hearditontheX
500+ Head-Fier
More Sol information from Jason (posted elsewhere)
The most likely scenario is that we'll start shipping Sols again in February, but they will all come pre set-up with a standard cartridge. Target price for re-intro with cartridge is $799.
For this, you get some significant advantages over other turntables near its price class, including the longest arm anywhere near the price, the biggest bearing anywhere near the price, full cast aluminum construction, on-the-fly adjustable VTA, and easily swappable true unconstrained unipivot arms. We believe this is enough to allow Sol to carve out a niche above the entry-level turntables but below the "big boys," but we also understand if this doesn't work for you, and that there are more choices than ever in turntables these days.
However, one caveat: the re-introduced Sol will also have the older pulley and belt, which is the only way we've gotten it to measure consistently under 0.1% wow and flutter (on the APx555, not on a phone app or antique meter). This means that the platter will not self-start.
Before the requests start for a different motor, the answer is "the turntable was designed with a low-torque motor and high-mass platter, and if we have to redesign for a different motor, it could send all of that out the window, plus we'd need new motors, new motor pods, new sorbothane motor mount, new motor board...which means 6 months more waiting, realistically, and at that point Sol probably isn't coming back."
If this is a non-starter for you, I understand, and you can opt out of the beta and get a full refund.
We're still waiting a bit for some additional small parts (better motor rubber base and better mat), and we're testing options for standard cartridges (Grado Red sounds best, but has a bit more environmental hum pick-up than other options).
All beta participants will get the new parts, of course, but I don't know the precise timeline. If you want to know the status of the beta program, it's best to email amy@schiit.com and copy tony@schiit.com and tyler@schiit.com, since they will have the latest information.