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Whaletone is to pianos what Bugatti is to cars: large, lavish and not about to compromise. The three-metre by two-metre Grand Hybrid digital piano uses Roland processors with amplifiers and speakers from Danish specialist Scan-Speak to create the widest possible range of modes and tones. It can simulate vintage pianos from the 60s, top-end classical chamber pianos or full-blown organs. A range of recording connections are available, but if all that sounds like too much effort, it will play itself from a library of tunes at 200W per channel, controlled through a bundled iPad.
And if black or white is too traditional for your taste, there's a full range of colour options and finishes available for you to channel your inner Liberace. €98,000
YAR confidently claims that its Y-der speakers "blend into the background when playing". This doesn't mean these handsome units disappear before your eyes, but rather their design, which eliminates any parallel surfaces to reduce resonance, places the individual drivers in such a way as to render the source of the sound immaterial. Carbon-fibre elements help get rid of interference, and the floor mounts are adjustable down to the micrometre.
WIRED has experienced the awesome power of these speakers, and can confirm that they are among the best on the market. €250,000
yaraudio.com
As a general rule in high-end audio, the more you separate components out and lavish attention on each element of the sound, the better. The Mark Levinson No 536 follows this principle admirably - it's a monoblock amp, meaning you will need two of them for standard two-channel stereo sound. Each unit can deliver 400W at 8 ohms or 800W at 4 ohms (also known as "a lot"), and operates in what's known as class A conditions for minimal distortion. $15,000 each (two required for stereo sound)
For its 90th anniversary, Bang & Olufsen has come out swaggering. Indeed, the BeoLab 90 speakers look like they're actually swaying to their own beat. B&O says these 135kg aluminium-and-fabric flagships are "the culmination of the wildest dreams of [the] acoustic department". Eighteen individual speakers deliver 8,200W of power, with a 360° design that lets you place them anywhere and still achieve top results. They even calibrate their sound depending on the size, shape and furnishings of the space they're used in. £26,995 per speaker
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
