Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by purr1n, Sep 10, 2019.

  1. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    Let's just let Schiit run its on ship please.

    Let's keep this discussion audio related.

    I'm sure Jason wishes he had a dollar every time someone told him what Schiit should do and offer unsolicited advice on how to run his own company.
     
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I don't think the volumes requires a full sigma-six blackbelt treatment. These appear to be initial production teething issues. Something like this should suffice:

    upload_2019-10-7_11-19-46.png

    In the meantime, here is a second sample for the platter tolerances with my precision DIY Lego platter warp gauge. Tolerances should be tight. If not, I urge those on the beta program to contact Schiit.

    IMG_20191005_203158.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2019
  3. Pogo

    Pogo Friend

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    No way that's accurate unless you use RED Legos.
     
  4. Ruby Rod

    Ruby Rod Facebook Friend

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  5. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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  6. Ruby Rod

    Ruby Rod Facebook Friend

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    Platter keeps flying apart...
     
  7. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Clearly you have to Kragle them!

    [​IMG]


    Also looks like it's been done a time or two (for real) - when master-builder meets audiophile!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  8. badf00d

    badf00d Friend

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    Received a third platter and bearing today. Worse wobble than the second one I received, so it's going back immediately.
     
  9. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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    I’m on #3 too... still some wobble but not as bad as before after mixing/matching platters, spindles, and bearings. Seems like most of the issues are coming from bearing to bearing cup insert tolerances, but even one of the spindles I tried seemed to fit more loosely to the platter than the other.
     
  10. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    If you're still having platter problems. make sure the platter is actually seated on the bearing housing, and then let us know that you need a COMPLETE assembly--bearing housing, bearing, and platter.

    To expand a bit:

    1. All platters are machined, not cast. If they're wobbly, it's not from casting, because they aren't cast. Anyone who thinks they are cast is mistaken.
    2. The interface between the platter and bearing housing is the biggest source of any runout. The platter needs to be all the way down on the bearing housing, firmly seated on the c-clip, with no crud in-between.
    3. Runout spec is +/-0.010", so yes, there may be some slight wobble in production platters. All platters are checked for runout and they are running more like +/-0.005". This is less than record warp of a typical "flat" record.

    If your runout is more than spec'd, and your platter and bearing are tight, contact us. We may just bring the whole table back and swap it out, or at least send you a matched set of every part (spindle, bearing housing, bearing, platter) with video showing it meeting our runout spec.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2019
  11. badf00d

    badf00d Friend

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    Shorter tonearm was installed last night. Gave a bit more room to work the cartridge, and solved my issue with the left channel crapping out.
     
  12. Ruby Rod

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    Chatted with Schiit last night to see how things were going. The power outages due to fire are a giant PITA and fire got pretty close, but so far all is well. No power means no water (pumps) for some and all the other things that go with modern civilization. Hopefully things will get back to normal when the winds die down, the fires are controlled and climate change is reversed. The new "normal" isn't a pretty sight.
     
  13. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    That's some scary schiit! Hope everyone is okay and that things settle/cool down soon.
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I think I mentioned this before, some inexactness is going to be there. The Lego tolerance device even shows some scraping at spots with the big platter on my VPI deck. One trick that might help is to realign (rotate) the platter bearing with the platter. I have three platters. The first one was definitely bad, the third one worked like a charm, the second one was not as good as the first one, but I got it to be good with a twist of the bearing it came with.

    Bottom line is don't go Full Aspergers. As audiophiles, we all have a tendency to do this. And really, check out the record warp compared to the table wobble. Any record, no matter how good, is still going to be responsible for 95% of the wobble / warp.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2019
  15. monacelli

    monacelli Friend

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    This trick of rotating the platter with respect to the bearing (or spindle on some tables) is one that every vinyl nerd should have at their disposal. Even for most "wobbly platters" there is usually a happy place that brings everything within reasonable tolerances. Sometimes a sharpie and/or a little square of masking tape is helpful for reminding yourself where the happy place is if you ever need to remove the platter.
     
  16. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    It's come to my attention that some people are "measuring" platter "wobble" by manually grabbing the platter and wiggling it.

    This is not how it's measured.

    Platter runout is measured with the platter spinning, driven by the standard motor and belt, (you know, exactly how you'd use it to play a record), using a runout indicator. All Sol platters are checked this way before shipping on a Mitutoyo dial indicator.

    Again, our standard is +/-0.010", less than an unwarped record. Most measure better than this.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2019
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Wait, no, people buying expensive audiophile turntables aren't this dumb? Don't make me lose faith in the hobby even more.

    What's next? "Oh the tonearm is designed wrong. I could only stuff half of it in my urethra. And now it's bent."

    Edit: as someone who has very, very little interest in vinyl, it makes me wonder why some folks don't just admit they're out of their depth and return the table? This sounds like vinyl on hard mode.
     
  18. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    In more interesting news, I believe everyone should have gotten an email today saying that a care package of lots of new stuff is arriving next week (non-twisted belts*, self-starting pulleys**, anti-skate hangers, etc), and the tonearms with longer headshells will start shipping shortly thereafter.

    Tonearms with longer headshells are really one of the key fixes, if not THE key fix, for the turntable, so we're getting close to being done with getting you the parts you need to finalize the beta.

    The other key fix, for platter wobble, has been in place for some time, but it seems there's been (a) some variability with platter/bearing position, and (b) some confusion on how to measure it. We'll see how big the variability is with respect to (a) and mark platters with a keying indicator if necessary for production.

    Be sure to give Amy feedback on the beta parts. If all goes well, maybe we'll be able to open up Sol for ordering in early December.

    *The reason we were getting inconsistent results with belts (some "walking", some not) was that some were twisted when glued, something the belt manufacturer found out when they examined some of our production run. I don't think this will be a problem going forward.

    **The reason the platter was not self-starting was, non-intuitively, not due to the platter weight or motor strength--it was due to a heavy pulley. Yeah, I know, it makes no sense, because the pulley was in no way "heavy." Conrad guessed the cause immediately, but I didn't believe him. So we 3D printed some lightweight prototypes, and boom, they started up just fine! Weird. You'll be getting machined aluminum pulleys, not 3D printed ones, but you'll see they are now machined out to be very light.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2019
  19. Ruby Rod

    Ruby Rod Facebook Friend

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    Like the insurance company, Conrad knows a thing or two because he's seen a thing or two!
     
  20. badf00d

    badf00d Friend

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    I measured with a ruler that goes to 1/64 inch, while my son stood on the platter and danced around on it. Oh wait, we used the motor and belt, and video from a camera on a tripod.

    The first and third platters I received were out of spec and have been returned. The worst of the three measured at +/- 0.0156", with two dips in the wobble. The second platter is in spec, and is the one I kept. It travels a full 1/64, putting it at +/- 0.0078", somewhere between the spec and the better measurements Jason mentioned.

    Looking forward to the next care package. Thanks @schiit !
     

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