Astell & Kern’s £3300 high-res player is the stuff of audiophile dreams

Audiophiles assemble! Astell & Kern’s A&ultima SP1000 high-res audio player might not have the catchiest name we’ve ever heard, but its flashy design looks like something straight out of Tony Stark’s workshop. It should do big favours for your high-res music collection too, but at this price, we’d flipping hope so. Costing a pocket-stinging £3299 and due in June, it packs independent DACs for the left and right channels, a revamped user interface for its bezel-less 5-inch display, a new octa-core processor and playback support for tracks all the way up to 32-bit/384kHz. And if you think this stainless steel version looks good, wait ‘til you see the copper version coming in July. Corrr.