Review: Audiovalve Solaris – Oh Baby!

Design , Build quality

You either love or hate the typical design of the Solaris but it does look impressive. The amplifier comes in a black and white version and all the internal parts are visible from the outside. Mr. Becker chose to use a case with a raster design which lets you see the inside of the unit and of course it also helps in cooling down the amp.

On the front of the amplifier you have a big glass window which allows you to look at the inside, and more precise the tube setup. I do like this design overall which some call steampunk but I wouldn’t go that far. To be honest I’m not 100% convinced of the look of the chrome selector switches and buttons on that pretty black case, but that’s personal taste.

The Solaris is perfectly built using quality components only and it measures about 36cm x 32cm x 14cm. That means it’s not the smallest of amps and it does weigh an impressive 10kg. The amplifier looks and feels very robust and I can’t see it breaking down in any way. The amplifier had already been burned in and used before it was shipped to me, but all the buttons and switches still feel brand new. When you buy an amplifier in this price range, you just expect everything to be perfect and I can gladly say it couldn’t be any better.

Amp layout

Front

On the top left side on the front you have the 3 + 1 jacks for headphones: two 6.3mm single ended jacks, one 4-pin XLR output and one typical electrostat output. You can use the SE and XLR output at the same time.

Below the headphone jacks on the left side you find the IMP – OTL – STAX selection switch . Use the IMP mode if you have a low – impedance headphones ( < down to 30 Ohms) , the OTL mode if you have high impedance headphones such as some Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic headphones, and of course there’s the STAX setting when you’re using STAX. If you intend to use speakers those are supported in IMP mode only.

On the right of this switch you have the gain switch which offers you a gain rise of 8dB. Its gain is useful in all modes when your music source doesn’t deliver a high enough audio signal level.

The switch next to it lets you select the source you want to listen to. There are a total of 4 + 1 RCA inputs to your disposal . Input 1 + 2 also support XLR signals (see below). Input 5 is occupied by the built-in phono module. In the middle you find the big volume dial, next to it the balance dial and the power button is on the most right side. It might seem a lot but it’s actually very easy to work with.

Back

At the rear side of the Solaris several pairs of inputs allow you to connect different audio sources that have typical output voltages (CD- player, cassette-player, tuner, mini disc-player, …). The Solaris can also be used as a preamp. I has two gold-plated XLR female connectors on the left and the signal comes from the OTL stages.

You have 4 sets of RCA inputs and 2 sets of XLR-inputs. For input 1 and 2 you use either the RCA input or the XLR-input. Not both together. Input 3 and 4 are regular ones, while input 5 is set specifically for the Phono input.

As you can see the Solaris also has speaker connectors on the right side of the amp

Price

The Solaris is Audiovalve’s reference headphone amplifier and it doesn’t come cheap. Depending on the seller, the price varies between $4990 USD and €4600. The optional integrated DAC goes for about $1K.

In return for all that money you get a powerful, robust and cool looking amplifier that isn’t only build like a top of the line amp, but sounds like one as well.

Sound

From the first time I installed the Solaris in my living room setup, the amplifier impressed. It in fact is so good that it easily made it to my standard setup, you know, the gear that always stays in place. The Solaris has a black back ground and it’s perfectly silent no matter what headphones I tried it with. With its specific settings for low and high impedance headphones, it performs perfectly with all your headphones. Several tube and/or hybrid amplifiers have this typical hum, but the Solaris is the quietest of amps at all times.

The part on Sound continues on Page Three of this review, right HERE