High-end audiophile brand Astell&Kern has announced its first wireless, Bluetooth speaker. The Astell&Kern Acro BE100 is a stereo speaker with a dedicated 32-bit DAC and support for hi-res music streaming up to 24-bit.
It contains two 1.5-inch silk dome tweeters and a 4-inch Kevlar woofer for bass levels. Its on-board Class D amplifier is capable of a total power output of 55W. Frequency response is 50Hz to 20kHz.
The speaker supports Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX HD for 24-bit 48kHz high resolution audio streaming (albeit a touch lossy as the codec isn't truly bit-for-bit). Other codecs supported include LDAC and AAC.
There is also a 3.5mm audio input to plug-in an external source directly, that way you can play true lossless music through the BE100.
Its design is simple and clean, with a volume dial on the top.
The Astell&Kern Acro BE100 will be available from December in black or white. It will be priced at £449 in the UK, €529 in Central Europe from the Astell&Kern website. We've queried a quoted US price as it is claimed to be $380 in the materials we have seen.
If true, that will make a US purchase a relative bargain in comparison. We'll update when we find out more.
An alternative version of the speaker, which includes an FM radio will be available in selected countries.
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