Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 Edition Review
Solaris 2020
$1499
Pros
- Huge Grand Scale Expansive Staging, Dynamic sound signature.
- Solid build quality, better fit from smaller shell size.
- Excellent Upper region extension
Cons
- MMCX connection, some people don't like this type of connector
- Shells smudge as glossy finish
Build Quality/Design/Ergonomics
As you can see the new 2020 Solaris edition is gloss black for the core of the shell top and bottom half, with the original style silver nozzles.
Each pair is hand assembled, great care is taken to ensure a high degree of finish and quality.
The wave like recessed contours follow the shell shape seamlessly. The gold bottom half is now no longer there and these have a much more reserved, less bold style than the original gold black contrasting shell style.
The original shells certainly had an impressive look but they would draw a lot more attention when worn outside due to their striking matt gold style.
As we know a lot of audiophiles are quite introvert, so like to draw little attention and seem to like reserved styles of dark colours and carbon fibre styles. So the design choice from Campfire Audio is quite obvious that there will be a wider audience for these Onyx black gloss 2020 Solaris shells.
One of the main factors deterring people from buying the original Solaris was the large size of the shell and protruding nature of the shells depending on how large/deeps your ears are. Listening to the customer feedback, Campfire Audio spent a lot of time researching how they can reduce the shell size while maintaining the grand scale sound signature. Going through a number of iterations before finally landing on the perfect shape. The silver nozzles are identical on both models but the join to the shell now has a lot less depth throughout.
Gladly they succeeded in overcoming technical difficulties and managed to significantly reduce the shells size by around 20 percent.
The fit of these shells are now much more accessible and do not protrude or feel out of place. These feel comfortable and you feel a lot less self conscious and coupled with the more elegant black style design you draw a lot less attention.
The ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ imprinted wording has now been removed giving a more clean style, to be honest I am not sure why they included it on the original model as it is pretty obvious which is which.
All the components, connectors, drivers and nozzles are identical to the original model, with some added fine tuning on the 10mm ADLC dynamic driver.
The faceplates of the shells now have a black gloss finish which while looks awesome are very prone to picking up smudges/natural oils from touching.
Throughout the camera shoots I had to keep wiping them with cloths to take away any marks. This probably wont matter for most owners.
Also if you look at the video earlier in this review at time 2.02 minutes, you can see how the 2020 and original shells sizes/design look from all angles.
As you can see there are black grooves ‘carved’ into the shells which give a further design elegance, reflecting the light along the crafted contours for and extra refined effect. The classic CA logo letters are recessed into the front shell plates.
As with the Atlas and the Comet the nozzle features a steampunk vent style for ensuring the musical air waves get to you uninterrupted.
Fit now is much easier to get, the shells stay in place securely and I do not feel self conscious or have any discomfort at all.
Very nice review! I’m using the original Solaris, and I still imagine how I was blown away by the performance when I first heard them lol