T+A Elektroakustik Solitaire P-SE Open Back Headphones

It should be pointed out here (if it hasn’t become obvious already) that the P-SE are an assertively open-backed configuration, only a few orders of magnitude quieter from the outside than they are from the inside. There are courtesies involved in T+A Solitaire P-SE usage; they all centre around asking if anyone, anywhere in the same building, will be distracted or offended by the sound leaking promiscuously from the earcups. Happily, for the purposes of this test, no objections were too strongly forthcoming, so the headphones were attached (at various junctures) to an EarMen TR-Amp, a Chord Hugo, and the headphone output of a Naim Uniti Star (using a Grado Prestige 3.5mm – 6.3mm adaptor).

Starting with the heartfelt and wonky charms of Palace Brothers” There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You [Drag City] lets the Solitaire P-SE explain quite a bit about their modus operandi. Theirs is a startlingly spacious and open presentation, one which manages to put appreciable distance between each element of a recording without making them sound in any way estranged from each other. There’s enough space available on the soundstage for each instrument (keening organ and flat, dry electric guitar are strongly to the fore here) to be described in full. Also, the Solitaire P-SE do outstanding work in reporting on the harmonic dynamics that make the leading edge of each strum or key-press distinct from the one that precedes or follows it. The co‑dependence of bass and drums is explicit, allowing the timing to seem natural and unforced even when the recording (as it does quite often) threatens to shake itself to pieces.

The approximate nature of Will Oldham’s voice, and the way he harmonises with himself, is communicated in full – there’s an endearing quality to his phrasing and almost-but-not-quite pitch control that the T+A recount ruthlessly. But in the manner of a court stenographer, the Solitaire P-SE don’t judge or draw conclusions – they simply hand over the facts verbatim.

Fairport Convention’s Liege & Lief [Island] is an altogether more accomplished piece – in technical terms at the very least. It’s an antique recording, admittedly, but the T+A gives its virtues – warmth of tonality and virtuosity of playing, for instance – complete expression. These aren’t the first headphones to reveal that Sandy Denny is without meaningful peer when it comes to vocal technique and eloquence, but you’ll have to go a long way to find an alternative pair (at any price) that serves up her extraordinary purity of tone, effortlessness of delivery and humbling articulacy any more explicitly.

It’s the coherence of the T+A presentation that is, perhaps, the single most winning aspect of the Solitaire P-SE sound. The lowest frequencies are resonant, textured, packed with momentum and yet rigorously controlled – one listen to AceMo’ Where They At?? [Vanity Press] may make T+A’s claim of frequency response down to 8Hz look like a false alarm. Still, it also confirms just who’s in charge of the low-end stuff. The journey to the top of the frequency range (quoted as an equally fanciful 45kHz) is as smooth as velvet, and no area is underplayed or overstated. If “impartiality” is a trait you value, the Solitaire P-SE have you covered.

And it’s not like this comes at the expense of dynamism or excitement, either. The P-SE may aim to be neutral, but that doesn’t mean these headphones are dispassionate – the aforementioned AceMo tune makes it obvious. There’s plenty of energy and attack to the T+A sound – but they’re so adept in every other respect too, it’s possible to mistake their balance and even-handedness for reticence initially. Not for long, though.