T+A Solitaire P Headphone Product Review - $9,999.95 NZD

[@MagnitudePerson]

Diving Into Specifics Bass Authoritative is the first word that comes to mind. The T+A’s extend deep into the sub-bass and while they do not rumble the skull like bass oriented systems, they have noteworthy texture and a punchiness when called on (a good example is the thumping drums in Meggie Lennon’s Mind Games and The Accidentals’ Vessel). What I truly enjoy is how they exhibit such powerful conviction while retaining sufficient discipline to not induce bloom or unwanted resonance (one of the tests which the T+A passed with flying colours is Reb Fountain’s Together). It is neither lean nor bloated. On many occasions, I was taken aback by the visceral thump of a kick drum, the weight of acoustic bass, or the dynamic body of an EDM drop (be it mainstream electro house like Deorro’s Five Hours or classic trance like Karen Overton’s Your Loving Arms). Also worth special mention is the solidity that the bass has even at low volumes (9Bach’s Pa Bryd y Deui Eto? - the version from the album Ar y 9 - a great example of this). I think this is one of the defining characteristics of the driver used in the Solitaire P. It exhibits linearity and beautiful weight even at lower levels, which rise proportionally as you increase the volume, without a hint of distortion even at elevated volumes well beyond my loudness appetite. Midrange This mids of the T+A are beautifully harmonic, with an overarching sense of cohesion that is addictive. I find instruments to be expressive and nuanced, with an authentic timbre. I especially enjoyed the production of acoustic guitar (Myrtille’s Ramer), cello (Leyla McCalla’s Little Sparrow), piano (Catt’s Patterns or Hania Rani’s Glass), and violin (Hilary Han and the LSO’s Elgar: Violin Concerto In B Minor Op. 61 - 3, Allegra Molto is a spiritual journey on the T+A system). The cracking thwack of a drum is also properly impressive (such as on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Charlie). Vocals are natural, with eerie realism. Female singers are incredibly clear, and you are rewarded with great recordings - be it smoothness in folk (Kate Rusby’s Awkward Annie), indie pop (The Bird and the Bee’s My Love), or indie rock (Rilo Kiley’s I Never); sultriness in jazz (husky French vocals like Carla Bruni’s Raphael are among the best I’ve heard, as was Shelby Lynne’s title track for the album Just A Little Lovin’), or the exhilarating power of modern divas (illustrated by Adele’s Easy On Me). And yet, while bad recordings make themselves known, I would describe the T+A as being on the more forgiving side of the spectrum (something like Sara Blasko’s Lost & Defeated was rendered beautifully, without the harshness and shoutiness many systems produce). While I do not listen to a lot of male vocals, these are rendered very well. I experienced this across different types of male singers - ranging from pop (like Bruno Mars’s Locked out of Heaven), to rock (Bon Jovi’s Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night a particular favorite), to melancholic folk (the impassioned and solemn performance of Mandolin Orange / Watchhouse’s Time We Made Time) to the heavy metal that is my guilty pleasure (the whole of Pantera’s Far Beyond Driven album was justly aggressive and in-my-face, one of the more powerful tracks of which is Slaughtered). Treble I have read several impressions that describe the T+A as “dark”. I posit that this might be the feeling you are left with after a brief demo. I too, did not experience a “wow” moment initially, and as previously alluded to, it can take some time for the true character of the system to be revealed, especially in the treble region. It may be what some would call safe, but it is unreservedly natural and controlled (as heard in Tintinnabulum from Adiemus). I found the treble to be gracefully extended - never shouty nor aggressive. It is subtly subdued which is conducive to long, fatigue-free listening sessions. Fine detail is almost infinitely discernible; presented in a refined manner that evades excessive sibilance (A Fine Frenzy’s Liar, Liar was astoundingly well portrayed). I would say I prefer the T+A’s sturdy yet delicate portrayal of upper frequencies, as opposed to a treble response that is inherently wispy or sparkly - these tend to accentuate brightness and in turn tire my senses. I would use the word “poised” to describe the balance struck (as discovered in Whitehorse’s Tame As the Wild Ones). Technicalities This probably took me the most time to figure out and articulate. I would not call the soundstage remarkably wide, but neither would I say it is restricted. Eventually, I grasped the two key capabilities that really made the T+A stand out and stand head and shoulders above other systems I have had the pleasure of hearing in my many years in the hobby. The first is the staging - as noted above the stage has commendable width, but more impressive is the depth and height achieved. The way I describe it is like a cube - equally large along all three axes. This produces a vividly three-dimensional soundstage with perhaps the most realistic portrayal of spatial information that I have encountered. To a large extent, it is reminiscent to listening to very, very good speakers in a well-treated room (a great example is The Weather Station’s Robber) The second is the stellar layering and separation. Somehow things never felt congested, even with particularly complex material (a must-listen on this system is The Mandalorian theme song from Ludwig Goransson). Coupled with the room-shaped stage, this sets a benchmark for immersive sound, which I attribute to the soundstage’s depth and pinpoint imaging (Morcheeba’s Women Lose Weight is a perfect example of channel separation and being surrounded by a multitude of elements flying around the head). Adding to the sense of “cubic” dimensions is the way it highlights the details it extracts on the stage - with seemingly equal levels of volume and emphasis, whether central or at the extremities (such as on Zero 7’s Throw It All Away or Karen Elson’s The Truth is In The Dirt). This sets it apart from many of the traditional headphone systems that have more of an oval stage, with details softening and becoming less discernible the further they stretch either way.

[@tomkoz2812]

Agree, just fantastic

[@Smood47]

You might want to consider describing the sound more rather than just saying they 'sensational' 'fantastic' over and over. What about the difference frequency ranges? Holography, layering? How do they compare to other TOTL headphones? etc. Someone just saying THESE ARE FANTASTIC!!! Is not that meaningful.

[@ABsSoundAdvice]

www.ta-hifi.de/en/headphones/solitaire-headphones/solitaire-p/

[@Smood47]

@@ABsSoundAdvice Linking to the product page does not achieve anything.

[@MagnitudePerson]

Hi All, Today we are taking a look at T+A (Theory and Application) of Germany’s flagship headphones, the Solitaire P. This is a headphone I have been incredibly interested in since its release back in early 2020. Since its release, T+A have also followed up with the Solitaire PSE, which retails at roughly half of the price of the Solitaire P. I hope I can get ears on a pair of those someday as well, as the Solitaire P itself is an incredibly compelling headphone overall. The Solitaire P, which for the rest of this review I will refer to as the “SolP” is a planar magnetic headphone, with a sensitivity rating of 101db/mw and 80 ohms impedance rating. Overall, they are quite an easy to drive headphone, and will play well even from lower power source equipment. With that being said, they do seem to enjoy a healthy supply of power behind them, and scale well with an increasing quality of source equipment. The reason I note that they play well from lower output power equipment, is that generally speaking, top of the line planar magnetic headphones have been fairly difficult to drive in the past. There are obviously a few exceptions, but things like the Hifiman Susvara and Abyss 1266TC, are both difficult to drive, the Susvara notoriously so. I was worried the Solitaire P would not play at the level of the very upper echelon of planar magnetic headphones, especially given its $6900USD MSRP ($6200USD at launch.) Thankfully, they absolutely do play at the very top level, and also manage to do some things I have not heard before. The bass of the SolP’s has been the most surprising element of its sound signature. In terms of overall level, they are perhaps very slightly elevated, but it is the technical performance of the bass that has stood out to me. They are the most similar to the Abyss 1266TC’s bass response that I have heard from a different headphone, and for myself and many others the 1266TC’s bass is their absolute reference point. The SolP’s bass response has a similar quick, impactful, “slam” heavy response. It is not exactly the same as the 1266TC, and I would say sort of bridges the middle ground between the more laidback response of the Hifiman Susvara, and 1266TC. This works incredibly well with electronica, rock, and metal - those sorts of genres. However, in the low end, things like upright bass in jazz, or perhaps a baritone saxophone are also conveyed incredibly well. Overall, the bass response of the Solitaire P has been its most surprising element, as it is the best I have heard in an easier to drive model, and comes the closest that I have personally heard out of any other headphone to my favourite headphone in terms of bass response, the 1266TC. The midrange of the SolP is mostly in line with my preferences. The lower mids are what I would consider fairly neutral. My personal preferences have shifted over time as I used to prefer warm and thick sounding headphones. Nowadays I favour a more neutral, or sometimes even “colder” midrange response. The lower mids of the SolP never came across as thick, or warm to me. At the same time I never found myself wanting to boost the low mids as if they sounded sucked out and hollow. The lower mids of the SolP are well tuned in my opinion. The upper mids in the 2khz region might be a bit relaxed for some listeners preferences. If you listen to lots of female vocals and really prefer that region to be forward, you might want to boost it slightly via EQ. In the stock tuning, it reminds me of the Hifiman Susvara slightly, and I totally enjoy it without any tweaking. I largely listen to electronica/IDM, jazz, and metal (though I do listen to a wide variety of other genres, those are just my usual go to’s.) For these genres, a slightly relaxed upper midrange works very well. The treble of the Solitaire P is likely its most controversial tuning decision. Overall, in the stock tuning, I find them a bit blunted and dark sounding. If you are a treble sensitive listener, I would highly, highly, recommend checking these headphones out. Now, in the stock tuning, the SolP lend themselves to very long relaxed listening sessions. However, if one is open to using EQ (which I absolutely am) a simple high shelf from about 4Khz upwards increased by a few dB really opens up what these headphones can do. I think the stock treble response may artificially disguise how truly technically capable and detailed these headphones are. In the same vein that boosted treble can convey a somewhat fake sense of “detail” that isn’t really there, I think the SolP’s stock treble response may be doing the exact opposite. With that slight treble increase, you really get a thoroughly satisfying, incredibly capable sounding treble. *To note: T+A has released a pair of alternate pads that supposedly increase the highs and pull back the mids slightly, I would like to try these eventually, and if I do I will edit this review and update it with my impressions of those pads.* It is actually the other parts of the SolP that add up to make it such a compelling package. In terms of technical performance - soundstage, detail, dynamics, it is up there with the best in my opinion. The fact it plays at that level technically whilst also being easy to drive, is also part of what makes them special. I would say they are very very close to being as detailed as the Susvara and 1266TC, perhaps lagging behind by about 5%. It is such a small amount of difference in overall detail levels, both micro and macro that you would have to be intently listening for any differences. The SolP’s drivers are very quick, and as such seem to convey dynamic swings with ease. As I mentioned in the bass section, the SolP also do “slam” and impact very well. The soundstage of the SolP is slightly wider than what I would consider a “natural” sounding soundstage, leaning more towards a “wide’ soundstage. Although not as wide as the cavernous soundstage of the HD800 and 1266TC, the SolP give a large sounding image. The imaging and precision of the drivers is again up there with the best I have heard, but always seemed to be more obvious with the slight boost in the treble, vs the stock tuning In terms of build quality, the SolP’s are very substantial, and feel very well put together. They are mostly aluminum, with Alcantara Pads. They aren’t the comfiest or lightest headphones I have tried, but I have not struggled with comfort at all. I have read a few impressions of listeners struggling with the fit of the headband. As it lacks the suspension strap seen on other models in the marketplace, I think that it may be a case of “it fits” or “…it doesn’t.” I have a fairly large head, and have not had any troubles thus far, but if you can try it personally I would highly recommend doing so, just in case. The ear pads, being alcantara, have a really nice plush feel to them. The weight of the SolP is enough that you notice that you are wearing them, but not troublesome like some Audeze (700g+) models for example. The fit and finish is pretty much impeccable, and I have no complaints about it. One thing that I’m still undecided on is the connector choice. The SolP use a recessed HD800 connector. I understand that the HD800 connector is a high quality option, and the recession protects it, but it does make aftermarket cable options a bit more difficult. This is simply something to note, as if you are getting an aftermarket cable made, you will need to specify longer heat shrink so that the cable can be inserted and removed. Perhaps something like the Audeze/Meze 4pin XLR option would have been a bit more universal, allowing existing cables in someones collection to be used. Compared to the Hifiman Susvara, the SolP has slightly more bass, similar mids, and is darker in the treble (without EQ.) I would say the Susvara is very slightly more detailed and delicate sounding, but the difference is slight. The SolP does have more impact or slam in the low end than the Susvara, and does sound slightly wider in terms of soundstage. The Susvara is more comfortable, but the SolP’s build is more impressive, and feels far more substantial. In terms of sensitivity, the Susvara is 83db/mw and the SolP is 101db/mw. In practice, this makes the SolP so much easier to use day to day, as it doesn’t need a nuclear reactor to sound at its best. Compared to the Abyss 1266TC, the SolP actually reminds me of the 1266’s bass more than any other model I have heard, though still not exactly the same. There is slightly more mid presence in the lower mids on the SolP, and the SolP is darker in the treble (no EQ) than the 1266. The 1266TC has a wider soundstage and overall a larger sonic picture, but again the detail levels between the two are quite similar, with the SolP only slightly trailing behind. Both feature impressive aluminium builds, but the SolP is slightly more comfortable due to its lighter weight and more conventional shape. Compared to the Meze ELITE, the SolP is more detailed, and more technically accomplished overall. The Meze does have more presence in the treble, a bit more euphony in the mids, and slightly more mid bass. The Meze is still the comfiest headphone I have ever tried, and has a build that I think all headphone companies can aspire to equal. Still, the SolP bests it sonically for my personal preferences. Overall, the Solitaire P from T+A is an incredible first effort at a TOTL headphone. The more I think about it, the more I think it might be the most “complete” package in terms of a top of the line planar magnetic headphone options currently available.