Low listener fatigue factor, great detail, slightly sweet tonal balance.

None.

I used to hit this website 3-5x a week. Then I bought these in November 2000 and haven't been back until today. There's no need to look for something better...

My system (no changes since I bought the Platinums and none anticipated until something breaks down):

Classe Model 25 amp
Audible Illusions L-1 preamp tubed with Sovtek 6922s
Ultech UCD-100 HDCD CD player
Cardas 300B interconnects
Cardas Crosslink speaker cable, bi-wired
Target Beta 2 rack
Sound Anchors custom amp stand
Monster Cable HTS2000 power filter/conditioner

Similar Products Used:

Thiel CS2 2s, Thiel 1.5s, Magnepan 2.7s, Magnepan 1.6QRs, Paradigm Reference Studio 60s.

EVERYTHING everyone here has said here is true! Unbelievable speakers! depth, accuracy, deep bass, construction quality, etc etc etc-ZOWEEE!!!

The Platinum Audio Solos have NO weaknesses except that they are hard to find on the pre-owned market!

Picked up a pair of Solos off of Audiogon for 725.00 shipped a few weeks ago after initially telling the guy I decided not to buy them. Lucky for me...I've had a pair of very nice Dynaudio Audience 80's in my rig for the past year and was curious as to what a good moniter sounded like in my room and as the Solos were pretty well reviewed, well...To make a long story short, I plugged the Dynaudios in yesterday after a couple of weeks of being amazed by the Solos, listened to them for a few songs, packed the Danes up and sold them on Audiogon later that day. The Solos are simply sensational! Anything you throw at them they handle with ease and with bass-heavy tracks, you can feel the air pumping out of the rear port like a fan! And for the first time in my 20+ years in audio-geekdom, female voices float out of the speakers and everything has depth and space and sounds just right. And this is with them set up on two phone books on dining room chairs with speaker-wire jumpers while I wait for new wire and stands! As someone said below, this is a true reference speaker and you would have to be insane not to grab a pair if you see them on the pre-owned market. As the previous owner told me: 'With the right amp, the Solos are amazingly effortless speakers". Very very impressive.


Classe CAP-80 Integrated
Jolida 603A CDP (Another giant-killer!)
Zu wires and i/c's
The Fabulous Platinum Solos

Similar Products Used:

dynaudio, paradigm, kef, B&W

I've been wanting a real audiophile system for years now, but I've only recently been able to amass the money and space necessary to install one. I'm a graduate student living in a medium sized apartment, so I was looking for a small speaker that could create the holographic imaging and transparency I value so much, along with reasonable bass extension and a cost of less than $2000 retail. The Solo delivers all these qualities to a level that makes many $5000+ speakers blush. These speakers, powered by a Classe CAP-100 and fed with a Sony XA7ES, deliver some of the best sound I've ever heard out of a sub-$10,000 system. They absolutely disappear, throw a wide, deep and tall soundstage, and are extremely transparent. I've heard no speaker at even twice the $1695 price that comes even close in these areas. Their bass extension and weight is almost unbelivable for a small minimonitor with 5" woofers. I thought I would eventually buy a subwoofer, but now I think it would be almost useless; they seem to reproduce a 35 Hz sinewave with no attenuation, and make a good attempt down to 25 Hz. Only the 20 Hz band is inaudible. In my opinion, the only speaker in their price range that gives a serious challenge is the Martin Logan Arieus i, but these have inferior bass performance and soundstaging. I think they win in the area of transparency, but not by much. In conclusion, I think you'd have to be smoking crack not to seriously consider these speakers if you're shopping for a speaker in the <$3500 range. (BTW: I got mine used in PERFECT condition for $1000. This was the deal of the century!)

I was given the chance to demo these $1700 monitors by a local dealer. I must say there is no doubt about their capabilities. They are ineffecient (84db) but when given a good power source with high current, these will drop your jaw. Room filling bass flat to 30Hz! Uncolored mids, vey detailed yet smooth highs. Soundstage to the hilt, precise imaging, all you could want in a speaker. At around the same price they compete with some well regarded speakers from Totem, Dynaudio, ProAc. Other speakers seem to have particular stengths, the Solo's have alot of strenghts incuding bass response which is in another league. Check em out if you can, they are a good buy at 1700. I may just own a pair myself!

I picked up a pair of Solos used about a month ago and overall, I can vouch these are strong performers. As a starter, here's my system:
McIntosh MA6200 Integrated Amp (100 wpc)
California Audio Labs Delta CD Transport mated to a Sigma II tubed DAC
Harmon Kardon CD 91 tape deck
McIntosh MR73 Tuner

Interconnects: Monster Cable 200's and a Highwire 700i for the CD/DAC. AR 12 gauge speaker wire.

The speakers have surprisingly good base response despite the small size of the woofers. Likewise the mids and highs are clear and distinct most of the time. For my musical tastes which tend towards rock and jazz, the speakers offer a good balance between low and high frequency music.

I compared these to the Pro-Ac 1SC, KEF Reference One's and the Magnepan 1.6's. I loved the Magnepan's but could not stomach their enormous size. I found the Pro-AC was clear, and well defined but somehow thin. The Reference One's were a bit muddy in the low/mids so the platinum’s got me with their combination of clear imagining and reasonable bass response.

The only gripe I have (and hence the 4 rather than 5 stars) is that for some music with softer dynamics, the detail at the higher frequencies (1000 KHz and up) is sometimes compromised. There are some things (soft female vocals, high flutes) I just can't hear well without tweaking the equalizer and turning up the volume. At times, the music seems a little out of balance with a preponderance of bass. Perhaps this comes from the poor efficiency of this speaker (84db) combined with my Amp which is rated at the lower end of the recommended power levels. Still, my room is small enough that I never have to turn the volume past half, and the amp has never come remotely close to clipping.

All of that said, these are darn good speakers for in their price range ($1700) and I was especially happy to get these used, mint, for $800 including the stands (a $2000 package). The finish and looks are great.

These are five star, reference caliber loudspeakers.
Wonderfully transparent. Clean, crisp, almost visual soundstage. Superb bass response given their size. They easily fill a room with extraordinary sound. You'll stay up late at night just to sit and listen to the old records or cds in your collection that you had almost forgotten about - and marvel at how good they sound. As an added bonus, they are quite easy on the eyes, with real rosewood and glossy piano black exteriors.

These speakers require a powerful amp - at least 140wpc, in my opinion.

Five stars. They are leaps and bounds above any other small monitor I have listened to, and at least the equal of most full size speakers that cost (in some cases) many times the solos.

Don't have to think about changing to another speaker

Still searching

An excellent piece of Speaker. Bought it in the used market for $1.25K (with the original stand, sand filled!). Never really appreciate imaging, wide/deep sound staging until I had this speaker in my room. Upgraded from the B&W CDM-1/Rel Combo. With the Solo's bass, I don't need any Sub now! Well...it even bettered the much newer B&W N805 that I borrowed.

Equipment:

CD Player Marantz CD23 - highly modified!
Amplifier Krell KAV300I
Speaker Platinum Solo.

Cabling all by Kimber…SilverStreak & the 8TC Double Run.

Similar Products Used:

B&W's CDM-1,CDM nt,N805, Monitor Audio Studio 6 and 2's..

Transparent, Accurate, Dynamic.....others

Need to be partnered with high quality components.

Extracted from Oct 1995, Audio Art Taiwan.
' There exists a loudspeaker that is only slightly bigger in size than the BBC LS3/5A, but its power and dynamics are seem to be greater than 3 of the latter put together. There exists a loudspeaker that only has one 5" woofer, but you don't feel insufficient bass in a room that is 500 square feet. Here exists a loudspeaker whose transparency competes with electrostatic speakers, and its ability to translate fine detail compares to the Wilson Watt, which is a few times more expensive in price. There exists a loudspeakers that is capable of creating a wide and deep sound stage, and excellent imaging with height. There exists a loudspeaker that needs a heat sink to help the crossover to disperse heat, and it's vent pumps out air volume almost like a small electric fan. There exists a loudspeaker that reveals the weaknesses of an amplifier that you thought was good, because it just looks so. The more power you give to this speaker, the better it performs.
No, it is not The B&W CDM-1 (because the CDM-1 does not quite have the same substantial sound)…. It is not the Sonus Faber Minima Amator (because the Amator does not have such impressive transparency). It is not the MBL323 (because the 323 does not have such explosive dynamics). It is not the Celestion SL-700 (because the SL-700 is an infinite bade design). Please don't guess.
I was almost fooled by it's size, it is the amazing Platinum SOLO!'
Enough said….if you can get it, grab it. A true Reference !.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Energy AE-2, B&W Silver Signature, Totem Mani-2

Tight, dynamic and DEEP bass, full midrange, crystal clear highs.

Low efficiency means you need a high current amplification to drive them to their full potential.

I was lucky to find these fabulous speakers used (you don't see them often on the second hand market)for a good price. When I first hooked them up I couldn't believe how much bass came out of such small enclosures. Truly amazing! But the Solos are not just about the bass; the mids are warm and rich making vocals sound full and open. The treble is detailed and smooth, with a degree of sweetness, which is a blessing when you listen to overly bright and edgy recordings.
All in all excellent speakers. If you can find them used for less then a grand, don't hesitate, just grab them and enjoy the music!
A word of warning: as it was stressed by others here, these speakers need a lot of current, so be careful what you match them with.

Bass quality and quantity, beautiful midrange, smooth highs, wide soundstage.

Sonically none, powerful amp is a must

The best speakers I've ever had! The emotion they convey makes you forget you're listening to a hi-fi system. The bass response is simply amazing, my friends were asking were I hid a sub! Mids are nice and the top is just right. They look handsome too!

Similar Products Used:

Proac Response 1, Hales Tanscendence 1