T+A Solitaire P MagnetoStatic Headphones - Early Impressions

[Ehrmantraut]

T+A Solitaire P MagnetoStatic Headphones - Early Impressions

 

T+A (Theory + Application) are a high-end German audio company with a long history mainly from loudspeaker technologies. https://www.ta-hifi.de/en/headphones/solitaire-headphones/

 

The flagship Solitaire P employ a sophisticated planar-magnetostatic array comprised of high-performance neodymium magnets and a vapor-deposited special membrane. Is it a planar or an electrostat? A bird or a plane?

 

DESIGN & COMFORT

The T+A Solitaire P looks very much reminiscent of the HE-1 and is CNC-milled from aluminium.

There’s synthetic leather for the headbands and Alcantara ear pads. I see improvement needed in the headband design. It’s a little clunky and slightly difficult to get a good fit. It’s like a clampy HD800s and relatively heavy at 490g. They do lie flat but there’s no travel case, so that’s a little moot.  

Once on, they’re relatively comfy though. Many manufacturers have nailed headband design, so get to it T+A.

 

PACKAGING & ACCESSORIES

The T+A Solitaire P headphones are supplied in a stupidly large box. Let’s think of the planet guys.

There are two really nice silver-plated copper cables in 6.35 mm and 4.4 mm but both are 3M long. Two lengths would have been better.

 

TL:DR – Without any burn-in for this review, these are seriously good HPs and up there with other TOTL offerings. They’re priced accordingly in our expensive HeadFi world. Are they perfect? Not quite – read on!

 

Chain is Roon (Innuos)>Aqua LinQ>La Scala>Denafrips Athena>Feliks Envy

 

Thanks to Resolve at Headphone community for this easy way to assess HPs:

 

Tonal Balance - The headphone achieves an appropriate balance between fundamental and harmonic tones.

 - A highlight for me – just lovely with vocals (esp female) and piano. The treble is dialled back though, which means less air and sparkle than some others.

Detail/Resolution - The headphone is incisive, well-controlled during busy passages, and retains good clarity for the finer nuances in the music.

 - Top notch. Right up there with electrostats and ribbons. Fast and detailed.

Separation and sense of space - Being able to isolate individual instruments in the mix is more important to me than overall ‘soundstage’, because headphones won’t ever get to be like speakers.

 - Not the greatest soundstage but the sense of space around the instruments and layering is very good.

Contrast/Punch - The headphone has good contrast for large volume swings, the opposite being a compressed kind of sound.

 - Really good and great bass.

Timbre - The headphone sounds sufficiently ‘natural’.

 - Slightly lean and neutral but very pleasing.

 

Soundstage

It’s not HD800s soundstage but it still delivers all of its spatial elements extremely well. The enjoyment lies within its deeper layers. The level of separation you get is extraordinary, precisely displaying instrumental positioning so effectively it creates this immersive sonic environment that becomes easy to lose yourself in. The sound cube of the Solitaire P presents images with finesse and dynamics.

 

Bass

Not quite as visceral as Abyss 1266 but the articulation and extension is tonally accurate. This is what CRBN should have been. Plenty of bass quantity in a controlled way. A highlight.

 

Mids

The midrange is where the Solitaire P really shows it’s richness, with expressive tones and transparency. It’s very natural and life-like. That makes vocals and instruments the best genres. Piano reproduction is some of the best I’ve heard.

 

Treble

The treble response is slightly dialled back and whilst natural, may lack some air and sparkle that people enjoy. It makes them much less fatiguing than say, Utopia but isn’t as well nuanced as some the HiFiMans. Apparently, T+A are making some alternate pads to bring this area more focus.

 

Comparisons

These are with HPs I’ve owned with a similar chain.

 

Utopia OG/22 – The Soli P are like an HD800s version of the Utopias. Bringing Focal punch and dynamics with additional bass, space and detail.

 

Abyss 1266 – Much nicer fit, less visceral bass but better control. Detail and mids are about the same, maybe a bit better on Soli.

 

Susvara – The Soli are like a Sus with better bass. Voicing is similar but the Soli does a more accurate job in the mids with more detail. Sus wins on the mid to high zone. Sus needs to be driven very well to do this though.

 

X9000 – The Soli has electrostat speed, resolution and clarity without some of the ethereal quality. Voicing, again is similar because this is the high end stuff. Bass is more pronounced and has more quantity than X9K but similar control and extension.

 

Summary

 As you can tell, I almost immediately liked these HPs a lot. After some critical listening - a lot more! They can come across as a little boring. Like an underpowered HEDD. But like a lot of German engineering, they really shine when driven well. Think Porsche/Audi vs Alfa/Maserati. Japanese food vs Italian. The voicing, imaging and overall timbre really suits my listening of singer/songwriter and jazz. I thoroughly recommend them if you’re in the market for a TOTL headphone. Is it “one and done”? Almost. If you like a warmer signature, I’d go Caldera. More bass, Abyss. Overall detail and air, X9K. Soundstage and detail retrieval, Raal.

 

Thanks to Geoff @HeyNowHifi, a gentleman and valued consultant. I liked them so much, I bought what might be the only pair in AUS!

 

[sakabatou]

Thanks for the nicely written review.

 

However, I don't think you can use the Resolve format without using the term "trailing ends of tones" 

[Replicant2049]

Nice review. I also have the Sol P and am in Kiama so unfortunately yours is not the only pair out in the wild in Aus

 

I very much agree with your description of them. I have been enjoying them since June. I also have the Susvara and Abyss TC's. I think that technically they can hang with those other two highly reputable cans. I would say that if I had to choose one it would likely be the Sol P as I do think they are a great all-rounder (as you have mentioned) and have the best combination of sound, build quality, ergonomics, and driveability. I listen to a lot of electronic music (and other genres of course) and they are great for that. The engineering of the design and build quality far exceeds the TC and Sus in my opinion, very professional product. I drive my cans off the Formula S and Powerman combo and also a Mytek Brooklyn Bridge and find the Sol P sound great off both. I actually also really like the stock cable in terms of usability and sound. I sometimes use my DHC Prion 4s but mainly stick with the stock.

 

Overall I think it is a very under the radar TOTL that is probably quite overlooked due to it's eye watering price and T+A being a new entrant to the TOTL headphone market.