The Romanian brand Meze Audio is back in the audiophile game with the Astru earphones, designed to stand out thanks to premium materials and a highly ambitious single-driver architecture. The challenge lies in competing with multi-driver benchmarks with a product that's already generating buzz...
At Meze Audio, Astru fills the gap left by premium models that have disappeared from the catalog, while the Alba earphones previously occupied this space with a much more conservative positioning. The Romanian manufacturer is thus reorganizing its hierarchy with a promise based on a simple idea: a single transducer, a wealth of rare materials, and a finish designed for durability. Titanium, the common thread of the meticulously crafted Astru. At first glance, the Astru earphones extend the aesthetics of the Alba with their rounded curves and inverted dome. But the comparison ends there. The Astru chassis is machined from a single block of titanium, a material that is difficult to work with. Then comes the electroplating stage, which protects the casing while giving it a very distinctive satin finish. Meze announces seven days of production per pair, a timeframe that signals a choice of slow, almost artisanal production, contrary to the logic of high volume. The premium 4.4 mm jack cable, the included 3.5 mm adapter, and the connectors machined directly from a block of aluminum extend this logic of material consistency.
Meze Audio Astru: a speaker that focuses on gold and precision££££
The true singularity of Astru, however, lies in its speaker, a 10 mm dynamic transducer with a multi-layer composite diaphragm whose dome stacks more than 80 ultra-thin layers of gold before being bonded to titanium and then mounted on a PEEK base (Polyether Ether Ketone, a high-performance thermoplastic polymer or very high-end engineering plastic). The sputtering process (cathode ray sputtering: a thin-film deposition technique used in industry) in a vacuum chamber alone takes 48 hours... On paper, Meze promises a fast transient response, extended treble, and a natural impact. For the rest, we'll have to wait for serious listening tests to see if the build quality truly compares with the big names in the industry.
Meze Audio Astru: why does this price make people wince so much? The price point immediately places the Meze Audio Astru in a category of their own. Announced at €900, these earphones are aimed at users who aren't just looking for a beautiful object, but an ambitious sound reproduction experience. Meze Audio specifies a frequency response of 5 Hz to 35 kHz, an impedance of 32 ohms, a sensitivity of 111 dB/mW, and a distortion of less than 0.1%. Each earphone weighs 13.4 g, and the package includes five sizes of ear tips, a hard case, and a soft pouch. It's also worth noting their truly universal design (see the included 3.5 mm adapter), making them suitable for both portable and stationary listening. Key features of the Meze Audio Astru earphones: • Type: Closed-back dynamic in-ear earphones • Drivers: 10 mm • Frequency response: 5 - 35,000 Hz • Sensitivity: 111 dB • Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): < 0.1% • Impedance: 32 ohms • Weight: 13.4 g per earphone