Type: manual with cueing
Arm: Unconstrained unipivot, carbon fiber pultruded shaft, 11" effective length, with adjustable cartridge angle, anti-skate, fast swap, and on-the-fly adjustable VTA
Effective Mass: 13.0g without cartridge
Standard cartridge: Audio-Technica AT-VM95EN or Grado Opus3 (Timbre Series, high output version)
Drive: belt drive
Platter: 11.75”, 3 lb, aluminium alloy diecast
Bearing: inverted, 0.5" dia x 2.5" long, Igus
Speeds: 33 and 45rpm, selected via pulley size
Rumble: -74dB
Signal to noise ratio: >72dB
Wow and flutter: less than 0.11%
Power: 16VAC, 60 Hz, 8VA via included wall-wart
Dimensions: 16.5 x 14 x 6" (approximate, depends on orientation and settings)
Weight: 9.5 lbs
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Sol
Cast Aluminum Unipivot Turntable
Description
Specs
FAQ
Reviews
Downloads
Yeah, we know. Sol doesn’t look like any other affordable turntable in the world. That’s because it’s designed to deliver the most amazing performance possible for the bucks, without regard to how it “should” look. If you want a normal-looking turntable, there are tons of choices. If you want the best performance for the price, there’s only one choice: Sol.
Ideal For Turntable Owners Looking For More
If you already own an inexpensive turntable, but you’re looking for maximum performance (without a second mortgage), Sol is perfect for you. Sol turntables include the acclaimed Audio-Technica AT-VM95EN cartridge with nude elliptical stylus, set up and ready to go. If you want more, it's easy to swap Audio-Technica styluses to microline or Shibata versions, without changing the cartridge. Or, you can choose the all-new Grado Opus3 (high output version). And, of course, you can always mount your own cartridge as well.
Engineered Specifically for Performance
Sol is the result of years of R&D at Schiit Audio. Some may say we’re just slow (and that may be true), but Sol also went through many iterations to reach its final form. That’s how we landed on something completely unique, a true unconstrained unipivot design based on aluminum die castings, with not a piece of MDF or acrylic in sight. That’s also how we decided to include an insane amount of high-end features, like on-the-fly adjustable VTA.
Separate Motor Pod
As an example of our dedication to performance, Sol’s motor is completely separated from the plinth and platter, housed in a separate, sorbothane-isolated pod that decouples it from the rest of the turntable. A low-durometer rubber motor base and composite, rubber and cork platter mat increase the isolation.
Longest Arm in the Hood—Swappable in Seconds
Sol features a carbon fiber tonearm that is longer than anything else in its price class—a full 11” long. A longer arm means more accurate tracking—much better than the “baby arms” of other affordable turntables. Not only that, the Sol tonearm can be swapped in seconds, allowing you to easily change cartridges to meet your specific needs.
Total Adjustability for Every Need
Sol was also designed to help you extract the maximum performance from every cartridge. Literally everything is adjustable. From on-the-fly VTA, cartridge angle, anti-skate, and even tonearm pivot height, platter height, and motor pulley height, we have you covered. You’ll be comfortable using an expensive cartridge with Sol, knowing you’re getting the most out of it.
Designed and Built in California
By “designed and built in California" this is what we mean: the vast majority of the total production cost of Sol—including the die-cast aluminum pieces, machined and stamped metal pieces, boards, assembly, etc—goes to US companies manufacturing in the US. Our castings are done just beyond the Orange Curtain, many subassemblies are done in Simi Valley, and assembly, adjustment, and testing are done by us in Valencia, CA. You get the picture.
5-Year Warranty, Easy Returns
Sol is also covered by a 5-year limited warranty that covers parts and labor (with a single exception: belts. Come on, do you really think a turntable belt will last 5 years? And if you don’t like your Sol, you can send it back for a refund, minus 5% restocking fee, within 15 days of receiving it.
So, sell me on Sol.
LOL. You don’t know us very well, do you? We have exactly zero salespeople. We don’t have anyone with sales in their title, period. Bottom line, like we said, if you want a great turntable for a price that won’t jeopardize your kid’s college fund, Sol is it. Sol is already set up and ready to go with a cartridge (but of course, you will need a phono preamp.) But it's still 100% manual, 100% tweaky, and 100% off the beaten path. If that’s not what you’re looking for, or if you have a trust fund so big that it would shade 9% of the earth’s surface if run off as $100 bills, then yeah, we get it, it’s best to look elsewhere. No hard feelings.
Sigh. Okay, I’ll bite. What do I need to get the most out of Sol?
A turntable preamp, that's about it.
What’s a phono preamp? I just plugged my old turntable into my receiver.
A phono preamp is a preamp that provides the high gain and equalization necessary for records. Some receivers, preamps, and integrated amps will have phono preamps built in. Some phono preamps are stand-alone. We sell a very versatile and affordable phono preamp called “Mani,” but there are plenty of them out there. Mani is available as an option when you buy Sol. Or not. No worries!
What standard cartridges are you offering with Sol?
Sol offers two standard cartridges, the Audio Technica AT-VM95EN or the Grado Opus3 (high output). Both cartridges are sold at full retail price.
What if I don't want to use your standard cartridge?
Then feel free to use your own. Sol is a totally adjustable platform that should allow any cartridge to shine. However, all Sols come with one of the two cartridge options above. We also expect to sell tonearms individually in the future, once production has ramped up, so you can mount your own cartridge on a separate arm.
How is Sol different than every other entry-level turntable?
Great question. Sol is completely different. Let’s compare:
- Die-cast aluminum vs MDF and acrylic. Sol is made of large aluminum die-castings, which are heavy and dense when compared to the typical MDF and acrylic starter table.
- Giant bearing, vs baby bearing. Unless you’re talking cost-no-object turntable designs, the critical platter bearing is usually, well, somewhat anemic. Frequently based on the 0.28” record spindle, they may only have an effective 0.5-1” height. Sol’s is a ridiculously overdeveloped 0.5” diameter, 2.5” long inverted bearing with Igus bushings, for much higher performance.
- Giant arm vs baby arm. In turntables, tonearm length is all-important. Sol’s 11” arm beats the living crap out of other entry turntables with 8-10” arms.
- Easily swappable arm, vs arm that’s permanently attached. Have more than one cartridge? Get additional (very affordable) Sol tonearms and set them all up, for cartridge swaps in seconds.
- True unconstrained unipivot vs other schemes. Other entry turntables use constrained unipivots, kinda killing the advantages of a unipivot—namely, the unique freedom of motion it provides—or conventional designs, which don’t work like a unipivot.
- Totally isolated motor, vs bolted to the plinth. No entry turntable can match Sol’s freedom from rumble, because the motor is completely separate.
- On-the-fly adjustable VTA, versus, well, maybe some VTA adjustment when the table isn’t moving. Sol is the only turntable anywhere near its price to include this insanely high-end feature, allowing you to precisely dial in the performance—while listening.
- Complete adjustability, vs limited adjustability. Since literally every parameter of the Sol turntable is adjustable, it can accommodate virtually any cartridge, including those that are thicker or thinner than usual.
- 5-year warranty. On a mechanical product? For $799? GTFOH. Nobody is anywhere near that.
Holy moly, that’s a lot of value. How do you do that?
Same way we do everything: by making tons of them, and selling direct. And, in this case, by investing the big bucks for the die-cast tooling. Without tooling, this is a no-go. But hey, we’ve been working on this thing since the earth cooled (and, like idiots, talking about it), so what’s another bunch of money burnt along the way? Seriously, though, we hope you like Sol as much as we do, and we hope you feel it’s worth the time to get amazing music out of.
I wanna get one of those handy-dandy stylus force gauges. Where do I get one?
There are plenty of them available on Amazon (and pretty much anywhere else you might want to buy them). Look for "Stylus force gauge." They range from $15 to "how much you got?"
There are plenty of them available on Amazon (and pretty much anywhere else you might want to buy them). Look for "Stylus force gauge." They range from $15 to "how much you got?"
Hey, I wanna do a different cartridge alignment, not Lofgren A. How do I go about doing that?
See the Downloads section and follow the link to Conrad Hoffman's Arc Template Generator. You can also purchase many other different alignment discs, mirrors, etc. if you'd like to. You aren't stuck with a specific alignment with Sol.
See the Downloads section and follow the link to Conrad Hoffman's Arc Template Generator. You can also purchase many other different alignment discs, mirrors, etc. if you'd like to. You aren't stuck with a specific alignment with Sol.
I'm confused about the anti-skate option. How do I use that?
There are several ways to set it up, starting with a Trackability Test Record (Shure made one.) You listen to a track with ever increasing levels. At some point it will get slightly harsh in one channel, then the other. Adjust the anti-skate force so that both channels become harsh at the same time. Try not to let it get into full mistracking. Another way is to use a blank vinyl record and adjust for minimum drift. .
There are several ways to set it up, starting with a Trackability Test Record (Shure made one.) You listen to a track with ever increasing levels. At some point it will get slightly harsh in one channel, then the other. Adjust the anti-skate force so that both channels become harsh at the same time. Try not to let it get into full mistracking. Another way is to use a blank vinyl record and adjust for minimum drift. .
I see you have an option for a phono preamp? What's special about that?
The phono preamp option is for Mani, our MM/MC phono preamp. It's arguably the most versatile phono preamp anywhere near its price point, it sounds really good, and it's painted black to match Sol. Other than that, feel free to use any phono preamp you want.
Why isn't there an option for 230V countries?
Sol uses an AC motor, so it's designed for 60Hz AC, like we use in the USA. Unfortunately, nearly every country with 220-240VAC runs 50Hz AC, so the motor would run too slow. We'll be looking into adding a speed controller in the future as an option if Sol does well.
What is Sol?
In Norse mythology, Sol is the personification of the sun. That’s like Mani, which is the moon. We picked them both because they went together and were both round, like a record. Sometimes we’re simple like that.
Ken Metcalf, Stereophile
Sol Lofgren A Alignment PDF
Other alignments available with Conrad Hoffman's Arc Template Generator