Solomon Review-vikinguy（head-fi reviewer）

A very special King

Pros: Detail retrieval, musicality, timbre and bass slam/extension

Cons: Might leave true bass addicts wanting a bit more. Note weight in mids a tad light?

BGVP Solomon:

Man, BGVP is on fire lately. First they dropped the wonderful Phantom Special Edition I reviewed here: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/bgvp-phantom-special-edition.27735/reviews#review-36704 . I started hearing a bit of buzz about this new incredible cable BGVP was releasing called the Temple which made me squeal like a young lady when I saw a photo.

EEEK!

Needless to say, when i heard the Temple was INCLUDED with their new IEM called Solomon at $1299 I was really drooling! And…it ain’t just the cable. It also comes with another extremely high quality “stock” cable terminated to 4.4 as well. The unboxing experience is like none I’ve come across. It outdoes the likes of Novus As some have mentioned, it’s like buying a Panerai or Omega or some other high end timepiece. Shout out to the other manufacturers out there! You hath been put on notice! Incredible experience!

I’m just going to get down to it. This is a very special set. It manages to thread the needle that’s so difficult for manufacturers to thread. Managing this level of treble extension and micro detail while maintaining GORGEOUS musicality is so rare and BGVP has done it and done it for a very enticing price! I picked the Solomon up from Musicteck and as usual Andrew and Leo were wonderful!

I listened to Solomon for nearly a month on three different amp/dacs.

Marantz HD DAC-1’
Cayin n6III mostly with board C201.
Questyle M18i

And I compared Solomon with a few different sets, some considerably less expensive, around the same price and one over twice as much. I figured this would give us a very informative look at this very special King.

DDHIFI Surface-$289
Elysian Apostle- $1799
Noble Onyx-$3200

As for Solomon’s soundscape:

BASS:

The low end response of Solomon is extremely well textured and satisfying with excellent mid bass punch and when called upon the sub bass extension is eye-poppingly massive. This is not a bass head’s kind of bass, make no mistake. However, for the listener who enjoys the heck out of a very solid punch and rumble that has gorgeous timbre and presents as perfectly balanced within the scape, you’ll be very pleased with the bottom end of Solomon. On occasion the word “magnificent” has come to mind.

MIDS:

I hear the mids on Solomon to be well balanced and extremely detailed. Seriously, the retrieval capabilities of this iEM are off the charts. What sets it apart from most anything I’ve heard is the toe tapping musicality it maintains while bringing you micro details from another universe. This isn’t hyperbole, it truly performs this balancing act like a ninja or something. The ONLY slight criticism I have here is that AT TIMES I could stand a bit more heft of note in the upper mids. They do not come off as hot or sibilant or shouty to my ear at all. Don’t get me wrong, note weight here is “good” but it falls short of the Olympic Gold medal level of the rest of Solomon’s sonic attributes.

Treble:

This set extends folks. It truly shines up top. I am no treble head but I would imagine those of you out there would appreciate this IEM in a LARGE way. I’m pretty darn treble sensitive. But Solomon weaves its way through every single one of my trouble spots like a Border Collie doing one of those agility tasks. Again, detail here is outstanding….even unbelievable at times. I find myself giggling randomly going through my playlists….and again, i AM NO treble guy. I have no idea how BGVP managed this but it’s a Grand Slam for old Vikinguy. Gorgeous gorgeous sparkly tiny little ballerina treble folks. It’s such a treat!

Comparison:

The $279 DDHIFI Surface is a terrific warm of neutral set with One DD and Four BA’s. Surface sets out to provide with nearly the opposite listening experience of Solomon. This is a wonderfully warm set with nearly analogue sound. It feels like your favorite pair of warm slippers. It’s quite lush with its thick mids and nice heavy bass response. Up top it’s not extending nearly as far up the ladder as Solomon. It provides some nice detail that seems set back within the sonic stage but coming from something like Solomon can sound a bit too mushy overall. As long as you don’t pick it up directly after an hours with the BGVP set it’s a wonderful sub-300 dollar find. Obviously, I think a lot of the Surface which is why I chose to include in this review. Clearly outmatched here….but there are times I reach for it instead…definitely a sweet IEM.

Next up I’ll talk some about a comparison you’ll likely be more interested in. Vs. the wonderful Elysian Apostle!

Here we have a couple of really terrific sets. But whoa daddy do they ever go about it differently!

Apostle is one of my favorite of the current crop of “IT” iems. It’s an incredibly rich listening experience. Gloriously deep sub bass, heavy mid punch with a very natural timbre thats just so pleasing to listen to for long sessions. Mids are lush and balanced with good detail and treble rolls off pretty short of anything close to Solomon, but for my tastes, it’s dang near perfect. But ABing these two iems is a crazy trip. You almost can’t pick up Apostle after Solomon. The differences (and this is back to back within seconds of eachother) I perceive are vast and rather shocking. Apostle nearly sounds as though I’ve placed a full sized pillow between my ear and the nozzle. Apostle flat out seems muffled and extremely dark by (immediate) comparison.

I found I needed to give myself an hour of tv and no listening to come back to Apostle and appreciate it again for the fabulous set it is. In terms of perceived resolution, it’s truly like the difference you saw between an old CRT and the first 1080i plasma tv you ever saw. This isn’t meant as a slight against Apostle, I still love that iem. Instead, it’s the only way I can properly communicate just how resolving Solomon is. I’ve never heard such a gigantic difference between two iems that i like in all my time in this hobby. Amazing.

Noble Onyx is a TOTL iem from a company i really love. I’ve been in love and in lust with many of their offerings. Sultan is still among my all timers. The Onyx brings 1DD, 2BA -MIDS, 2BA-HIGH, 2 ESTAT ULTRA HIGH, 1 BC TO ENHANCE THE HIGH AND ULTRA HIGH.

It always interests me when a company decides to use a BC driver for treble. It would seem to negate the purpose of the driver, but obviously these guys know more about this stuff in their pinky than I do in my whole brain. Onyx is what I would call a bass polite detail monster. It comes with more energy than Solomon to my ear. Upon my first couple listens I wanted to say Onyx was “bright” but in the end, it’s just not as well balanced as Solomon and really falls short of Solomon’s bass performance. Using Eletech Baroque OG tips on Onyx with the Marantz (pretty warm source) bass quantity does improve, but still doesn’t come close to the level of satisfaction I get from Solomon.

Onyx definitely has some serious resolving chops though, make no mistake. I’m sure there many on this board that would absolutely love this set. For me, it just lacks a bit of junk in the trunk. :0)

Overall, Solomon is obviously just a knock out set for me. For some, there may be a lack of truly visceral heart pounding low end and perhaps a small frown or two from those that really enjoy a metric tone of note weight. For me, Solomon provides about as perfect a listen as I’ve encountered. It possesses the greatest combination of end game technicalities with a fun and thoroughly engaging musicality that I can’t stop rocking out to. I can’t really recommend Solomon enough.