Astell&Kern, world number one in portable “Hi-Res” audio playershas just launched the A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition, an exclusive limited edition version of its current flagship, the A&ultima SP2000T. Taking as its starting point the goal of the South Korean firm to create products that not only seduce people’s ears, but also their hearts, the A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition has been conceived to capture the particularities of the copper nickel alloy (the same one used in wind instruments) and its unique beauty, in order to complete a philosophy and some very unique design values. In addition, the new material has a high electrical conductivity and low magnetic shielding compared to the aluminum used in the body of the A&ultima SP2000T, while exhibiting a superior corrosion resistance and it is highly antibacterial as well as very resistant to contamination, thus increasing its longevity. As far as its interior is concerned, the new Astell&Kern is identical to the A&ultima SP2000T, which means that it incorporates a quad DAC, the Replay Gain function and a revolutionary Triple Amplification System that allows the user to alternate between the different sound characteristics of a conventional operational amplifier (OP-AMP), a vacuum tube (TUBE AMP) and a hybrid scheme (HYBRID AMP), thus combining the unique warmth and musicality of vacuum devices with the clarity and dynamics of the operational amplifiers.
Thanks to this innovative amplification technologythe most advanced ever used in a portable audio player, the user of the A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition can toggle between the three modes above to find the sound that best suits the music you are listening to. For the sonic character of a tube amp, the A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition is equipped with one of the versatile Nutube 6P1 double triodes from Korg, which functions identically to a vacuum triode while consuming much less power and exhibiting a estimated reliability in about 30,000 hours of continuous listening. On the other hand, and in order to overcome the potentially harmful internal microphonic resonances generated by the vacuum tubes, Astell&Kern engineers have perfected an intelligent modular structure physically separated from the main printed circuit board, which allows minimize any mechanical vibration. To this must be added the use of magnetic forces so that the amplifier floats in the air to reduce internal noise. Another key element of the A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition T is the D/A conversion scheme that it incorporates, made up of four of the renowned chips ES9068AS of the American ESS Technology.
The new Astell&Kern incorporates the Replay Gain functionality, which smoothly and fully automatically adjusts the volume level of signals from sources encoded up to 24-bit/192kHz. Another fundamental engineering solution of the A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition is the use of the so-called “TERATON ALPHA Sound Solution”, which is intended to remove noise from the power brick to make power consumption and amplification as efficient as possible. Talking about Hi-Res compatibility The A&ultima SP2000T Copper Nickel Limited Edition can play PCM files up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD files up to DSD512. This fabulous and very unique portable digital audio player is complete with a stylish ‘Full HD’ resolution touch screen display and a generous wired and wireless connectivity of which the functionalities stand out AK File Drop (to facilitate wireless file transfer) and BT Sink (to facilitate connection to an external device via Bluetooth, version 5.0 to be exact). To this must be added a 256 GB internal memory expandable up to 1 TB via microSD card.
Technical characteristics
- Absolute reference portable digital audio player.
- Limited Edition with copper and nickel alloy body.
- High resistance to corrosion that increases longevity.
- Possibility of switching between three totally different sound “signatures”.
- Equipped with a Korg Nutube 6P1 double triode.
- Replay Gain function exclusive to Astell&Kern.
- Capable of reproducing bit by bit PCM signals up to 32 bits/384 kHz.
- Capable of reproducing DSD signals bit by bit up to DSD512 (22.4 MHz).
- Exclusive TERATON ALPHA technology from Astell&Kern.
- Printed circuit board with optimized signal paths.
- 4 ES9068PAS D/A conversion “chips” from ESS Technology.
- “Hi-Res” wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 5.0 and BT Sink function.
- Balanced (2) and unbalanced (1) headphone outputs.
- 256 GB internal memory (additional 1 TB via microSD card).
- System management via CPU with 4 cores.
- 5-inch (127 mm) “Full HD” touch screen.
- Frequency response of 20-70,000 Hz, +/-0.052 dB (balanced mode).
- Crosstalk of -142 dB at 1 kHz (balanced mode).
- Signal to noise ratio of 123 dB at 1 kHz (balanced mode).
- Battery with 9 hours of autonomy (FLAC at 16 bits/44.1 kHz).
- Dimensions: 78’1×141’1×17’5 mm (W x H x D).
- Weight: 505g.
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