The best home audio products for awesome sound

By Tim Martin

Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2 wireless speaker
Bauhaus flowerpot? Spaceman’s umbrella-stand? Dalek’s girlfriend? No, it’s Bang & Olufsen’s BeoSound 2 wireless speaker. Its elevated price tag covers more than just good looks: wherever you perch it, this aluminium cone will swathe a room in wondrously calibrated sound that proves difficult to trace to a single source. (£1,650/$2,250)

Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones
Most headphones with a noise-cancelling function trade sonic faithfulness for the (admittedly useful) capacity to tune out the clamorous world at the press of a button. With these golden thoroughbreds from Bowers & Wilkins, great sound comes first, impeccable design second, and the capacity to reduce your entourage to mouthing spectres is a bonus extra. The luminous sound reproduction clasps your head in a calm embrace and plunges you deep into the world of the music. (£329/$399.99)

Ruark R5
This all-in-one system by Ruark is a clever combination of ancient and modern, squeezing smart streaming technology – Bluetooth, multiroom transmission, integration with Spotify, Tidal and Amazon – into a dainty wooden body with echoes of an old-fashioned radiogram. The R5 includes a DAB radio, a CD player (remember those?) and doubtless a kitchen sink somewhere, and emits a bright, warm, room-filling sound with potent bass. (£999)

Minirig 3
This speaker from Minirigs has a long list of new specs packed into its stark aluminium tube. But the most important bit, as ever, is its awesome sound, which makes it the portable Bluetooth device to drown out all others. Forget shaking the room, think garden Glastonbury. It’s rock-solid and the battery is almost immortal – 100 hours, say Minirigs – making this the sunshine powerhouse of choice for campers and ravers everywhere. (£139.96)■

photograph Lochner Carmichael