'More drivers than a Formula 1 grid': A&K makes Christmas come early for audiophiles with its new premium audio player packing built-in quad vacuum tubes, plus new 'Tribrid' 9-driver IEMs to pair with it | Tech Radar
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'More drivers than a Formula 1 grid': A&K makes Christmas come early for audiophiles with its new premium audio player packing built-in quad vacuum tubes, plus new 'Tribrid' 9-driver IEMs to pair with it
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Astell & Kern unveils a new portable Hi-Res Audio player and earbuds
Clarus in-ear monitors offer nine drivers in 'Tribrid' design
Astell & Kern has just unveiled its next two big releases, and though we're lacking practical details such as price and availability so far, as well as a few key details and specs, we're very interested in what's been teased so far.
The two products are the A&K SP4000T, a premium audio player with some intriguing amplification, and the Clarus, which are new in-ear monitors with more drivers than a Formula 1 grid. Let's take a look at both of them.
The Astell & Kern Clarus are the brand's latest wired IEMs, following the Luna unveiled just under a year ago, as its fourth pair of buds in this product line.
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The Clarus have nine drivers built in, arranged in a 'Tribrid' architecture; that word soup basically means that the drivers are arranged in three separate groupings, targeting specific frequencies.
A&K hasn't revealed the exact drivers at play, but we do know there are dynamic drivers for low-end, Balanced Armature drivers for the mids, and MEMS for the top-end. According to the brand, clarity is the name of the game, hence the 'Clarus' moniker.
The bigger new release is the SP4000T. This is the long-awaited successor to the SP3000T, which we gave a glowing five-star review, and it justifies itself as a new model with clear upgrades.
The real draw to the SP4000T is that it has four built-in vacuum tubes, arranged in a quad formation, to allow for a warm sound profile in a greater number of variations than before.
We've seen some double-vacuum tube portable audio players — such as the SP3000T or the Shanling M8T, which both used the same JAN6418 tubes that the SP4000T does — but using four offers an even greater amount of versatility than two would.
This number allows tubes dedicated to both the left and right channels, and in combination with the amp and tube current adjustment, A&K promises three main sound profile modes: 'Triode' for rich harmonics and natural acoustics, 'Pentone' for power, and 'Ultra Linear' that mixes the two.
Another upgrade of the A&K SP4000T is the improved five-stage anti-microphonic architecture, which goes further in stopping potential distortion in the vacuum tubes caused by them being in a portable device (tubes have historically not travelled very well).
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It seems that A&K is opening itself up to more wireless music too, with upgraded support for LDAC and apt X Adaptive, and a new mode also lets you use the device as a wireless Bluetooth DAC for your smartphone. Not only that, but a new dual Wi-Fi antenna means you can more reliably stream music.
Otherwise you're looking at a digital audio player running Android 15, which comes in either stainless steel or copper models, and also has a leather travelling case. It gets 256GB storage by default, but can be expanded up to 1.5TB via micro SD.
While the exact price for the Astell & Kern SP4000T isn't known yet, I'm guessng it might cost more than the
➡️ Read our full guide to the best hi-res music players
- Best overall: Activo P1
- Best budget hi-res player: Fiio JM21
- Best step-up hi-res player: Astell & Kern A&norma SR35
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Tom Bedford is a freelance contributor covering tech, entertainment and gaming. Beyond Tech Radar, he has bylines on sites including Games Radar, Digital Trends, Android Police, Tech Advisor, Whatto Watch and BGR. From 2019 to 2022 he was on the Tech Radar team as the staff writer and then deputy editor for the mobile team.
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