Here at WIRED we often like to catalogue the finer things in life, especially if such items represent innovation in their various high-end categories. The selection below should have you covered if you happen to be on the lookout for a luxury sound system, pair of iconic sunglasses, self-heating designer shoes or even the finest Wagyu steak sandwich money can buy (be warned, this last indulgence will require a trip to New York, but that is never a bad thing, especially if you are present hunting).
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Edge
Designed in conjunction with Flos and Herman Miller collaborator Michael Anastassiades, the Beosound Edge is a fully wireless – AirPlay2, Chromecast2, Bluetooth – speaker with a ten-inch bass driver, four-inch midrange and 3/4-inch tweeter, with a look borrowed from the original British pound coin. To help deliver its signature sound, B&O created a new acoustical technology called Active Bass Port. When playing at lower volumes, the Edge applies a closed cabinet principle – for a more accurate sound reproduction – but as you turn up the volume, the Active Bass Port opens to kick out a bigger, beefier bass. Mount on the wall for a station-clock style statement, or leave on the floor and rock it back and forth to adjust the volume. £2,900 bang-olufsen.com
Audio Research Reference 160M Vacuum Tube Amplifier
Featuring four KT150 valves – the finest audio valve famous for its tight, full, and precise bass, neutral midrange and transparent high-end clarity – Audio Research’s REF160M monoblock power amp boasts impeccable industrial design alongside peerless audio quality. Thanks to its ingenious dual-layer construction the illuminated power meter on the front panel is transparent, allowing you to see the glowing tubes behind it, while the power supply stage uses a newly developed High Energy Capacity Transformer to provide high current on demand for transient peaks. Hitting 150W in Ultralinear mode and 75W in Triode mode, it also includes single-ended (RCA) inputs as well as balanced (XLR) inputs. £28,998 absolutesounds.com
Globe-Trotter X Analogue Foundation Listening Station
A one-off collaboration between luxury luggage maker Globe-Trotter and The Analogue Foundation – a consortium of audio evangelists spearheaded by Japanese audio specialist Audio-Technica, Grammy-winning producer Russell Elevado and the music group Soundwalk Collective – this custom-built vinyl-only listening station brings together a unique turntable with a selection of Audio-Technica phono cartridges (including the AT-ART9 magnetic core moving coil and AT33Sa Shibata stylus), and a drawer full of exceptional headphones including the £2,000 ATH-ADX5000. Naturally, it also comes with a library of vinyl to sample at your leisure, plus an extra compartment housing a pair of cut-glass tumblers and a bottle of single malt. analoguefoundation.com
McIntosh XRT2.1K speakers
Standing almost 7ft tall and a reported 45 years in the making, McIntosh’s latest loudspeaker features 81 Nanocarbon Fibre drivers arranged in a four-way configuration of six 20-centimetre bass drivers, two 16.5-centimetre low-frequency/midrange units, 28 five-centimetre upper-midrange units and the small matter of 45 19-millimetre tweeters. Why so many? McIntosh claims this vertical line array configuration was influenced by live concert PA systems and enables sound projection at a greater distance than a traditional point source design would allow. The speaker can handle a concert-worthy 2,000 watts of power, the reinforced bass cabinet is made from brushed and black aluminium, and it’s all finished in inky piano black. £137,500 mcintoshlabs.com
Porsche Design P’8478 40-Y
While history will remember him as the driving force behind the Porsche 911, Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche also made history by designing P’8478, the world’s first interchangeable lens sunglasses. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of these glasses, Porsche has created a limited run of 1,978 pairs, each made from lightweight titanium with a unique matte-black titanium frame and gold accents on the bridge, nose pads and lens holders. Available in two sizes, each pair comes in a special travel box with four additional sets of lenses. €650 Porsche-design.com
Jimmy Choo Voyager Boot
As sumptuous as the water-resistant vachetta calf leather and shearling liner may be, WIRED is infinitely more interested in what’s to be found inside the lugged commando sole. Jimmy Choo has collaborated here with French based startup Zhor-Tech to bring app-controlled in-sole heating to its new season winter boots. Chargeable via a USB port discreetly hidden beneath a hand-tooled collar, you can track your activity levels via the smartphone app and adjust the temperature of each sole from 25°C to 45°C. Depending on the outside temperature, each boot can stay toasty for up to eight hours. £1,295 Jimmychoo.com
Sony DMP-Z1 Digital Music Player
Built to power the finest headphones – 1,500mW (16Ω) output power – and compatible with virtually every high-res audio format, Sony’s latest digital music player is a thing of audiophile brilliance. The analogue rotary volume control is plated in copper and gold to ensure signal purity and to get the best from the dual Asahi DACs. Power comes either from AC mains or via an independent, super-stable five-cell noiseless battery system that manages the digital and analogue needs separately. It can handle Native DSD files up to 11.2MHz and 384 kHz PCM, while the 256GB of internal storage with dual micro SD slots means you won’t go short of music however large the file sizes – but there’s a USB-C if you do want to hook up direct to your computer. £8,000 sony.co.uk
And finally... the Don Wagyu A5 Ozaki Steak Sandwich
In an attempt to create a new luxury dining experience that doesn’t require a three-hour, sit-down meal, this serious sarnie is made from the finest Wagyu beef sourced from a single farm in the Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan – only five cattle are shipped to the US each month, exclusively for the restaurant close to Wall Street. Chef Samuel Clonts coats the steak with panko breadcrumbs before frying for two and a half minutes, then creates the ultimate lunchtime snack using pain de mie (soft white bread), coated in a Japanese steak sauce made with onions, ginger and garlic cooked down with sake, mirin, tamari and black vinegar. It’s served in a custom-built wooden box and a [cough!] generous helping of nori seasoned skinny fries. $180 donwagyu.net
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
