February 2018 ertonline.co.uk


The idea is to sell


The artist has gone through life experiences to write, record, mix and master their songs, and then, at the end of the chain, people are listening to them on a speaker in their phone or their laptop. It’s tragic – it’s a sin


headphones in the way that you’d sell luxury watches


41


audio players in the world. Stocking brands including Senn- hen it comes to


journalistic assignments, this has to be up there as one of the cushiest of my career.


I am sat in a high-end store in London’s Mayfair, drinking expensive Japanese whisky and listening to some of my favourite songs by Bob Dylan, The Byrds and Nick Drake, on a pair of £1,500 headphones. This is experiential retail at its best. Welcome to the Spiritland Head- phone Bar, which is the latest venture by former sound engineer and radio producer Paul Noble – the founder and artistic director of the successful Spiritland café, bar and studio in London’s King’s Cross.


In the heart of central London, at 3 New Burlington Street, between Regent Street and Savile Row, shoppers can try and compare what are said to be some of the best headphones and


heiser, Audio-Technica and Audeze, the shop also offers high-resolution players from Astell & Kern and portable DACs and amps from Chord, as well as products by Naim, Bryston and Questyle. Prices range from £150 to £4,000 and upwards.


is


At a time when the high street under


immense pressure and


consumer electronics retailing is tough, this is a bold and daring move by Mr Noble.


I raise a glass to him and ask him why – and how – he’s done it…


in September 2016. It’s a café during the day and it’s a restaurant and a bar at night – it’s built around a very high- end sound system by Living Voice, a British company that’s based in Nottingham. The whole thing started as a way to engage with music in the most meaningful way possible. A big part of what we’re doing at Spiritland [in King’s Cross] is retail – we sell vinyl, books and magazines, headphones, players and amps.


Q: Late last year, you opened a premium audio and headphones store in London’s West End, which also serves whisky. A lot of people would say you’re mad… Paul Noble: They might. We opened a venue in King’s Cross called Spiritland


Q: So why open the Spiritland Headphone Bar? Did you see a gap in the market? PN: It wasn’t as calculated as that… The quality and the level of reproduction of the equipment is so advanced that you need a room to sit in and listen to it – to spend some time with it to do it justice. You can do that at some points in the day at Spiritland in King’s Cross, but sometimes it’s just too busy. Everything we’ve done with Spiritland is about the pursuit of excellence. Our mission is to put music on a pedestal and in a frame – to give


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