Astell&KernAcro BE100 Bluetooth Speaker - Black

I bought this speaker after hearing it at a friends house. When I purchased it was £199 (RRP £449), connection is a breeze to any device via bluetooth (it uses SBC, AAC, aptX HD, LDAC codecs) or via separate 3.5mm input. It also has independent Bass and Treble adjustment on the top of the unit.The construction is pure quality with a nice metal power/volume wheel on the top (that glows different colours depending on the input source). Sound quality is excellent. I use it with all my music stored on a NAS and PlexAmp streams the audio to this speaker. If you can get it under £250 it is excellent value.

Surprisingly good sound from this little speaker. I'm an audiophile and I've been listening to audio gear since 1984. I like precise and clear musical reproduction. I also like a good bottom end. You don't always get everything in one box and this is certainly no exception. Astell certainly put the codecs in this box to good use ( SBC, AAC, aptX™ HD, LDAC) and while they certainly add dimension and clarity to the sound, as they say, there's no replacement for displacement. The use of all the codecs couldn't save the BE 100 from a thin bottom end. You can only do so much with a 4" driver even if it is made of kevlar. The midrange in this thing is surprisingly good if you have a good recording. As you can see from the picture, I also bought the new Marshall Woburn III Bluetooth speaker so I was able to compare both and although the Woburn only has the standard SBC codec, it's not far behind the BE 100 in the midrange dept and with it's 6" bass it driver destroys the BE 100 in the bass dept. Simply no contest. Neither of these are one box solutions. So who is the BE 100 for? If you like jazz, instrumental and vocals and want the latest codecs then the BE 100 is your speaker. If you like an all around good performer and livelier sound with more bass energy, an app to tailor your sound and a classic guitar look then spring for the Marshall Woburn III. Even without the newest codecs it performs amazingly well and you can pair two of them together for a stereo or ambient sound. You cannot pair two BE 100 speakers together and there's no app to tailor the sound to your liking. You really can't go wrong with the BE 100 as long as you're realistic as to how much bottom end you can expect from a 4" bass driver. It's simply amazing that these speakers are Bluetooth. FYI, my streaming service of choice is Tidal.

Sounds amazing and does what it should! It allows music to sound extremely professional without any bells or whistles. I don't want Alexa compatibility or a fiddly App. With this speaker you simply pair up with a device such as an iPhone and press play! Bass and Treble are easy to adjust on the unit .. no need to constantly fiddle.The addition of a volume knob is a master stroke! Sometimes volume is all you need to adjust and it's a traditional dial which is refreshing. I use Qobuz as my music library and wow...it sounds great!I only dropped a star because the price came down significantly a day after I purchased it!

Sound quality is amazingly good , especially if played from a LDAC enabled device. You can control the Treble and Bass , from the top of the speaker! It can play qualaptx , but the LDAC mode is so superior in my view. The price is absurd, since it plays like a speaker two or more likely three times the price! As you may gather I love this speaker! It also has an Aux port to play straight from a device to the speaker! But LDAC is the go to, for sound quality!!!!

This system of changing daily password is a joke no co-ordination