Astell&Kern A&ultima SP3000

[nfandi]

Great stuff. I see the CA Trifecta isn’t available in NZ. The highest we can get to is the Bonneville.

There’s about NZ$2,000 difference between the two. I’m briefly in NYC in July, so if that’s something I want I’m sure I can find it there. Or indeed anything else!

I was thinking last night that a more drop proof case would not go amiss. Does anyone know of any options?

My most powerful chargers are the big one for iPhones and the biggest one for MacBook Pro charging. Can I use them to charge the SP3000?

I really like the Trifecta but I wouldn’t recommend anybody buy it without hearing it. Takes a bit of time to get used to the bass and the dynamics but after about 20 mins it’s just total enjoyment and so different to the Nutopia. But in a quiet room I choose the Nutopia almost every time; I just prefer the sound and the presentation of an open-backed phone. I checked on the A&K website and it says c. 3.5hrs to recharge with a Q3.0 charger. I went with a Samsung because it’s also from South Korea and it meets the numbers specified in the SP3K manual. I haven’t tried any of my Apple chargers.

 

[Tanalasta]

Great stuff. I see the CA Trifecta isn’t available in NZ. The highest we can get to is the Bonneville.

There’s about NZ$2,000 difference between the two. I’m briefly in NYC in July, so if that’s something I want I’m sure I can find it there. Or indeed anything else!

I was thinking last night that a more drop proof case would not go amiss. Does anyone know of any options?

My most powerful chargers are the big one for iPhones and the biggest one for MacBook Pro charging. Can I use them to charge the SP3000?

I wouldn’t buy either unless you’ve auditioned them.

You can use any UsbC charger. I’ve used my MbP charger to charge my 2k. The Dap draws what it needs

 

[NYanakiev]

What is everyone's favourite amp to pair with the sp3k? Do offerings like the Brise Audio Tsuranagi make sense?

 

[Kiwimac]

So far I have not felt that anything was missing but OOI I would love to try it with a Woo WA8.

 

[Luisonic]

Great stuff. I see the CA Trifecta isn’t available in NZ. The highest we can get to is the Bonneville.

There’s about NZ$2,000 difference between the two. I’m briefly in NYC in July, so if that’s something I want I’m sure I can find it there. Or indeed anything else!

I was thinking last night that a more drop proof case would not go amiss. Does anyone know of any options?

My most powerful chargers are the big one for iPhones and the biggest one for MacBook Pro charging. Can I use them to charge the SP3000?

Hi Kiwi,

Glad to see you joined the club, and that you're enjoying th SP3K as I expected.

Though I'm not a fan of iems, I have to admit I do find the Trifecta intriguing, I own the Atlas and it's an entertaining little beast, so I would be curious to see what they did sticking three of those into one! Also curious about the Mentor.
One day, obviously hidden from my wife, I'll go for one of those two. Keep you posted, even if I think you'll get there before me.

About the charging, read somewhere that lithium batteries in general benefit from a slower charge as opposed to a more powerful quicker one, so I always use the regular iPhone charger. It takes what it takes, and then ready to go.

Lui

 

[Kiwimac]

I’ve been trying the Sennheiser ie900 today.

If that is what so many dollars get you for iems, I’m surprised anyone buys iems!

I’m not sure any of the stock tips really fit me properly but the large foam ones are best.

I much prefer the sound of the Focal Clear in comparison. The iems just can’t deliver the same level of authority. They’re good and at the price I paid, very good. At the new price, I could have HD800s or D9200 for less and probably be happier.

I guess they sound how I imagine HD800s sounds. There is bass. It’s accurate and well timed. Can I feel it? No. I’m no bass head but deep bass is there to be heard and I’m not sure the ie900 delivers that - at least not with these tips.

Now I’m sure the $6000 iems are very good but when I think of the headphones I could get for that money…!

I also find the sound of my own heartbeat a bit distracting when wearing iems. Does anyone else get that?

 

[HeavenlyD]

I’ve been trying the Sennheiser ie900 today.

If that is what so many dollars get you for iems, I’m surprised anyone buys iems!

I’m not sure any of the stock tips really fit me properly but the large foam ones are best.

I much prefer the sound of the Focal Clear in comparison. The iems just can’t deliver the same level of authority. They’re good and at the price I paid, very good. At the new price, I could have HD800s or D9200 for less and probably be happier.

I guess they sound how I imagine HD800s sounds. There is bass. It’s accurate and well timed. Can I feel it? No. I’m no bass head but deep bass is there to be heard and I’m not sure the ie900 delivers that - at least not with these tips.

Now I’m sure the $6000 iems are very good but when I think of the headphones I could get for that money…!

I also find the sound of my own heartbeat a bit distracting when wearing iems. Does anyone else get that?

Hey I’m going out on a limb here, but I also thought over heads would blow me away in comparison, but I was wrong.
I’ve been back to backing my 2022 Focal Utopias with my AK Odyssey IEM’s on both my Naim HE and my SP3K, and I’d take the IEM all day long. The Focal is a stunning headphone, but it is not delivering the detail or bass the Odyssey does. I’m in such awe of the Odyssey with the SP3K compared to the Utopias I’m going to start with selling my DanaCable Lazulli Ref+ cable I spent a shed load on to get me end goal with the Utopias and then the Utopias may even be gone.
I’m so glad I bought this SP3K, it’s opened my ears to a whole new listening experience.

 

[Kiwimac]

In AK I can get the Aura at NZ$8,000 then nothing until the Pathfinder at NZ$2,700. I’m not sure if they could get Odyssey.

At that price we have Noble Audio Ronin and Fir Audio Krypton 5.

We only have one AK dealer here.

Maybe I’ll sell a kidney and buy the Aura!!

 

[HeavenlyD]

To be honest I was lucky to find a new sealed Odyssey last month and the fact AK we’re giving away a free set of Pathfinders with the SP3K meant I sold them to fund alot of the Odyssey, otherwise I don’t think I would have gone in at such a level on my first IEM.
But they got good reviews from people so took the plunge and so pleased I did…

 

[nfandi]

I’ve been trying the Sennheiser ie900 today.

If that is what so many dollars get you for iems, I’m surprised anyone buys iems!

I’m not sure any of the stock tips really fit me properly but the large foam ones are best.

I much prefer the sound of the Focal Clear in comparison. The iems just can’t deliver the same level of authority. They’re good and at the price I paid, very good. At the new price, I could have HD800s or D9200 for less and probably be happier.

I guess they sound how I imagine HD800s sounds. There is bass. It’s accurate and well timed. Can I feel it? No. I’m no bass head but deep bass is there to be heard and I’m not sure the ie900 delivers that - at least not with these tips.

Now I’m sure the $6000 iems are very good but when I think of the headphones I could get for that money…!

I also find the sound of my own heartbeat a bit distracting when wearing iems. Does anyone else get that?

I’d suggest you search through here for user experiences with the ie900. Wrong or poor fitting tips are the usual culprit for a poor sound. There’s too many positive comments about how a good all rounder the ie900 is for you to dismiss them at this stage. Also, the bass is what draws a lot of comments and if you’re not hearing much bass that usually points to poor fitting tips. If you like your Clears then the Nutopia looks like it would be your target phone longer term. I’m also not a bass head, and the Trifecta is definitely a short-list candidate for bass heads, but once I’m tuned into it then it’s a lot of fun. I’m fortunate that I have a very good dealer about an hour from where I live and I regularly get to take things home to try them. Coming up soon will be the Composer, the Diana MR and the Erzetich Charybdis and I’d also like to try different IEM’s to get something with a different flavour to the Trifecta. However all of that is on hold now due to the imminent release of the new phone from Raal. My home setup is based on the Raal SR1b and CA-1a and the chance to hear the new Immanis takes priority over everything.

 

[subguy812]

What is everyone's favourite amp to pair with the sp3k? Do offerings like the Brise Audio Tsuranagi make sense?

I love the Mass Kobo 475 pairing....

 

[JasonNYC]

The new SanDisk 1.5TB microSD cards have been tested with the entire AK player line from current all the way back to the AK120. The QA team confirmed no issues with 1.5TB microSD cards and players.

 

[psklrdk]

FYI, Apple Classical support will be added around February 21st for the SP3000, KANN Ultra, SP2000T, SE180, SR25 MK II, SR25.

Apple Classical support for the SE300, SR35, KANN Max, KANN Alpha, CA1000 and CA1000T will be added around February 27.

@JasonNYC I can see that sp25 still gets the updates. What about SP2000?

 

[JasonNYC]

@JasonNYC I can see that sp25 still gets the updates. What about SP2000?

Next firmware update for SP2000 will be around February 6. There are a number of bug fixes and stability updates. Apple Classical Music will not be supported due to Android OS version on SP2000.

 

[Progisus]

Thanks for the update @JasonNYC . Hopefully Korea is forthcoming on the Tidal sideloaded app bit perfect integration soon.