Astin Trew

British manufacturer Astin Trew consistently wins review accolades for its natural sounding electronics that employing the best of vacuum tube and solid state technology.

AT1000 Preamp
AT2000 Integrated amp
AT3000/3500 CD players
AT5000 Power amp

The heart and soul of high quality audio amplification begins with the pre-amplifier. The AT1000 valve pre-amplifier offers you 6 input switching options - including MP3, through an easily accessed input connector on the front facia. But more than that, the AT1000 also boasts a dedicated single-ended class A headphone amplifier, for use with either 3.5mm or 6.4mm stereo jacks, offering high quality personal listening. The quality electronics are housed in distinctively designed aluminium casework, with a 6mm-thick front facia and anodised finishes.

The AT2000 integrated amplifier combines a class A biased pre-amplifier stage and valve-assisted power amplifier electronics in a compact one-box package using Never Connected™ power supplies for all low-power circuits, offering stunning musicality at its price point. There is plenty of user flexibility and real audiophile sound. The quality electronics are housed in distinctively designed aluminium casework with a 6mm thick front fascia and anodised finishes.

AT3500 plus The design of this high specification CD player drew on the expertise of Trichord Research in developing a great sounding digital to analogue conversion stage. All AT cd players utilise a valve output stage which avoids the solid state sterility heard in many designs.

The plus specification is well worth the additional outlay over the standard AT3500 - it improves transient attack and tightens up the lower registers whilst sharpening up image placement.

The AT3000 is a very competent design. We conducted an experiment in which we compared the AT3000's analogue output to its digital output fed through a Benchmark DAC1, both connected with identical interconnects to a preamp. When switching between sources, we could not consistently identify which was playing in a blind test, over a wide range of music types. On that basis if you would like the sound of a highly rated DAC in your system then the AT3000 is a very attractively priced option.

All models are available in a choice of silver or black front panel.

The AT5000 power amplifier has been designed to offer true audiophile sound at a competitive price point. The design is single-ended, using a valve, Schottky diodes and multiple power capacitors offering a large 44 joule capacity per channel. The fully dual mono construction, including 2 x 300VA transformers, gives speed, dynamics and the lowest crosstalk. Short signal paths offer low signal degradation and the outcome is a truly engaging audiophile sound with qualities one would expect to find only in higher priced amplifiers. 50W into 8ohms and 100W into 4ohms output power will be loud enough for most users and bi-amping with two AT5000’s is a cost effective upgrade.