Solitaire T Headphone

From the very first day of development, the Solitaire T was conceived with a single goal in mind: to blur the distinctions between audiophile, professional, and travel headphones by making the values and convictions that define every T+A product accessible in almost every situation in life.

Its transducer system is a completely new development, capable of reproducing the most subtle nuances in audiophile quality in both active and passive modes. At the same time, the passive insulation alone is sufficient to push the outside world into the background. When combined with active noise cancellation, which can be activated as required, unwanted sounds disappear completely behind the music.

The pearl-blasted aluminum components are machined from solid material and represent far more than a design statement. Their exceptional robustness and durability ensure that the headphones remain a trusted companion for years to come. At the same time, they emphasize in a subtle yet distinctive manner the product’s close relationship to the Solitaire P reference headphones.

Like its physical design, the Solitaire T’s connectivity options are guided by a single principle: versatility. The Solitaire T places no restrictions on the listener, offering signal transmission through fully balanced passive and active analog inputs, USB-C connectivity, and the highest-quality wireless Bluetooth standards. This comprehensive approach maximizes the potential of virtually every music source.

Like all T+A equipment, the Solitaire T adheres to the traditions of the T+A design language. Evolved over more than forty years, its strength lies in a consistent commitment to simplicity. The carefully placed chamfers on the headband and ear cups allow the Solitaire T to integrate effortlessly into the distinctive Solitaire headphone family, while its new ear cup shape and color options contribute a fresh chapter to the ongoing evolution of the T+A design language.

All aluminum components are machined from solid material, pearl-blasted, and subsequently anodized. The ear cups are attached using precision-engineered, close-tolerance hard-metal couplings that allow them to rotate through 90 degrees and fold inward. Whether stored in its carrying case or worn around the neck, the Solitaire T becomes an exceptionally compact travel companion.

The ear pads and headband cushion are crafted from premium anti-allergenic synthetic leather, ensuring lasting comfort at all times—even during the longest journeys and extended listening sessions.

To ensure that the Solitaire T delivers true versatility in everyday use, exceptional attention has been devoted to the suppression of background noise, resulting in outstanding performance in both active and passive modes. The headphones’ passive sound insulation alone effectively blocks a significant amount of unwanted midrange and high-frequency noise, while a highly precise active noise-cancellation system eliminates low-frequency sounds that cannot be sufficiently attenuated through passive means.

To ensure that this performance is fully available while traveling, the wireless connection standards of the Solitaire T were engineered with the same uncompromising approach applied to its wired inputs. Bluetooth 5.1 Class 2 connectivity, combined with advanced codecs such as aptX HD and AAC, delivers the convenience of a fully wireless listening experience while achieving sound quality that approaches the level of wired connections to high-quality audio components—and in many cases exceeds the performance of wired connections to lower-quality equipment.

T+A considers headphones to be among the most personal products, and therefore places great importance on the operation of the Solitaire T. The headphones are designed to be immediately simple and intuitive to use, supported by multi-sensory feedback.

Whether using buttons or switches machined from solid aluminum, the interactive touchpad, or activating the environmental transparency mode via a supplementary transparency field, all key inputs are confirmed through feedback messages delivered by a distinctive voice system. With the Solitaire T, the user can see, feel, and hear every action being performed.

The Solitaire T is the most versatile product T+A has ever developed: it functions both as a closed audiophile headphone and as a lightweight portable unit. For this reason, it features two wired input paths, offering either digital or analog operation.

In digital mode, the Solitaire T can be operated fully via its USB-C socket without any form of data compression. In passive mode, the Solitaire T transfers signals fully symmetrically to the transducer via Pentaconn, 3.5 mm, or 6.3 mm connectors.

The Active Analog concept is based on the analog inputs and maximizes their potential by allowing access to volume control and active noise cancellation. All cables consist of oxygen-free copper (OFC) conductors with low structural noise and terminate in gold-plated contacts.

T+A's guiding conviction is that music should be reproduced in as pure a form as possible. For this reason, particular care is taken to eliminate potential sources of interference at the development stage, regardless of how small they may be. Undamped diaphragms can present such a challenge: seemingly insignificant coil reflections can have a measurable adverse effect on sound reproduction.

T+A addresses this issue at an early stage through carefully positioned damping at the edge of the 42 mm transducer. This damping absorbs coil reflections as they occur and prevents them from influencing the frequency response. A cellulose diaphragm is attached to the damping structure. Compared with many other materials, this diaphragm is extremely light and stiff, providing agility and dynamic performance without breaking up prematurely into eigenmodes.

The optimized low-frequency system in the Solitaire T introduces a new form of bass tuning, ensuring precise transient response and preventing disruptions in the frequency response. As a result of this development work on the analog domain, combined with the finely tuned acoustic design of the Solitaire T, the headphones require no power supply or signal processor to achieve high-level performance. In both active and passive modes, every signal, breath, and nuance is rendered not only audible but perceptible.

In active mode, overall sound quality is fundamentally influenced by the electronic components employed. Poorly matched or low-quality components can negatively affect the listening experience. For this reason, T+A utilizes one of the world’s highest-quality Bluetooth chipsets, the Qualcomm QCC 5127, which forms a key digital interface to the outside world. Its wide range of high-quality codecs, combined with low energy consumption, ensures reliable access to high-quality music even on long intercontinental flights.

The digital-to-analog conversion stage is connected to the Bluetooth chipset and functions in a manner similar to the suspension of a sports car: its role is to convert digital signals into analog form, with its quality ultimately determining how fully the system’s performance can be realized. The ESS ES9218 Sabre DAC converts even high-resolution formats at an audiophile level of quality. Thanks to its high performance, no part of the signal is lost; each nuance and every dimension of the soundstage is reproduced with full emotional impact.

Acoustics

• Ear coupling:  around-ear, closed
• Driver:  selected, low tolerance dynamic drivers
• Frequency responce:  4 - 22,000 Hz
• THD:  <0.05 % (1 kHz / 94 dB)
• Microphones :  2 communication microphones on the right,
2 ANC microphones on each side
• Noise Cancelling:  hybrid

Bluetooth

• Chipset:  Qualcomm QCC 5127
• Bluetooth Version:  5.1, class 2
• Bluetooth Profiles:  A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP
• Codecs:  SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD

Battery

• Battery Technology:  Lithium Ion
• Battery Capacity:  1200 mAh
• Charging Power:  5 V 1 A (5 W) max
• Charging Socket:  USB-C
• Charging Time:  2 h
• Battery Lifetime:  70 h, 35 in HQ mode

Technical modifications reserved.