[brams]

Its interesting to compare the Solitaire's measurement with that of the AKG K872. Both measurements appear to have been made by the same source so they should be comparable.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/akgs-new-k872.803263/page-30#lg=attachment2409164&slide=0

 

[musicman59]

Anybody know who will be selling or is selling the Solitaire headphones here in the States?

 

[GuyForkes]

Finally got the chance to give the Solitaire P a listen at my local dealer. These are my impressions after about 2 hours of listening time (with the accompanying T+A HA200 amplifier).

Fit
Shockingly good. Weight distribution and clamp force (not to mention the super plush and luxurious pads) are so spot you forget you're wearing headphones almost immediately. I think it's more comfortable than my seasoned HD600.

Tonality
Bass goes as low as any other high end planar I've heard with impact/slam that's better than Susvara, losing out only to Abyss TC. Transition between mid bass and lower mids is also seamless, with appropriate note weight. The upper mids and highs are present (listen to Ether 2 for an example of a headphone with no highs), but there are portions of it that sound thin and somewhat distant. This makes the headphone sound not quite coherent with the lower registers having the right amount of body while the upper registers sounding thin.

Technicalities
Transients are slightly fuzzy and there is an impression that it isn't as fast as some cheaper planars (this may be preferable to some). Stage width is average and depth is below average, with all sounds seeming to come from the same distance, if that makes sense.

Final Thoughts
While it's great to see a well respected 2-channel manufacturer invest in headphone development, it would have been even better if the price reflected that this was the company's first attempt. I'm passing on this but I hope T+A continues in this space and am excited to see what they come up with next.

Also a few words on the HA200 dac/amp. Aesthetically stunning, especially those VU meters. The 8ohm output impedance is puzzling. Even more puzzling is that there are settings for output impedance but the minimum is 8ohm and it goes all the way up to 80ohm! Why??? I personally follow the 1/8 rule for impedance matching so I wouldn't pair the HA200 with anything below 60ohm.

 

[jonstatt]

Finally got the chance to give the Solitaire P a listen at my local dealer. These are my impressions after about 2 hours of listening time (with the accompanying T+A HA200 amplifier).

Fit
Shockingly good. Weight distribution and clamp force (not to mention the super plush and luxurious pads) are so spot you forget you're wearing headphones almost immediately. I think it's more comfortable than my seasoned HD600.

Tonality
Bass goes as low as any other high end planar I've heard with impact/slam that's better than Susvara, losing out only to Abyss TC. Transition between mid bass and lower mids is also seamless, with appropriate note weight. The upper mids and highs are present (listen to Ether 2 for an example of a headphone with no highs), but there are portions of it that sound thin and somewhat distant. This makes the headphone sound not quite coherent with the lower registers having the right amount of body while the upper registers sounding thin.

Technicalities
Transients are slightly fuzzy and there is an impression that it isn't as fast as some cheaper planars (this may be preferable to some). Stage width is average and depth is below average, with all sounds seeming to come from the same distance, if that makes sense.

Final Thoughts
While it's great to see a well respected 2-channel manufacturer invest in headphone development, it would have been even better if the price reflected that this was the company's first attempt. I'm passing on this but I hope T+A continues in this space and am excited to see what they come up with next.

Also a few words on the HA200 dac/amp. Aesthetically stunning, especially those VU meters. The 8ohm output impedance is puzzling. Even more puzzling is that there are settings for output impedance but the minimum is 8ohm and it goes all the way up to 80ohm! Why??? I personally follow the 1/8 rule for impedance matching so I wouldn't pair the HA200 with anything below 60ohm.

In an interview T+A said that when you have a <1 ohm impedance that you are listening to the amp and not the headphones. Zach of ZMF headphones strongly agrees with this. You want a marriage of headphone and amp. At zero output impedance you are over damping the headphones. 1/5 is normally sufficient and for planars with linear impedance response it matters even less. However they did say they would accept custom orders for other output impedance values.

 

[GuyForkes]

In an interview T+A said that when you have a <1 ohm impedance that you are listening to the amp and not the headphones. Zach of ZMF headphones strongly agrees with this. You want a marriage of headphone and amp. At zero output impedance you are over damping the headphones. 1/5 is normally sufficient and for planars with linear impedance response it matters even less. However they did say they would accept custom orders for other output impedance values.

Well there are a number of headphones such as Verum 1 (8ohm), Ether 2 (16ohm) and Klipsch HP-3 (25ohm) where even applying a 1/5 ratio is not enough. Also, I don't think it matters less for planars, its just that planars have a flat impedance curve throughout the frequency range so matching is easier. Impedance mismatches here would still impact the frequency response. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong on that. But more to the point, why not have the minimum OI start at 2ohm instead of all the way up at 8ohm? Also, is anyone really asking for an OI of 80ohm?

From my experience with impedance settings on tube amps, increasing the OI seems to create a warmer tone that is looser (less damped). I can see some people liking that I suppose.

 

[brams]

So it appears that anyone who is not raving about these is picking up on something strange in the upper mids to lower treble transition. I was thinking some of this might just have been a sub-optimal match with the dcs Bartok, but sounds like the reported issue is audible with the t+a h200 as well.

I had posted a link to the measurements of the akg k872 because although it has a similar dip I do not hear quite the same problems in that area. Looking at the graphs more closely the difference in perception might partially be due to the Solitaire's dip starting a bit earlier than that of the k872.

Regardless, in my opinion the Solitaire is very good, but not excellent and I was expecting excellent for that price. I would not buy for anywhere near the RRP, but would definitely buy used at 1/2 the price based solely on the build quality and the things they do very well.

 

[HA-1]

Anybody know who will be selling or is selling the Solitaire headphones here in the States?

From www.ta-hifi.com - Distributors: T+A North America, Tel. +1 (207) 251-8129, eMail: usa@ta-hifi.com .

 

[jonstatt]

Well there are a number of headphones such as Verum 1 (8ohm), Ether 2 (16ohm) and Klipsch HP-3 (25ohm) where even applying a 1/5 ratio is not enough. Also, I don't think it matters less for planars, its just that planars have a flat impedance curve throughout the frequency range so matching is easier. Impedance mismatches here would still impact the frequency response. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong on that. But more to the point, why not have the minimum OI start at 2ohm instead of all the way up at 8ohm? Also, is anyone really asking for an OI of 80ohm?

From my experience with impedance settings on tube amps, increasing the OI seems to create a warmer tone that is looser (less damped). I can see some people liking that I suppose.

My understanding is that the nearer output impedance and driver impedance the greater the risk of frequency shifts IF the impedance is not linear across the frequency range. For planars the only difference to my understanding will be damping

 

[brams]

The HiFi News review on the Solitaire P is now out:

https://www.hifinews.com/content/ta-solitaire-p-headphones

No surprises here and I note that in addition to the presence band issues the Harman correction also implies the slight perceived bass bloom I noted in my impressions.

I agree with his conclusions, but think giving it a "Commended" designation is being a bit kind given the overall tone of the review and the price. It is vitally important to hold manufacturers at this price level to a high standard. Hopefully T+A will make the required revisions and release an improved follow up sooner than later. This headphone has so much potential ...

 

[Nomax]

I think and i hope the potential of this headphone will bring the upcoming open ear Cushions(more airy sounding).....i will post my impressions about that later

NOMAX

PS.lol

 

[trellus]

It’s just hard for me to take these expensive cans seriously when they are branded “T+A”, which might be fine in Germany and elsewhere in the world but which has its own sordid meaning in at least parts of the United States,

 

[xxx1313]

It’s just hard for me to take these expensive cans seriously when they are branded “T+A”, which might be fine in Germany and elsewhere in the world but which has its own sordid meaning in at least parts of the United States,

Ah, I see. It seems obvious now where the curves in the frequency response result from...

 

[johnzz4]

Ah, I see. It seems obvious now where the curves in the frequency response result from...

And I now know why I’ve been strangely drawn to the brand. Subliminal marketing at it finest.

 

[tommyvercetti]

In an interview T+A said that when you have a <1 ohm impedance that you are listening to the amp and not the headphones. Zach of ZMF headphones strongly agrees with this. You want a marriage of headphone and amp. At zero output impedance you are over damping the headphones. 1/5 is normally sufficient and for planars with linear impedance response it matters even less. However they did say they would accept custom orders for other output impedance values.

Hi @jonstatt

Thanks for your explanation.

Could you tell me more about this?

Are there any resources you could show me for me to read up on the concept of impedance between headphone and amp please?

 

[GuyForkes]

Hi @jonstatt

Thanks for your explanation.

Could you tell me more about this?

Are there any resources you could show me for me to read up on the concept of impedance between headphone and amp please?

This is a good place to start:
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html