Astell&Kern Announces SP1000M Player
Astell&Kern’s flagship SP1000 has been getting a lot of praise for being a truly excellent device. But, come have complained about the size. Weighing in at just under 387g, the SP1000 is a fair hunk of metal. In an effort to strike back at the aforementioned complaints, Astell&Kern have now launched a smaller, more portable version of the full-sized SP1000M As A&K puts it, “the SP1000M packs flagship player features into a smaller size”.
Well now, judging form what A&K has stated thus far, it seems that this new model is indeed simply a mini version of the SP1000. Under the hood we get the same dual AK4497EQ DAC chip setup, but interestingly this new mini version sports a more powerful amplification stage for the balanced output. Where the SP1000 can offer up to 3.9Vrms, the SP1000M has been bumped up to 4.1Vrms. It’s likely that this might mean an increase in available power for the single-ended connection too.
Due to the decrease in dimensions of the body, this meant that the display had to be reduced too, and it seems A&K had to opt for a smaller battery capacity as well. The 5″ display of the SP1000M has been reduced to 4.1″, and the maximum stated playback time has been reduced from 12 hours to 10 hours. Due to the smaller dimensions (and possibly smaller internal battery), the weight of the SP1000M is nearly half that of the full-sized SP1000. This is definitely indicative of a more portable-friendly device.
Not only has Astell’s flagship been reduced in size, but also in price. Where the SP1000 would set you back an eye-watering $3499, the SP1000M will be sold for $2399. Still not cheap by any means, but definitely more affordable than the big boy.
New Software
Coinciding with the release of the SP1000M will also be a newer version of A&K’s firmware, which will debut on the SP1000M. The main attraction of this new firmware is that it adds support for Android APK files, which means that prospective users will have the ability to side-load the APK files for additional Android apps, expanding the range of streaming services that can be used on this new device.
