Astell&Kern PA10 Review

UI & Usage

Everyday carry

Big but not too heavy, the Astell&Kern PA10 is mildly difficult to carry, but that’s no surprise.

Using the FiiO M17 as my daily driver was already difficult, but adding the A&K PA10 to the mix makes it purely impossible to bring on the go. Yes, the audiophile Big-Mac is back! Out of curiosity, I traded the M17 for the A&K Max, which I happen to have at the moment, and put the two silicon bands on top and bottom to pair the two of them altogether.

Obviously, it won’t fit in your trousers’ pocket, will hinder your every move if you put it in your jacket, and will create a considerable bulge in your bag. Even ddHiFi’s C2022 audiophile carrying case, which makes me feel like a true audiophile hipster, was a tight fit for this whole setup – but it worked!

On the other hand, once settled, there is a lot to love about this Amp. The analog volume control is simply exquisite to use and remained a joy to use even on the go. Another feature that I liked is the fact that all inputs/outputs were fitted on the same size, for more convenience with all and every modern DAP – FiiO M17, A&K SE180, A&K Kann max, all of them now have their I/O located on top (Cayin are you reading this?).

Top that with buttons that fall right under your thumb, a lovely silicon backplate, and quite honestly, this is one of the cleanest headphone amplifiers I have tried for a long time. Last but not least, don’t try to pair it with your phone: not only will it block your camera ports, but it’ll also hinder your every movement with the silicon bands. I tried to pair my iPhone 13 Pro Max, with the FiiO Q7 and the Astell&Kern PA10, bad idea.

Battery Life and Charging

With a 4200mAh battery, the PA10 almost seems conservative – at least compared to the FiiO Q7 which comes with a 9200mAh ultra-high capacity lithium cobalt oxide battery. But, since the A&K only sports an amplifier section, and no Digital to Analog section, giving it more capacity would have been irrelevant.

And, to fill up this big reserve, the engineers behind the PA10 gave the Amp a quick charge compliance up to 15W charging. But, even with that, the Amp will still need up to 3h to charge completely! A&K advertises 12 hours of continuous playback, with an unbalanced source, in low gain and volume set at 30%.

In real-life usage, I was able to reach 8h in balanced mode, mid gain, and volume set at 30-45%, so it should be possible to reach 10h, if you behave well.

Noise and power

Noise: nothing to say, it’s dead silent, and my hypersensitive Onkyo could not spot anything. Of course, the higher the gain, the higher the noise, but I couldn’t discern more than a faint breeze, with the volume turned on to the max. EMI shielding did a great job and I never encountered any parasites or any real buzz during my listening.

Power: The PA10 delivers ample power to drive even the most demanding headphones, making it a versatile and reliable choice for any audiophile. With its Class-A design, the amp maintains its exceptional sound quality across a wide range of headphones and IEMs. The various gain settings provide enough flexibility to accommodate a diverse array of gear but, once again, if you’re connected via the 4.4mm input, none of that will be relevant.

The article continues on Page three, after the click here.

Page 1: about Astell&Kern

Page 2: UI, Usage, Bundle

Page 3: Technical specifications

Page 4: Sound performance