Schiit Sol

in today's tinkering - I ordered some small silicone O-rings and some monofilament fishing line to tie to the anti-skate weights, cuz boy oh boy were they a pain to string on there and keep from falling behind the shelving. seems to be working nicely, and sure looks better than popping a knob of Blu-Tack on the end of the anti-skate rod.
 
what I am about to post here is the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me (in vinyl) since I pulled the cartridge rods out of my 2M Red during my first cartridge swap. This is just between us, ok?

Over the course of the last couple weeks, I had run into a few interesting data points with the Sol. To review:

1) It was taking a little more effort for the motor to get it to speed than I'd expected, and seemed to be putting a strain on the belt, even during simple procedures like speed changes.

2) While the speed was fairly accurate, the speed stability was worse than I'd expected. Since I only had the UltraDeck to compare it to, I rationalized that some variation was to be expected and that this was within spec.

3) The platter was wobblier than I'd anticipated.

4) I found that my platter speed would decrease by about 1/10th of a revolution per minute, and my speed stability would become measurably worse, when using my Big Ben record weight.

5) When free-spinning the platter, it was coming to a stop after only 20-25 seconds, which is...uh, not great.

So, figuring it's a friction issue, I lift the platter, lightly grease the bearing shaft and sleeve, reassemble. Same issue. The speed stability isn't even consistently good or bad! It's almost random!

I take it back apart. Examine the parts. They all seem fine. Finally, I decide to use a flashlight and look up into the bearing sleeve to get a look at the bearing itself. You know, the bearing that lives up in the sleeve because it's "inverted," and that's why I've never seen it on the bearing shaft itself. That bearing.

Wait, there's nothing up there but a ceramic dome. That can't be right. Check again?

Empty.

Yes, friends, I had been running this platter for a week and a half on the bearing shaft itself.

I scuttle over to my desk to root through the spare parts bag and yep, sure enough, there's a shiny steel ball bearing just sitting there at the very bottom. "Miss me?" it says.

I install the ball bearing on top of the bearing shaft along with a very light application of Super Lube, put everything back together, and give it a free spin. It takes a minute and a half to spin down! Miracles! Pop the belt back on, get the motor pod in position, run a few tests, and...well, the Sol is now measuring as good or better than my UltraDeck.

IMG_2682.png
IMG_2683.png

Now, in my defense, the Sol normally comes with the whole bearing assembly in one piece, but was shipped to me broken down, so there was nothing in the manual to instruct me to look for this. But boy, what an oversight.
 
kvetcha said:
what I am about to post here is the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me (in vinyl) since I pulled the cartridge rods out of my 2M Red during my first cartridge swap. This is just between us, ok?

Over the course of the last couple weeks, I had run into a few interesting data points with the Sol. To review:

1) It was taking a little more effort for the motor to get it to speed than I'd expected, and seemed to be putting a strain on the belt, even during simple procedures like speed changes.

2) While the speed was fairly accurate, the speed stability was worse than I'd expected. Since I only had the UltraDeck to compare it to, I rationalized that some variation was to be expected and that this was within spec.

3) The platter was wobblier than I'd anticipated.

4) I found that my platter speed would decrease by about 1/10th of a revolution per minute, and my speed stability would become measurably worse, when using my Big Ben record weight.

5) When free-spinning the platter, it was coming to a stop after only 20-25 seconds, which is...uh, not great.

So, figuring it's a friction issue, I lift the platter, lightly grease the bearing shaft and sleeve, reassemble. Same issue. The speed stability isn't even consistently good or bad! It's almost random!

I take it back apart. Examine the parts. They all seem fine. Finally, I decide to use a flashlight and look up into the bearing sleeve to get a look at the bearing itself. You know, the bearing that lives up in the sleeve because it's "inverted," and that's why I've never seen it on the bearing shaft itself. That bearing.

Wait, there's nothing up there but a ceramic dome. That can't be right. Check again?

Empty.

Yes, friends, I had been running this platter for a week and a half on the bearing shaft itself.

I scuttle over to my desk to root through the spare parts bag and yep, sure enough, there's a shiny steel ball bearing just sitting there at the very bottom. "Miss me?" it says.

I install the ball bearing on top of the bearing shaft along with a very light application of Super Lube, put everything back together, and give it a free spin. It takes a minute and a half to spin down! Miracles! Pop the belt back on, get the motor pod in position, run a few tests, and...well, the Sol is now measuring as good or better than my UltraDeck.

View attachment 190405
View attachment 190406

Now, in my defense, the Sol normally comes with the whole bearing assembly in one piece, but was shipped to me broken down, so there was nothing in the manual to instruct me to look for this. But boy, what an oversight.
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At least you figured it out and hadn’t chucked the little baggy.
 
kvetcha said:
@Hemotep seems like setup went smoothly?
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The setup was pretty easy since they had mounted and aligned the cart at the shop before shipping it to me. Definitely an odd little table. The tone arm is the strangest thing to get used to since it can wobble so easily.

I couldn't get the motor to work at first. It would just make a very loud humming noise. But I think I've mostly got that worked out, although there is an annoying rubbing noise it's making still. I'm talking to the seller about that. He seems like he's willing to make sure I'm fully happy with it which is nice.
 
Hemotep said:
The setup was pretty easy since they had mounted and aligned the cart at the shop before shipping it to me. Definitely an odd little table. The tone arm is the strangest thing to get used to since it can wobble so easily.

I couldn't get the motor to work at first. It would just make a very loud humming noise. But I think I've mostly got that worked out, although there is an annoying rubbing noise it's making still. I'm talking to the seller about that. He seems like he's willing to make sure I'm fully happy with it which is nice.
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Yeah, the combination of unipivot and the undamped cue lever is wacky at first. I'm used to it now.

Check the height of the motor spindle. I noticed it can rub if it's at the bottom of its range. Raise it just a skosh.
 
kvetcha said:
Yeah, the combination of unipivot and the undamped cue lever is wacky at first. I'm used to it now.

Check the height of the motor spindle. I noticed it can rub if it's at the bottom of its range. Raise it just a skosh.
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Do you know what size wrench I need for that? I have a set of Allen wrenches, but even my teeny tiny one doesn't fit.
 
kvetcha said:
Yeah, the combination of unipivot and the undamped cue lever is wacky at first. I'm used to it now.

Check the height of the motor spindle. I noticed it can rub if it's at the bottom of its range. Raise it just a skosh.
Click to expand...
The worst part of it is that even though it's not worth $800 more, having a $1200 MC cart on it has lifted the veil and made me look at my $400 MM cart (that I already felt was too much to spend on one) like it's a schlub. 😂
 
Hemotep said:
Do you know what size wrench I need for that? I have a set of Allen wrenches, but even my teeny tiny one doesn't fit.
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Uh, it's in the manual, let me check. I think it's like a 0.05" Imperial.

edit: yep, 0.05".

Hemotep said:
The worst part of it is that even though it's not worth $800 more, having a $1200 MC cart on it has lifted the veil and made me look at my $400 MM cart (that I already felt was too much to spend on one) like it's a schlub. 😂
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Yeah, that way lies madness.
 
Mather said:
Nice. I've heard that's a good one.
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The detail and clarity of piano, chimes, cymbals, etc. with it is sublime. I can hear the flutter and tickling of the keys in a way that brings them to life. So far it's much better with jazz, classical, and acoustic recordings. But the difference on the rock albums I've tried so far haven't been as pronounced. I need to put it though the paces more and I read somewhere that it hits its stride around 150-200 hours. Although it also reminds me of the most important thing: upgrading your system can only do so much, a bad recording or pressing will still sound bad and a great recording/pressing can still sound really good on a cheap system.
 
Hemotep said:
The detail and clarity of piano, chimes, cymbals, etc. with it is sublime. I can hear the flutter and tickling of the keys in a way that brings them to life. So far it's much better with jazz, classical, and acoustic recordings. But the difference on the rock albums I've tried so far haven't been as pronounced.
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The production on Rock records often doesn't give a cartridge as much room to shine. Try anything from the golden hifi era, like Supertramp or Dire Straits. Hell, Spoon sounds awesome on vinyl despite being more of a grungy aesthetic.
 
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