Astell&Kern’s incredible DAC and headphone amp hits a record low price, but you’ll need to move fast

This is a genuinely good deal on a superb Hi-Res Audio digital audio player and headphone amp

Astell&Kern CA1000T on a desktop with white speakers and laptop
(Image credit: Astell&Kern)
Carrie Marshall's avatar
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If you're looking for some genuine diamonds among the Prime Day deals, Astell&Kern has just the thing for the discerning music listener. Its CA1000T headphone amp and desktop DAC combo is down to £799. That's a saving of £1,500 on the usual £2,299 RRP.

Of course, RRPs aren't always the most reliable guides to what a product is worth. But this deal takes the price of the CA1000T to £200 lower than its previous lowest: it was briefly £999 in December 2024, and again in March 2025.

This deal is strictly time-limited – it ends when Prime Day finishes on 11 July 2025.

Astell&Kern CA1000T desktop audio system
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Astell&Kern CA1000T desktop audio system: was £2,299 now £799 at Amazon

Comprised of a desktop amp and DAC, plus a Hi-Res Audio digital audio player built in, the Astell&Kern CA1000T is at the top of many audiophiles' wish lists. It has received five-star reviews across the board and will take your music listening experience to another level.

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Why this Astell & Kern Prime Day deal is genuinely good

I haven't reviewed this particular bundle personally, but the audiophile blogs have: Major Hi-Fi calls it "phenomenal" and Headphonia says that "it sounds as good as it looks, which means terrific".

The CA1000T was the first device to use flagship ESS ES9039MPRO Dual-DACs, and it supports Hi-Res Audio at up to native DSD512 and 32bit/768 kHz.

Audio is sent through a triple-amp system with dual Triode KORG Nutube tubes, and it has plenty of connectivity options: RCA and XLR, Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD and LDAC.

The triple-amp setup combines solid state and tube amplification, and you can choose to have one or the other, or mix the two for clarity and warmth. For high impedance headphones, it offers 4-step gain levels with a maximum 15Vrms output.

It'll run on battery power for up to 11 hours. I'd say it's transportable rather than portable, though, it's a pretty solid bit of kit.

The reviews for the CA1000T have been glowing, although a few have suggested that the recommended retail price was too high. So being able to get the CA1000T for £200 less than its previous lowest price makes it a much more attractive option for audiophiles who don't want to spend quite so much cash.

This isn't the only deal on products from the Astell&Kern brand. There's also 25% off the Activo P1 digital audio player, bringing it down to £299; 20% off the Activo Volcano earphones, down to £79; and 17% off the Activo Q1 earphones, cutting their price to £249.

Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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