[DarginMahkum]

As much as I like the sound of my Solitaire P, I am thinking of going for an even lighter HP, probably I will try to make a deal with my wife for her P-SE, or something like a Kennerton. My decision is not final yet, but seriously considering. I know it will not be as good sounding but I really liked the comfort level of Rögnir.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Here goes my P. My wife won't be using her P-SE until September, so I am taking it over. After that, we will see.

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/t-a-solitaire-p.6484/

 

[ThanatosVI]

Here goes my P. My wife won't be using her P-SE until September, so I am taking it over. After that, we will see.

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/t-a-solitaire-p.6484/

Hopefully you won't regret that.

You should post it in the Susvara thread, guys like @Sajid Amit might be interested.

 

[Newsee]

As much as I like the sound of my Solitaire P, I am think of going for even a lighter HP, probably I will try to make a deal with my wife for her P-SE, or something like a Kennerton. My decision is not final yet, but seriously considering. I know it will not be as good sounding but I really liked the comfort level of Rögnir.

Well, there is always a reason to change. Slowly I start to get used to it.

Here goes my P. My wife won't be using her P-SE until September, so I am taking it over. After that, we will see.

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/t-a-solitaire-p.6484/

You were never hesitating too long.
Somehow I just can not like these messages .
I see the D8000 has also disappeared from your signature.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Well, there is always a reason to change. Slowly I start to get used to it.

You were never hesitating too long.
Somehow I just can not like these messages .
I see the D8000 has also disappeared from your signature.

Well, it was a nice time with P, but now I have the Rögnir and P-SE - all of P, HEKse and D9200 will leave. I don't see the point in collecting. HA200 will surely stay, though - as I don't have to put it on my head.

 

[TheAttorney]

Here are my impressions of the T+A equipment.
As posted earlier, I was primarily interested in a server/streamer upgrade, but also listened to the HA200, P and P-SE while I had the chance to do so at the dealer.
I also tried the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC/amp as it was also available.
Everything below is just an impression - not a conclusive judgement on what is ultimately best.
I'm a single-headphone kinda guy, so the P or P-SE would have to be overall better than my existing HEKse's for all music types.

In Round 1 at the dealer, all I needed to decide was which component I should take back with me for a home trial.
I was already taking the Grimm MU1 server (see the Grimm thread over at AS forum) and just needed to know if...
(a) Would the P or P-SE overall sound better than my HEKse? And if so....
(b) Would the HA200 have better synergy than my existing DAVE for driving the P or P-SE? And...
(c) Would the HA200 have better synergy than DAVE for interfacing with the MU1?

As @DarginMahkum had noted, both P and P-SE seemed faster than my HEK in the lower-mids and upper bass. And both were darker (the P more so) and both less efficient (needed around 3-4dB more on the volume control). But the HEK was more comfortable. In this short comparison, I found it hard to justify the extra cost of the P over the P-SE, even though it did some things really well. And I didn't appreciate it's extra weight, so I chose the P-SE to take back home.

Moving onto the DAC/Amps, I really liked the HA200 and found its versatile controls, e.g. tone controls, useful and effective. However, it gave no obvious additional SQ synergy over DAVE with either the headphones or with MU1.
Following on from the HA200, the (more expensive) Mola Mola won on detail and clarity, but unexpectedly showed up some sibilance on the P-SE on a familiar female vocal that I had never noticed before. In short, both the new DAC/Amps gave a good first impression, but neither gave me a compelling reason to change from my DAVE.

In conclusion, I took back the MU1 and P-SE for a home trial. Round 2 to immediately follow.

 

[TheAttorney]

Round 2 at home....

I could try out the P-SE for a longer period now. I liked the mid/bass faster speed, which just showed up more detail. The HEKse seemed a bit softer and slower in this area.
And I liked the P-SE's slightly darker presentation - The HEKse is pretty good tonally (no headphone is perfect), but it is slightly more forward than I'd like if I was being picky.

However, the HEKse had different strengths: A larger sound stage and a very airy and open presentation that was very engaging. It was also more comfortable. If I was starting from scratch, I'd probably pick the HEK. As I already owned the HEK, there was clearly no justification to change at this point, so the P-SE went back.

Regarding comfort, as Darginmahkum had noted, the P and P-SE's arc is too small for my head. So it pressed on the sides of my head, rather than the top. Had I kept them. I would have asked T+A if it was possible to bend out the arc a bit.

I also tried the P-SE's stock cable on my HEK, replacing my Toxic Silver Widow 22. I found the Toxic to sound significantly more detailed and open than the P-SE cable - without any downside of harshness etc. Admittedly it was a brief test, but it seemed to me that the stock P-SE cable could readily be improved upon (as can the stock cable of every headphone I've ever tried). Note that the ViaBlue 3.5mm plugs on my Toxic are narrow enough to fit inside the P-SE socket - for anyone interested in DIY cabling.

In conclusion, all the T+A components I tried were well built and sounded good. I can see why anyone would choose them. But there were not enough compelling reasons for me to change from what I already had - so I didn't.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Round 2 at home....

I could try out the P-SE for a longer period now. I liked the mid/bass faster speed, which just showed up more detail. The HEKse seemed a bit softer and slower in this area.
And I liked the P-SE's slightly darker presentation - The HEKse is pretty good tonally (no headphone is perfect), but it is slightly more forward than I'd like if I was being picky.

However, the HEKse had different strengths: A larger sound stage and a very airy and open presentation that was very engaging. It was also more comfortable. If I was starting from scratch, I'd probably pick the HEK. As I already owned the HEK, there was clearly no justification to change at this point, so the P-SE went back.

Regarding comfort, as Darginmahkum had noted, the P and P-SE's arc is too small for my head. So it pressed on the sides of my head, rather than the top. Had I kept them. I would have asked T+A if it was possible to bend out the arc a bit.

I also tried the P-SE's stock cable on my HEK, replacing my Toxic Silver Widow 22. I found the Toxic to sound significantly more detailed and open than the P-SE cable - without any downside of harshness etc. Admittedly it was a brief test, but it seemed to me that the stock P-SE cable could readily be improved upon (as can the stock cable of every headphone I've ever tried). Note that the ViaBlue 3.5mm plugs on my Toxic are narrow enough to fit inside the P-SE socket - for anyone interested in DIY cabling.

In conclusion, all the T+A components I tried were well built and sounded good. I can see why anyone would choose them. But there were not enough compelling reasons for me to change from what I already had - so I didn't.

Thank you very much for your impressions and good to hear that I wasn't imagining things:

- One can already be pretty satisfied with P-SE.
- The headband design of both Ps are not good for some heads (it also presses on the sides of my head, and I often used extra cushions).
- Speed is the strong point of Ps over other headphones but it shows better with some EQ to reduce the thickness.

Did you find the performance of HA200 on par with DAVE?

 

[irishnutter]

I'm curious about the HA200 / DAVE comparison too.

Also, how does the bass and sub-bass compare between the P-SE and HEK-SE?

 

[DarginMahkum]

I'm curious about the HA200 / DAVE comparison too.

Also, how does the bass and sub-bass compare between the P-SE and HEK-SE?

HEKse has a slightly slower bass with more subbass quantity. P-SE is drier, faster, more neutral, more detailed and controlled bass, with less subbass.

 

[TheAttorney]

Did you find the performance of HA200 on par with DAVE?

I can't be conclusive about this because, in the short time I compared these two, the only thing I cared about was if HA200 was noticeably better than DAVE when driving the Solitaires (in order to decide if I should take the HA200 for a home trial). It wasn't even slightly better, but I can't say if it was worse - my focus already shifted to the next test. If pressed, I'd probably say it wasn't quite as good as DAVE, but still a very good sound.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Worst thing about selling the P is: Oh no, I loved my profile photo. I just realized it now...

 

[chief79]

Question for Solitaire P owners, would the headphone “open” up and add more detail and clarity and the “weightiness” even/“smoothen” out over time from “burn-in”?

 

[lator]

Delivered this morning.

 

[ducanh712]

Question for Solitaire P owners, would the headphone “open” up and add more detail and clarity and the “weightiness” even/“smoothen” out over time from “burn-in”?

Yes, After burn-in, overall sound improved quite a lot