Astell&Kern released the ACRO BE100 Bluetooth speaker, featuring the brand’s signature design elements.
The Astell&Kern ACRO BE100 Bluetooth speaker features its own 32-bit DAC. This is an important improvement compared to the vast majority of other similar speakers. After all, those usually simply use the mediocre DAC present in the Bluetooth chip. The D/A converter in the Astell&Kern, on the other hand, is based on the same technology that is also used in the brand’s portable music players.
Digital crossover
As drivers, the Astell&Kern ACRO BE100 contains a mid-bass driver as well as two tweeters, all custom-built. The set is driven by a 55 Watt class D amplifier with digital crossover and DRC (Dynamic Range Control). The latter is used to protect the speaker from overload. The frequency range of the speaker lies between 50 Hz and 20 kHz. Added to that, a 50ps clock is provided for the Bluetooth 5.0 chipset, which should prevent jitter. In terms of codecs, aptX HD and LDAC (both 24-bit capable) are present, with a maximum sampling frequency of 48 kHz and 96 kHz, respectively. For users of Apple hardware, it’s nice to know that AAC is also supported, saving another unnecessary and quality unfriendly conversion. Available from next month for €529.
