PMC at Capsule Records, Hove
PMC at Capsule Records is another feather in the cape for a brand that’s a firm favourites with installers, audiophiles and professional audio users, whether they are watching movies in their home theatres, listening to music on their HiFi systems or working in state of the art recording studios. Now PMC can add another type of client to its list – this time an innovative vinyl record store and coffee shop that has recently opened in Hove, East Sussex.
Capsule Records aims to attract new and experienced vinyl collectors with its inspired collection of vinyl LPs – classics, re-issues and new releases – which encompasses a broad church of genres from jazz, soul and funk to disco, dub, house and electronica. At the heart of the shop is a passionate team of music lovers, who will help customers to identify their musical ‘sweet spots’ and guide them toward new LPs or labels. A handful of curated record collections is also available, each containing up to 35 albums that hang together on the basis of musical style, artist connections or the label they are on.
“We want to bring real joy to new music discovery,” says Lawrence Bleach, who co-founded the shop with Sarah Hennessy and Simon ‘Skev’ Skevington. “The LPs we’ve chosen and collections we’ve curated include some surprises and relatively unknown beauties, which sit alongside more established releases. We want to help customers expand their collections by recommending new artists and labels we think they’ll love – think Spotify mixes and playlists in vinyl, but curated by humans, not algorithms.”
Capsule Records is now equipped with a sound system that consists of four PMC wall-mounted Ci30 loudspeakers in its main retail area and two more in the café area at the back of the store. Designed for playback of stereo and immersive formats, Ci30 speakers out-perform speakers twice their size, delivering high definition reproduction from 47Hz to 25kHz. The system was chosen for Capsule Records by sound engineer Max Gilkes who worked with the management team to ensure the shop delivered exceptional audio quality.
“Max advised on sound proofing and acoustics, as well as monitoring,” Bleach says. “He recommended PMC loudspeakers because they deliver the clarity and quality we wanted. The first time I listened to them I was blown away. I knew they were so much better than anything I had heard before because the sound was so rich. They made the music sing. Whether you are in the shop or the café, that goosebump feeling isn’t far away.”
“We aim to offer a welcoming musical sanctuary to our customers, and we also plan to encourage, mentor, educate and support local people who want to be involved in the music industry,” Bleach adds. “Capsule Records isn’t just a vinyl store – it is a destination for vinyl lovers and for everyone who wants to expand their musical horizons.”
The striking interior design for Capsule Records was by Crispin Williams at Engaging Interiors.