Audio

It makes for depressing reading, but the average office worker will spend roughly 53,000 hours sitting behind a desk before they retire. It’s a long time to be stuck in one place, and while I endorse regular breaks and a decent chair, I’d also urge you to upgrade your desktop audio equipment. Though some are lucky enough to have large offices with space to indulge their Hi-Fi obsessions, most of us make do with a desk, chair and laptop. But even the oldest Wi-Fi streaming computer can be transformed into a high-quality music player.

As with modern TVs, laptop speakers offer subpar sound quality, and a dedicated pair of stereo desktop speakers will greatly improve the audio. Not to be confused with explosion-enhancing gaming speakers, these audio upgrades can either be connected via the 3.5mm headphone jack and USB port or wirelessly using Bluetooth. Ruark’s MR1 Mk2 (£349; ruarkaudio.com) offer gorgeous looks and size-defying sound quality, while Q Acoustics M20 (£439; qacoustics.co.uk) are equally enjoyable if your desk is big enough. For modern-day streaming there are countless smartphone-controlled wireless speakers that will enhance any office – you won’t go wrong with the Sonos Era 100, Apple HomePod or Kef’s latest and glorious LS50 Meta (£1,199; kef.com).

While headphones with wireless active noise cancellation help to muffle the din of the office, these hi-tech extras are less important when working from home – in which case I’d highly recommend a pair of wired over-ear headphones. I’ve been using the excellent

Audio Technica ATH-WP900 (£599; audiotechnica.com) for a few years, but you don’t need to spend £600 to further your enjoyment.

Austrian Audio’s Hi-X15 is a bargain at £99 (austrian.audio) and the Philips Fidelio X3 (£139; philips.co.uk) is also a steal.

Though all computers have DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) chips, adding a DAC headphone amplifier vastly improves sound quality. You don’t need to spend big either: the portable iFi Go Link costs just £59 (