This week at Melbourne's heritage-listed Cavendish House, Bang & Olufsen launched its flagship "sensory store", hoping to give locals a chance to acquaint themselves with the company's innovative and unusual gear.

Bang & Olufsen is one of those brands that plenty of people recognise in spite of the fact they don't really have a full sense of who they are or what they do. You might have a vague notion that it's a luxury fashion brand, or a maker of fancy tech accessories. You might have read about cars or phones with "sound by Bang & Olufsen", so maybe it's an audio engineering company?

Speakers and stereos on display in the B&O Play section of the store.

It is in fact a 91-year-old maker of high-end (read expensive and very good quality) domestic electronics, with a particular bent towards audio.

The new flagship store, on the corner of Russell Street and Flinders Lane, feels a lot like a Rolex boutique or Mercedes showroom – uncluttered and styled to convey a sense of opulent lifestyles. But there's also a feeling that the Australian branch (bouncing back after being acquired by Emerald Group Investments last year) really wants to connect with those wandering Melbourne's Paris end and show them what the brand is all about.