By luck, I just got a SOL this week. Yes it was used, and for $500 the price was right. When it arrived, there were a few things that I needed to do. First off as stated in the ad, one of the tonearm leads was broken. Since the tonearm is so accessible it was little trouble to repair this problem. Next was taking a look at platter height. It was low for the recommendation from a set up video by one of the original designers, so I changed it. Weird little problem was about the adjusting knob on the VTA. It doesn't work. It just jams in place, telling me that there may be a missing bushing on the tip that would have properly centered it. Dunno. VTA can be adjusted by hand so that's what I did. Next, I need to see why the cuing is not smooth. It catches and then jumps down. I think that I have it figured out, so not really a worry. Sounds like trouble? Not really. As this is a mostly mechanical device, all things can be resolved.
So, I set up my AT95SA catridge, which is new, and in short started to listen to music. After a couple of readjustments, it seems that things are coming together very well. In fact, the AT95SA cartridge sounds better in this unit than it did in my previous Project 2Xpression, That is likely due to the fact that I did not adjust VTA with that TT. So a comparison is not likely fair.
In the SOL, the sound is what I like to hear most from analog, i.e. a full sounding presentation with good bass and natural highs. I will have updates here because just today, my Record Dr record clamp came in. I also ordered a Hudson Hi-Fi TT mat. Can't say what effect that these will have, but I always use a clamp with vinyl. The supplied cork mat isn't my thing since it seems to keep dirt on it. I might lightly spray it with some kind of coating just to experiment, but not before the new mat arrives.
Oh yah, might be getting a new belt since the platter won't spin until it gets a little help.
I happen to have a Speed Box II by Project, but first must check and see if it is compatible with the 16 AC motor.