This desktop audio player just plummeted over £1,300 in price — I love mine

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

When I’m at my desk, I’m generally doing two things at once. I’m doing my work (like this!), and I’m listening to music. I do the latter on a mad range of devices, from my laptop to my phone and with a spread of headphones, earbuds and speakers.

There is just one thing that I dictate about my desk-based music listening — and that’s the quality of the components I listen to my music with. I want the best that I can get my hands one, and this little desktop music device that's currently on sale for £999 after a £1,300 discount might be one of the best I’ve laid my greasy mitts on.

This is the Astell & Kern CA1000T, and it’s not just a music player. It’s a very powerful headphone amp, with an excellent built-in DAC and pre-amplifier abilities for a poweramp for thirstier speakers. And, for those of us lucky enough to reside in ol’ blighty, it’s just been reduced in price by a whole lot.

Desk-based audio nirvana

The core of the CA1000T is the audio player portion. With 256GB of built-in storage, you can store around 24,000 FLAC files for local listening. With the built-in battery, you can take (or lug — this thing is not light) your music around with you.

But it’s all those inputs and outputs on the front and back that are the most interesting. Whatever connector your headphones have, the CA1000T will connect to them thanks to unbalanced 3.5mm and 6.25mm connectors and then balanced 4.4mm and 2.5mm connectors. Whether you've got the best wireless headphones or the best audiophile headphones, you'll be fine.

Then you swing around to the back, where you’ll find dual mini XLRs for poweramps and other accessories, along with an SD card slot, an optical in, and a pair of USB-C ports for charging and data transmission.

Plug a cable from your laptop (or even your phone) into the data USB-C port, and the CA1000T acts as a top-quality headphone DAC and amp, capable of unpacking hi-res audio tracks and powering big, thirsty audiophile headphones.

Powering my headphones with valves

Valves and tubes have long been audio buzzwords. Analog components that need heating up before giving you more natural, warmer music. The CA1000T has valves in its amplification circuits, which can be turned on and off.

I like to leave them on while listening though. There’s something comforting about the audio quality of the CA1000T when I plug in my favorite headphones — be that Meze’s newest Poet, or the Tom’s Guide reference Audeze LCD-X.

For £2,399 you’d hope that the CA1000T played music well, and it does. I played through Qobuz (and my own Flac collection), and found a system that allows the sonic coloring of the headphones to really shine through.

Mixes remained spacious and wide throughout testing, with plenty of body. My test tracks all sounded impeccable, with the guitars of Decapitated’s Deathvaluation fat, chunky, and perfectly distorted.

Thanks to the WiFi card on board, I was particularly happy to find out that the CA1000T was also Roon ready — and after a quick hook up with my server, I was away and listening to my system anywhere around the house, not just my desk.

Plugging it into my laptop to test out the DAC and amp, I was immediately impressed with the noticeable improvement over the standard headphone jack. There was more detail to the cymbals in Alfa Mist’s Teki, and the space of orchestral recordings was extended.

As a headphone-centered music listening device, they don’t get much more fully featured and excellent sounding than the CA1000T.

It’s not all rosy…

There are a couple of bug bears, though. The CA1000T runs an older version of Android with an Astell & Kern skin on it, and while it’s mostly fine, it can be a bit sluggish. Typing in song titles and artists can be a slight pain as well, thanks to the small screen and even tinier keyboard buttons.

The OS is a little sluggish as well, and navigating around has a steep learning curve. 12 hours of battery life is perfectly fine for something that’s going to sit on my desk and keep my headphones going, although it might be nice to get a little more staying power for use on the go.

The screen is a bit dim as well — using the device in direct sunlight can be a bit of a pain. In the end I tended to use it as an extension to my computer though, or through Roon, so I didn’t have to use the screen all that much.

Saving big on audio components

If you want one (as I always did), it’s just become a whole lot easier to get your hands on one: The CA1000T has just received a monster £1,300 price drop for what could be the largest price drop I’ve ever seen on an audio device.

For £1,000 you’re getting a very special piece of kit. Is it still expensive? Yes. Is it brilliant? Also yes.

Grab yours from Amazon now — this price isn't going to stick around forever.

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Tammy and her generous collection of headphones have found a new home — Tom's Guide! After a two-and-a-half-year stint as iMore's resident audiophile, Tammy's reviews and buying guide expertise have more focus than ever on Tom's Guide, helping buyers find the audio gear that works best for them. Tammy has worked with some of the most desirable audio brands on the planet in her time writing about headphones, speakers, and more, bringing a consumer focussed approach to critique and buying advice. Away from her desk, you'll probably find her in the countryside writing (extremely bad) poetry, or putting her screenwriting Masters to good use creating screenplays that'll never see the light of day.