You just know that Kylo Ren would have been a right pain in the Force when it came to hi-fi settings. He'd get all jittery about jitter, conflicted about components. Vader, on the other hand, would have known exactly what he wanted from his audio and TV gear. Top quality, of course, and in just the one colour, thank you very much. The sort of no-expense-spared set up that would make WFH seem like you were almost back in your Death Star corner office. 

Here we have just such a selection, one we think Darth would endorse. Though, as a leader of one evil empire, he may find the lack of Alexa- and Google Assistant-enabled devices here disturbing.

Those who know hi-fi know that the single most important part of a record player is the cartridge. As a result, this component often costs multiples of the player itself. Hand-crafted in Japan – reportedly by the one person in the Audio Technica factory with the required skill set – the titanium and boron AT-ART1000 cartridge (above) kicks against conventional cartridge design by positioning the moving coil directly above the stylus tip, eliminating the need to transmit along the length of the cantilever. The result means more detail, and more detail means incredibly accurate sound reproduction through the medium and low frequencies and exceptional transient response (transforming the mechanical groove of the record into an electrical current) creating the most accurate and realistic playback possible.

Price: £4,599 | Audio Technica

Based around the unmistakable form of David Lewis’s 1992 Beolab 8000 collection, Bang & Olufsen’s new Beolab 28 is a suitably stunning pair of streaming speakers and the brand’s first to ditch the need for a separate control unit. Yes, we can hear the hoots of derision from the traditional black-boxes-in-the-corner hi-fi brigade, but with an integrated streaming module, touch-sensitive user interface, voice assistance and the ability to upgrade the streaming module as the technology develops, we’re more than happy to shed a little hi-tech clutter. And in true B&O style, a motorised action draws the grilles back for listening when the speakers are active, while the base can be adapted for wall mounting, swinging elegantly back behind the speaker.

Price: £10,750 | Bang & Olufsen

Not content with its 4.65m tall 144in (3.65m) retractable outdoor TV, C Seed has brought its unprecedented big-screen tech indoors with the launch of the world’s largest folding MicroLED TV. Yes, at the push of a button, the floor opens to reveal a rising column of machined aluminium that gracefully unfolds to create a gargantuan 165in 4K HDR screen standing proud at 2.13m tall, complete with unparalleled colour spectrum and integrated speakers. Available in black, gold, silver and grey, but please do check your floorboards first, because the M1 weighs 1,350kg.

Price: $400,000 | C Seed

Spending heavily on a pair of high-quality wired headphoness is an admirable step towards audio nirvana, but without the right power to drive them, or quality recordings to listen to, you’ll be missing out on those audiophile goosebumps. But in the Uniti Atom Headphones Edition, Naim has the perfect partner for your headphoness – one that boasts the same luxury aluminium build quality and classy controls as the rest of the award-winning Uniti range. Thankfully, there’s more to this Class A headphones amp than a pretty display and tactile dial: it will drive even the most demanding headphoness (and active loudspeakers), pull your music from servers, USB drives and turntables, as well as stream from the usual suspects including Deezer, Qobuz, TIDAL and Spotify up to resolutions of 32bit/384kHz.

Price: £2,399 | Sevenoaks Sound and Vision

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This article was originally published by WIRED UK