exist to offer you sub-par products at inflated prices.
Maybe don't act like you're inventing the wheel while somebody drives by on a Ducati.
Whatever you think about Schiit, there are companies out there that have been making turntables for decades. They're not idiots and they don't all exist to offer you sub-par products at inflated prices.
Maybe don't act like you're inventing the wheel while somebody drives by on a Ducati.
Wow. I hadn't looked at the video. There does seem to be a little wobble after they mounted the platter, but at the end the belt isn't tracking evenly on the platter. Yikes.
Ouch.
That sounds like an expensive problem for them. I wonder how many they have shipped.
That sounds like an expensive problem for them. I wonder how many they have shipped.
whoa. wouldnt they want to, like, make sure that it WORKS before making it available to the public?!?
on the other hand, if this is crash and burn for this table, these few that got out could become collectors items.
I'm sure it was tested well before it went into production. Those guys aren't stupid. Something went wrong between final testing and production. Schitt is usually pretty open about their stuff, so it will be interesting to see what they say.
I hope it gets sorted out quickly.
Maybe I am jumping to conclusions, but this supposition would seem to imply that there is no final QC before boxing and shipping the actual production tts.
Either that, or they don't survive shipping.
Either of the above putative scenarios wouldn't look good for the Schiity Boyz, I'd opine (humbly, as always).
It happens.