{"id":2262535,"date":"2026-02-02T08:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2262535"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:07:12","slug":"astell-kerns-copper-clad-portable-player-vows-to-elevate-the-brands-flagship-model-to-new-sonic-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/astell-kerns-copper-clad-portable-player-vows-to-elevate-the-brands-flagship-model-to-new-sonic-heights\/","title":{"rendered":"Astell &#038; Kern&#8217;s copper-clad portable player vows to elevate the brand&#8217;s flagship model to new sonic heights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"55072d6e-97cd-4f64-94ad-b789c8ef9a8e\">Astell &amp; Kern has launched a copper-clad spin on its high-end SP4000 portable music player.<\/p>\n<p>The new SP4000 Copper is teased as a &#8220;range-topping addition&#8221; to the brand&#8217;s extensive arsenal of digital audio players, bringing together precision engineering and a 99.98 per cent pure copper exterior to bring the established SP4000 flagship player to a new level of audio performance.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"55072d6e-97cd-4f64-94ad-b789c8ef9a8e-2\">This isn&#8217;t the first time we&#8217;ve seen the Korean company send one of its portable players out to battle in shiny copper armour \u2013 the former <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/news\/astell-kern-ak380-copper-edition-brings-sonic-benefits\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/news\/astell-kern-ak380-copper-edition-brings-sonic-benefits\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/news\/astell-kern-ak380-copper-edition-brings-sonic-benefits\">AK380 flagship from around ten years ago also enjoyed a &#8216;Copper&#8217; edition<\/a> as an alternative to the duralumin-based standard model.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\">\n<span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\"><br \/>\nYou may like<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">The new unit shares the same flagship specifications of the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/hi-fi\/portable-music-players\/ive-tried-astell-and-kerns-flagship-portable-music-player-and-its-a-behemoth-in-both-size-and-price\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/hi-fi\/portable-music-players\/ive-tried-astell-and-kerns-flagship-portable-music-player-and-its-a-behemoth-in-both-size-and-price\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/hi-fi\/portable-music-players\/ive-tried-astell-and-kerns-flagship-portable-music-player-and-its-a-behemoth-in-both-size-and-price\">standard A&amp;ultima SP4000<\/a> which we <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/hi-fi\/portable-music-players\/ive-tried-astell-and-kerns-flagship-portable-music-player-and-its-a-behemoth-in-both-size-and-price\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/hi-fi\/portable-music-players\/ive-tried-astell-and-kerns-flagship-portable-music-player-and-its-a-behemoth-in-both-size-and-price\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/hi-fi\/portable-music-players\/ive-tried-astell-and-kerns-flagship-portable-music-player-and-its-a-behemoth-in-both-size-and-price\">sampled at last year&#8217;s High End Munich showcase. <\/a>That means it&#8217;s once again built around A&amp;K&#8217;s advanced <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/tag\/quad\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/tag\/quad\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/tag\/quad\">quad<\/a>-DAC, octa-circuit architecture and is capable of handling hi-res PCM files up to 32-bit\/768kHz alongside DSD512.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"69cc71ec-6e60-4b0b-9da3-92d8c18c67f7\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:5665px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.26%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wvpwugNLv93TukKmHFqvZ8-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wvpwugNLv93TukKmHFqvZ8-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wvpwugNLv93TukKmHFqvZ8-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wvpwugNLv93TukKmHFqvZ8-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wvpwugNLv93TukKmHFqvZ8-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wvpwugNLv93TukKmHFqvZ8-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Astell &amp; Kern)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"3fa7d152-2c1e-4b8f-9ced-302eba5340f7\">The addition of copper, however, promises to take take the player&#8217;s performance to &#8220;another level&#8221;. A&amp;K claims the metal displays &#8220;ideal audio properties&#8221; which directly shapes the SP4000&#8217;s sonic character, with copper&#8217;s natural conductivity and shielding properties helping to preserve your music&#8217;s finer details.<\/p>\n<p>Says Astell &amp; Kern, the SP4000 Copper delivers &#8220;deep, authoritative bass, a rich and articulate midrange&#8221; complimented by a &#8220;treble that decays with natural ease&#8221; thanks to its unique metal cladding.<\/p>\n<p>The new model shares the same feature set as the standard SP4000, including support for the high-quality <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/advice\/aptx-hd-bluetooth-what-it-how-can-you-get-it\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/advice\/aptx-hd-bluetooth-what-it-how-can-you-get-it\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/advice\/aptx-hd-bluetooth-what-it-how-can-you-get-it\">aptX Adaptive<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/advice\/ldac-what-is-it-how-can-you-get-it\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/advice\/ldac-what-is-it-how-can-you-get-it\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/advice\/ldac-what-is-it-how-can-you-get-it\">LDAC <\/a>Bluetooth codecs for 24-bit audio playback, as well as around 10 hours of continuous playback from a single charge.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-Dd4mZjsmqgQ5gup48rwwWg\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-Dd4mZjsmqgQ5gup48rwwWg slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, buying advice and deals, direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The limited edition A&amp;ultima SP4000 Copper is available now, priced at \u00a33999 \/ $4499 \/ \u20ac4699. That&#8217;s a modest advance on the \u00a33799 \/ $3900 \/ \u20ac4499 for the standard iteration of the flagship player.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>These are our <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/best-buys\/portable\/best-portable-music-players\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/best-buys\/portable\/best-portable-music-players\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/best-buys\/portable\/best-portable-music-players\"><strong>favourite portable music players<\/strong><\/a><strong> around<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/streaming-entertainment\/music-streaming\/dont-look-back-in-anger-at-these-classic-1996-tracks-turning-30-this-year\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/streaming-entertainment\/music-streaming\/dont-look-back-in-anger-at-these-classic-1996-tracks-turning-30-this-year\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/streaming-entertainment\/music-streaming\/dont-look-back-in-anger-at-these-classic-1996-tracks-turning-30-this-year\"><strong>Don&#8217;t Look Back in Anger at these classic 1996 tracks turning 30 this year<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/headphones\/i-love-spatial-audio-but-theres-one-feature-i-cant-get-my-head-around\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/headphones\/i-love-spatial-audio-but-theres-one-feature-i-cant-get-my-head-around\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.whathifi.com\/headphones\/i-love-spatial-audio-but-theres-one-feature-i-cant-get-my-head-around\"><strong>I love spatial audio, but there&#8217;s one feature I can&#8217;t get my head around<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.whathifi.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Astell &amp; Kern has launched a copper-clad spin on its high-end SP4000 portable music player. The new SP4000 Copper is teased as a &#8220;range-topping addition&#8221; to the brand&#8217;s extensive arsenal of digital audio players, bringing together precision engineering and a 99.98 per cent pure copper exterior to bring the established SP4000 flagship player to a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2262536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2262535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Astell-Kerns-copper-clad-portable-player-vows-to-elevate-the-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2262535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2262540,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262535\/revisions\/2262540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2262536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2262535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2262535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2262535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}