Overview
The headphone transducer systems are of sophisticated construction, and all components and sub-assemblies are manufactured to the tightest of tolerances using precision tools. Wherever possible and sensible, the headphones employ aluminium components machined from solid metal. The ingenious construction of the diaphragms, drive magnets and sound guides linearizes the sound field and the dispersion characteristics. Music is reproduced without distortion: the Solitaire P adds nothing and takes nothing away. Totally natural reproduction is the first commandment for all T+A devices.
Construction
Many planar-magnetic headphones exhibit significant inherent disadvantages, including low efficiency, high weight and – very often – very low impedance. From the outset we designed our headphones to avoid these problems. A crucial factor in this purpose was the adoption of a new approach to the problems. We invested considerable effort in the design, and insisted on the use of the finest materials. The headphones incorporate several close-tolerance sub-assemblies which fit together perfectly; they can only be manufactured using precision tools. These parts consist of high-strength plastics or carbon in accordance with their function, and are made to tolerances of a few hundredths of a millimeter in order to guarantee a perfect fit.
Material Selection
The open construction of the Solitaire P avoids the resonance problems of closed systems, and allows the diaphragm to vibrate unimpeded. All sub-assemblies are attached to solid aluminium cups which are machined from solid using a precision 5-axis milling machine. The machining of a single cup takes more than an hour, starting from a 35 mm thick solid aluminium plate. The yokes and yoke connections are also machined from the solid. Although these sub-assemblies are very complex and difficult to produce, we decided to employ aluminium for them because it does not suffer from ageing problems, and always maintains its shape and strength.