Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.

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

  1. yonson

    yonson Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2018
    Likes Received:
    105
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    127.0.0.1
    Sol has arrived! Setup was a breeze, the thing that took the longest was installing an Audio Technica safety riser, it cost quite a bit more but I definitely like how it works vs. the Q up I have on my Pro-Ject. The only Sol related issue I had was figuring out what was causing a gnarly hum when I switched to the phono input, but after consulting the manual I ended up not even needing the ground wire, it's dead silent now!
     
  2. NationOfLaws

    NationOfLaws Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2019
    Likes Received:
    874
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    US
    Mine got here yesterday, but we’re moving house and had to clean the old place yesterday since our cleaners canceled (Saint Louis County is under lockdown starting today). Hoping I can get it set up early this week
     
  3. frederick184

    frederick184 New

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2020
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Frederick MD
    Mine arrived yesterday. Setup was easy, however the motor doesn't work. Tried it via the turntable and direct. Emailed Schiit for the next steps.

    Colin
     
  4. NationOfLaws

    NationOfLaws Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2019
    Likes Received:
    874
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    US
    mine was tightened against too far down and wouldn’t rotate. I adjusted the height of that rotor on top of the motor pod and it started spinning.
     
  5. frederick184

    frederick184 New

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2020
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Frederick MD
    Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a shot!

    Colin
     
  6. frederick184

    frederick184 New

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2020
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Frederick MD
    You were right. Raising it up just a little bit did the trick. Thanks, man.

    Colin
     
  7. NationOfLaws

    NationOfLaws Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2019
    Likes Received:
    874
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    US
    No worries. The only way I figured it out was that it was vibrating very slightly to the touch but not spinning.
     
  8. frederick184

    frederick184 New

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2020
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Frederick MD
    Can anyone familiar with the Mani recommend gain settings for the Grado Opus 3 high output moving coil on the Sol? As it's a high output moving coil I've tried to stick to MM settings, so have set the load switches to 47K and gain switches to gain 1 low and gain 2 high. I believe that gives 42dB of gain. Just wondering if anyone had experimented and found a better setting.

    Thanks
    Colin
     
  9. SAEC tone

    SAEC tone New

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2020
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Vermont
    Is this a list of updates completed or a To Do list?
    Also, in currently shipping units, has the headshell been enlarged to accommodate more cartridge options?
    Thanks
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    All done including more clearance under headshell to accommodate longer carts.
     
  11. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Likes Received:
    585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Hey all! Still enjoying the crap out of Sol but have decided I want to try and cure my ground hum once and for all.

    First, a question. I'm seeing continuity inside the "control box" (where the tonearm connects to and RCAs output from) between ground (center pin) and both negative pins of the cartridge output. I am NOT seeing connectivity between those items at the end of the tonearm cable (tested using paper clip leads out of the connector). From reading around, it doesn't appear that I should be seeing continuity between tonearm ground and the negative signal leads.

    Is that accurate? And if so, I imagine my only recourse then is to get a new control box from Schiit? I can't see any way to decouple these, guessing it's in the board but that tells me they meant to do it this way.
     
  12. TomNC

    TomNC Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2015
    Likes Received:
    305
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Hillsborough, NJ
    For my set up, there was hum when I connected the ground of Sol to that of EC Classic Phono. Disconnecting it gets rid of the hum.
     
  13. ripblade

    ripblade Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2019
    Likes Received:
    49
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Toronto
    The headshell and cartridge grounds are not tied together until they are plugged into the control box, which shorts them together.

    While you have your continuity tester out, check that the grounding post is grounded to the chassis at the arm's unipivot. Don't try it at the platter spindle as it is not grounded at any time.
     
  14. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Likes Received:
    585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    And just like that... it was quiet. So weird.

    So when I was testing continuity I did verify that tonearm ground had continuity with everything it should, including the pivot point. It did not have continuity to the pivot bearing/spindle, which as you say is fine.

    I decided what the heck, I'm off today, I'm just going to cut the lead going to the header, and run off of it to various points, see if I can kill the hum. Worst case, I just put it back how I found it. I found that running the tonearm ground to a ground screw on my line stage preamp was the quietest. But it still wasn't gone and that didn't make a whole lot of sense, and the way I had to do it made the tonearm act odd, not smoothly.

    So I put it all back. Re-soldered the lead to the header. The ONLY things I changed are:
    The tonearm lead is now untwisted from the rest of the signal leads going to the header
    I am now running a separate ground lead from table to phono pre. Previously, I was running a ground that is intertwined with my Audio Sensibility phono cable. Now that intertwined one really does nothing, it's just floating in free air unconnected, and a new lead runs from table to phono stage.

    Nothing else. And yet? No hum. I can get it to make a little noise if I crank the line stage with nothing playing, but it's a good 15 steps louder on the volume scale to produce less hum than I was getting before in a volume range where I do listen at.

    This hum has been finicky in the past - I'll think I have it sorted only for it to come back. I'm guessing it's something to do with my cartridge and shielding or lack thereof. At least today produced some positive effects.
     
  15. ripblade

    ripblade Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2019
    Likes Received:
    49
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Toronto
    Todd, what cartridge is this?
     
  16. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Likes Received:
    585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    New-ish (100 hours?) MP-200 stylus on a Naga MP-150 body. The two can go together fine so it's not a mismatch issue, but perhaps it's a shielding thing?
     
  17. ripblade

    ripblade Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2019
    Likes Received:
    49
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Toronto
    The metal shield on the Nag is shorted internally to one of the ground pins.....forget which......at least mine is. I don't recall any hum problems when I tried mine on the Sol, but then, I've separated the audio and chassis grounds on the circuit board, so the only place they're shorted together is in the cartridge itself.
     
  18. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Likes Received:
    585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    I've had two different control pods (first one didn't work due to a bad switch, but the table was still usable if I manually plugged in the motor to start it). On that original pod, the earth ground lug was tied to the audio side. On the replacement, it's separated now. Oddly enough I've had the same issue on both. But now? It's basically gone.

    Must have been the sideeye I threw it as I walked out when my first "hack" failed :)
     
  19. ripblade

    ripblade Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2019
    Likes Received:
    49
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Toronto
    ^ But the grounds (shell and audio) are still tied together on the board? It sounds as though all they did was remove the jumper from the post to the board. Maybe I should've tried that. On mine, the board and shell grounds remain tied to the post, but the signals are completely separate. I had to do this because I was getting humongous static discharging into the phono stage while handling the record a few feet away from the table. The fix is not elegant, but it works. I think Schiit should've done the same thing, and I advised them as much during the beta. No hum.....ever...and no static discharges.

    Electricity is mysterious. Even something as simple as a ground circuit can be unpredictable...
     
  20. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Likes Received:
    585
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Very interesting! Yes, they just removed that jumper on the newer board, from what I can tell.

    I actually put it back for a time and it was better but I figured they know better than me, so last night I snipped my lead back off and tossed it, then started the metering process and trying to understand what was what.
     

Share This Page