T+A Solitaire P planar magnetostatic

[krude]

I would recommend the Holo Bliss in that price range. It is a great match with the Sus and I like it with the Sol P as well. The base on the Sus will really fire. Larger form factor though.

I also personally didn't like Bliss with Susvara, but I like more edgy and immediate sound. Bliss KTE was a lot better than Oor though ... but I expect AHB2 to be in a different league.

Anyone tried AHB2 or Accuphase with Sol P btw?

 

[Frankie D]

I also personally didn't like Bliss with Susvara, but I like more edgy and immediate sound. Bliss KTE was a lot better than Oor though ... but I expect AHB2 to be in a different league.

Anyone tried AHB2 or Accuphase with Sol P btw?

I am mostly about the timbre and like a sound closer to real instruments, though I often gravitate to the warmer or romantic side as well. I felt the Bliss, Zahl, MK-465 and Riviera surpass the Benchmark. The Bliss being the Best Buy of the bunch. I would be shocked though, if someone disliked the Benchmark. Great amplifier.

 

[tholt]

Just another random gushing post about the Sol P (and trying to keep this thread hopping ). From acoustic-based vocals to banging techno, it does it all extremely well. I'm at a rare point where I'm not wanting to upgrade anything, and have been this way for a while. I still cruise used sites (I'll always do that) but for me, I haven't heard anything sound bad from these headphones. Every tube change comes through loud and clear. I can get them warm sounding if I want, but the finesse and resolution remain. Have no idea what I'd "upgrade" to since dethroning these would take a very special can indeed. Sold off the Elite as it just wasn't as controlled sounding as the Sol P. The Elite is a fun can for sure, great mids, but the Sol P was pretty obviously superior in technicalities and refinement. Now just having fun tube rolling and enjoying the music.

 

[Kimmeri]

So is it the case that I cant just plug in the normal 3,5mm in these? I really hate the stock cable. Did they really wire it the wrong way on purpose? Does it break if I try anyway?

This mint condition P-SE is on sale btw inside EU for cheap if someone wants but needs to be fast, I return it soon.

 

[treebug]

Just another random gushing post about the Sol P (and trying to keep this thread hopping ). From acoustic-based vocals to banging techno, it does it all extremely well. I'm at a rare point where I'm not wanting to upgrade anything, and have been this way for a while. I still cruise used sites (I'll always do that) but for me, I haven't heard anything sound bad from these headphones. Every tube change comes through loud and clear. I can get them warm sounding if I want, but the finesse and resolution remain. Have no idea what I'd "upgrade" to since dethroning these would take a very special can indeed. Sold off the Elite as it just wasn't as controlled sounding as the Sol P. The Elite is a fun can for sure, great mids, but the Sol P was pretty obviously superior in technicalities and refinement. Now just having fun tube rolling and enjoying the music.

Sol P is very difficult to beat, sounding particularly excellent with electronica. I stopped looking at other headphones after purchasing these a few years ago, which is very unlike me!

 

[krude]

I started the new year with taking the delivery of Accuphase e370 ... and combating a nasty ground loop that occured between Accu and Wandla (solved by getting 2 ground defenders, got 1 Ifi and one Morely just to test the two options) ... but I digress.

I'm a tube guy but Accuphase rocked my world and converted me back to SS (ok not fully, I still love the tube sound) ... and it's an amazing hp amp. Sol P from the speaker taps sounds very powerful and very resolving.

Thanks to a certain someone who discussed his not so great experience with Sol P I started looking very critically at how it sounded in my system and while I was far from getting bad results I did notice I'm losing midrange detail on certain very busy and difficult mixes. I also noticed I'm running out of current even on 300B (8 wpc) ... it's normally plenty until you put some hard EDM with a lot of bass on ... and suddenly you're hitting the limits ...

So here comes e370 I was considering for years now ... 2nd hand not much more than Bliss KTE (and similar) so a very modest price considering how expensive certain totl amps have become (yiykes!) ...

And I now know what causes Sol P to lose detail (you may not even know you're losing detail ) ... current ... I'm now a full convert into "there's no replacement for displacement" school of thought ... you need that current and headroom to squeeze those details and micro dynamics out of your planars (and AMTs), heck it even squeezed incredible detail from my Utopia while not sounding sterile (like most SS hp amps).

There are people who will say 1wpc is plenty for any headphone and while on paper this is certainly true, in practice it's far from it. Playing bass rich EDM loud on Sol P I'm pushing the e370 VU meters to about 40-50% and it's a 100 wpc (on paper) beefy speaker amp (overbuilt, they usually measure 150-170) so Susvara would surely push it to 50-60%

 

[tholt]

Thanks to a certain someone who discussed his not so great experience with Sol P I started looking very critically at how it sounded in my system and while I was far from getting bad results I did notice I'm losing midrange detail on certain very busy and difficult mixes. I also noticed I'm running out of current even on 300B (8 wpc) ... it's normally plenty until you put some hard EDM with a lot of bass on ... and suddenly you're hitting the limits ...

And I now know what causes Sol P to lose detail (you may not even know you're losing detail ) ... current

There are people who will say 1wpc is plenty for any headphone and while on paper this is certainly true, in practice it's far from it.

Not surprised in the least. It's still a planar, after all. The specs are fairly modest, but IME planars in particular love current. I can't imagine how unfulfilling (and how much potential you'd never hear) if you put these on a low current delivery amp. Damping factor might be another thing to consider. And maybe amp topology and tube selection are a part of it too (ie 300b vs more linear sound and drive from say a KT88 or KT90), though that's just speculation, and depending on tastes and music selection.

 

[smodtactical]

Sol P is very difficult to beat, sounding particularly excellent with electronica. I stopped looking at other headphones after purchasing these a few years ago, which is very unlike me!

Did you compare to 1266 tc ?

 

[krude]

Did you compare to 1266 tc ?

I did and my TC is listed in classified. Its on the same level imo but Sol P for me personally is more versatile. It could also be that after 4 years of TC ownership I gravitate towards a slightly different signature. Each to their own tho.

 

[alvin sawdust]

@krude Had a look at the Sol P cable on Lavricable and noticed there isn't any extended heatshrink/strainrelief to aid plugging the cable in. Did this cause you any problems?

 

[jonchard]

@krude Had a look at the Sol P cable on Lavricable and noticed there isn't any extended heatshrink/strainrelief to aid plugging the cable in. Did this cause you any problems?

I think you can ASK them to extend it specifically for this headphone.

 

[alvin sawdust]

I think you can ASK them to extend it specifically for this headphone.

Hi Jon, only asking as I am in discussion to have my D8KP custom silver cable re-terminated for the Sol P.

 

[krude]

Hi Jon, only asking as I am in discussion to have my D8KP custom silver cable re-terminated for the Sol P.

I use HD800 to 3.5 adapters. I think they will work for D8K as well (depending how the 3.5 is wired).

 

[alvin sawdust]

I use HD800 to 3.5 adapters. I think they will work for D8K as well (depending how the 3.5 is wired).

Ah, good shout, thank you

 

[jonchard]

Hi Jon, only asking as I am in discussion to have my D8KP custom silver cable re-terminated for the Sol P.

I hope you are still pleased with SolP? Are the D8K to be sold? Are you taken by the SolP? Im trying to find a second third hp at the moment. Immanis will stay forever, but trying my lucky with LCD4 vrs Abyss ... maybe the best hp win and remain in the collection. I love the Abyss, but too many aspects drive me nuts... but they may still stay lol.