Welcome to my review of the T+A Solitaire P Headphones and HA 200 headphone amp which retail for £5,000 & £6,600 respectively.
First up I am going to explain more about the headphones and then the amp, and then discuss the sound quality is as much depth as possible.
T+A Solitaire P Headphones
Developed by T+A’s team of young engineers & experienced physicists who love music. The T+A Solitaire P Headphones are the Rolls Royce of headphones both from a design, practicality and technical innovation point of view.
Concept is a sophisticated planar-magnetostatic design philosophy, ultra-lightweight diaphragm and planar drive.
Everything about these headphones is top class. The ear and head pads are hand-made, manufactured for T+A by a specialist company in their home country Germany. They are allergen-free synthetic leather and Alcántara. They are designed to be comfortable to wear even after 10 hours of use.
Materials used are high-strength plastics and carbon, with an incredible fit and finish.
The Solitaire P’s diaphragm is applied by vapour deposition. Nineteen high-performance neodymium magnets drive the diaphragm through precisely calculated magnetic field lines. The precise design of the retaining rings and the magnet mount maintain the diaphragm’s position accurately in the linear part of the magnetic field, ensuring that it is able to generate high sound pressures without distortion. This is the key to the headphones’ enormous dynamic range and precision, which reaches the listener’s ears virtually devoid of inertia.
– Transducer principle – Planar-magnetostatic.
– Impedance – 80 Ohms.
– Frequency response – 5 Hz – 54 kHz.
– Distortion 130 dB.
– Sensitivity 101 dB @ 1 kHz, 1V.
– Type of construction open, over ear.
– Connectivity Wired transmission, unbalanced 6.35 mm, balanced 4.4 mm Pentaconn.
– Weight 530 g excl. cable.
The T+A HA 200 Headphone Amplifier
T+A Designed and built this from the ground up.
The 3 headphone outputs can be fine tuned for each headphone connected.
The HA 200 output stages operate in Class-A mode with a high idle current. Power is available for the most demanding of headphones. The high-quality mains sections – one digital, one analogue – feature two separate toroidal transformers and provide all the stamina. The HA 200 also features optimised and separate decoder architecture for DSD and PCM, ensuring that all digital formats are decoded to the highest standards.
All the digital signal processing of PCM data is carried out by a double differential quadruple converter, with a conversion rate of up to 768 kHz. The T+A True 1-Bit DSD converter is employed for DSD data; rather than converting the DSD data, it processes them in native Bitstream form. This means that DSD data up to DSD 1024, as they arrive from the USB input of the digital connecting board, can be reproduced in the very highest quality.
– D/A-Converter PCM: Double-Differential-Quadruple Converter up to 32 Bit/768 kHz.
– DSD: T+A True 1-Bit Converter, native Bitstream up to DSD 1024 (49,2 MHz).
– Digital Inputs – USB Audio Input, AES-EBU, BNC, Coax, TOS-Link, HDMI (optional).
– USB Receiver – UAC2 and UAC3 standards.
– Digital Section – Separate PCM und DSD signal paths and processing.
– Additional – Non Oversampling“ DAC mode (NOS-DAC).
– Amplifier – Double Mono „State of the Art“ discrete HV Amp technology.
– Pure Class A power stage.
– 3 separately switchable outputs (Pentaconn, XLR, 6.3 barrel socket).
– Adjustable output impedance.
– Frequency response + 0 / − 3 dB 0.1 Hz – 200 kHz.
– Special Features Complete galvanic isolation between digital and analogue sections.
Sound Quality
I spent hours and hours listening to as many genres of music. Every genre sounded truly magnificent. Below are some of my thoughts on some select tracks.
It is possible to turn loudness on, as well as adjust the bass and treble. With the T+A Solitaire P headphones, no adjustments were necessary. However, having these options does allow you to fine tune any other brand of headphone.
Lonesome Valley – The Fairfield Four – the vocals on this track are something to behold. Epic in every musical sense. The tone of the singers are phenomenal. If you purchase this headphone and amp system, I can’t stress enough that you need to listen to this song. My hairs were lifting on my arms. It felt as if all the singers were in the room around me. Each singer was clearly positioned within the soundstage. So detailed, so moving.
In My Secret Life – Leonard Cohen – a beautiful warmth of the background singers and then Leonard Cohen sings and it’s a masterclass of vocal reproduction. He feels as if he is in the room with your. His deep tones are wonderfully produced.
Unfinished Symphony – Massive Attack – details the instruments, with deep bass lines. The female vocal is clear as day. Excellent separation.
Ophelia – Natalie Merchant – The nuances of the female vocal are mesmerising. The soundstage is excellent. Everything is very detailed.
Brighter Lights Bigger City – Cee Lo Green – dynamic and punchy. The bass is deep and effortless. Cee Lo Green’s voice is so authentic sounding. Plenty of detail too in parts of the track I’ve not heard before.
Vivaldi – The New Four Seasons – Nigel Kennedy – background is dark, no floor noise. The violin is incredibly sounding. You can hear the strings when they are plucked. The track starts calmly and then suddenly the tempo takes off and so does the T+A dancing musically and with sheer brilliance. The whole music spectrum from bass, mid, treble, soundstage and timbre is off the charts incredible. So much detail is present too.
Mountains – Hans Zimmer – the mood within the track is rendered so realistically. I am on edge and the soundtrack builds up. The music scales up instantly as the track reaches its climax. Again tons of detail present, excellent separation.
Highway to Hell – AC/DC – changing the genre to rock, and it’s time to rock out with some AC/DC. Drums, guitars and vocals all knocked out of the park.
Symphony No. 8 Movement 1 – Philip Glass – this is a fast tempo track. The speed is excellent with a wide soundstage, superb positioning of the instruments. Huge sways of details.
Layla – Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton – finally a live piece of music featuring 2 legends. All the instruments, placement and the live atmosphere are beautifully reproduced. Eric Clapton’s voice is stunning.
Video Review
Conclusion
The ultimate audio listening experience. Top quality build, design and execution. Musically perfect. Gold award. Verdict 10/10.
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