T + A Solitaire P

Pros:

    Excellent Bass

    Comfortable Ear Cups

    Top Tier Mids

    Good Highs

    Soundstage/Imaging

Mediocre:

    Plastic Bits on Headband

Bull:

    Tiny Headband

    Price

BLUF: X

Up for review today are the Theory and Application (T+A) Solitaire P (P for Planar-Magnetic). T+A is a German company that has been around for years, but only just recently came out with several sets of headphones (2020). I’ve listened to the T+A Solitaire T, the wireless Bluetooth headphones, and I still think they’re the best-sounding Bluetooth headphones on the market right now, despite the small earcups. The Solitaire P, and the cheaper version, the Solitaire P SE, are the full-size versions which use higher-end transducers set up more like full-size speaker drivers – which T+A is famous for. The P (TPM 3100) and PSE (TPM 2500) use different drivers, so don’t expect the PSE to be a directly cheaper version of the P – it’ll have a different sound characteristic, and I haven’t heard them to compare. The PSE also have a slightly smaller frequency response range, though it’s out of the range of human hearing, so it’s likely a non-factor. The PSE’s 45 Ohm impedance is also lower than the P’s 80 ohm impedance. The retail on these is $6,800, making them more expensive than the HiFiMan Susvara, Warwick Bravura system, STAX SR-X9000, and the Abyss 1266 TC. They are however less expensive than the Warwick Aperio, the HiFiMan Shangri-la Jr., Sr., etc. So, are they worth the price? Let’s find out.

Comfort/Build (Can you wear it for long periods, or will it fall apart after one use?): My biggest complaint with the Solitaire T was the comfort level of the ear cups. You’ll be happy to know that the synthetic Alcantara earcups on the Solitaire P are huge and quite comfortable without being as annoyingly large as the HiFiMan Arya or DCA E3. The headband on the other hand is not. The padding on the headband is very comfortable, but it’s small enough that the plastic on the sides where there is no padding digs into my head – not the best-thought-out setup. The Solitaire T doesn’t have this piece of plastic, so I have no idea why the P does. The headband just needs to be a bit wider, but there is no way I am going to try to bend the headband on a $6,800 headphone to make it fit better. If your head is narrower than mine (not hard to do) then it likely won’t be an issue.

The build quality is classic T+A with the same DNA running throughout the headphone line. There is comfortable synthetic leather or Alcantara, solid aluminum with grooves, and just a little plastic on the headband as previously mentioned. It’s extremely good build quality, though the plastic is not only unwelcome but out of place on a headphone this expensive. I’m also not the biggest fan of the grooved aluminum because it has the tendency to look more like brushed aluminum than a nice shiny aluminum, which would exude more class in my opinion. That would also pick up more fingerprints, while the brushed look picks up none. Regardless, the Solitaire P is an extremely well-built product. One other complaint is that the earcups are easily the heaviest part of the 530g headphones, so they will pull down on the adjustment piece of the headband automatically if held by the headband. It’s a minor quibble and easily fixable, but something you don’t want in headphones this expensive.

The Solitaire P comes with two stock cables, one ¼ inch and one balanced 4.4mm cable (there is supposedly a 4-pin XLR version available as well.) These are really nice heavy-duty cables with copper internals and a silver coating with gold-plated contacts. They’re lighter than the Kennerton Rognir cable with reduced microphonics and are very high-quality. I’d prefer a short one for my preferences since they are quite long, but I could say the same for the Susvara and Sennheiser cables. It’s good that the stock cables are good because they use a very uncommon 2-pin plug-and-socket design to connect to the headphones. Only a couple of companies make aftermarket cables for this – just keep that in mind. If it wasn’t for the plastic pieces digging into my head, the Solitaire P would likely earn a 5 here, but between the headband fit and the slipping earcup adjusters, the Solitaire P earns a solid 4 (Above Average) for the Comfort/Build Quality category.

I am powering these headphones off of my headphones desktop setup which consists of a Cayin iDAC-8 that feeds into a Cayin i-HA-8 amp through 4-pin XLR connections. The Solitaire P is easier to drive than my Susvara with the volume dial at 11 o’clock in Hyper mode on the Cayin iHA-8 compared to the Susvara’s 1-2 o’clock setting.

Below are the test tracks used to test each headphone we review – there are a couple changes to refine this. The songs are in order to test sub-bass (bass you can feel) first, followed by mid-bass (bass drums and bass guitars – bass you can hear), then a spectrum of mids evaluating different instruments and vocals (where most of the music is presented), then highs (higher pitched instruments and cymbals) and lastly sibilance (sharp S sounds).

Lows (Sub-bass/bass quality and quantity): The bass on the Solitaire P is big, bombastic, and boomy. It brings the spirit of the Abyss 1266 to the heart of the Susvara. The sub-bass can be clearly felt and the impact from the mid-bass is sublimely distinct. The Solitaire P manages to bring big bass to high-end headphones without rattly, poor-quality bass. It dodges the Honda Civic with subs rattle and it is really quite excellent. It’s notable that on “Seven Nation Army” you can still quite clearly hear the cymbal strikes in the background while the bass guitar is booming away and the drums are evenly portrayed as well. It’s an easy 5 (Among the Best) for bass for the Solitaire P.

Mids (Vocals/Instrument clarity and presence): Let’s see how “Liar” does on the Solitaire P. Guitar pics are easily heard and the sharp notes in the back are muted. Vocals come in clearly and forward of the fiddle. Female vocals can be clearly heard, as can male vocals. It’s a very good mids presentation, top-notch even, if not quite at the almost unreal level of the Susvara. Guitars are full-bodied and vocals are truly excellent on “Landing in London.” Narrow Mouth” provides an emphasis on the background sounds that are normally buried under the intro distorted guitars. The pianos in “Wide Awake” are gorgeous and the vocals are really strong as well. The only downside I can really find here is that the soundstage is so large that it feels like the music is further away than my personal preference. Still, I can’t find any real fault with the Solitaire P’s mids which earns it a solid 5 (Among The Best) here.

Highs (Cymbals/High pitched vocals or instrument quality and presence/Sibilance): The high-hats and cymbals on “By the Way” can be clearly heard despite the thumpy bass guitar in the back. “Otherside is the real test here though for sibilance and the Solitaire P displays some pretty sharp sibilance on this song. The highs though are really excellent with beautiful presence and sustain. Additionally, most headphones display some sharp sibilance at the beginning of this song. These are akin to the JMA XTC2, but not quite as good as the Susvara or the Diana MR here. The Solitaire P gets a solid 4 (Above Average) here on highs.

Soundstage/Imaging (How big and accurate the song sounds): The soundstage is massive on every song I listened to. That’s great if you’re looking for a concert hall presentation. If you’re not, then this will feel like it’s missing some intimacy for you. Still, the soundstage cannot be faulted based solely on preference and the imaging is essentially perfect with the instruments exactly where they should be. It’s a 5 (Among The Best) for the Solitaire P here.

Value (Cost vs Performance): Well, it’s easy to say that the Solitaire P is too expensive, so the value is terrible. While I agree that these should run closer to $4-5k in their next iteration to compete with some of the amazing headphones coming out in the sub-$3000 price range, I’m not sure you can get another headphone that combines the performance of both the Susvara and the 1266 TC without buying both of those for $12k. From that perspective, the Solitaire P looks kind of like a bargain, but really, there’s nothing bargain-like about a $6,800 headphone. If these were $5k, they’d be a bargain. At $3k, they’d be a massive bargain – and you can get a used set for around this price. Still, there’s no way to give these a good value score when something like the JMA XTC2 goes for $1k and the Abyss Diana MR goes for $3k. Unfortunately, the Solitaire earns a hard-to-give 2 (Below Average) for Value as the cost is just too high.

Conclusion: The Solitaire P is a tough headphone for me to rank. It is better than headphones like the JMA XTC2, but it costs an insane amount more and it’s about the same for comfort. It beats the Susvara on bass but falls short everywhere else while costing $800 more. As a value proposition, it’s downright awful – and reminds me of the Ferrum WANDLA/OOR stack I just reviewed – top tier, but at an insane cost. The law of diminishing returns is very real here. But really what you’re getting with the Solitaire P is slightly worse Abyss 1266 bass with the slightly worse mids and highs of the Susvara. As long as you have a narrower head than I do, the Solitaire P is really the Goldilocks of the classic TOTL headphone Trio. Only you can determine whether that’s worth $6,800 to you.

Bytes & Bull Overall Score: 4 (Above Average)