Sovereign Turntable: David Price and Mike Evans say “It’s Like Having a New Album”

Reviews, Turntables, Tonearms, Sound Quality
Sovereign-S Agile best turntable on sale 2023

Sovereign Turntable: ‘It’s Like Having a New Album‘
Listening to the Sovereign Turntable, two seasoned audiophiles, David Price & Mike Evans (who have heard countless high-end turntables), agree: “It’s like hearing a track for the first time”. When such high praise comes from a long-standing editor, and long-time retailer alike, you know they’re talking about a truly special product.
The effect isn’t just limited to our super high-end decks either, and many customers echo the same sentiments about the breathtaking performances of Turntables and arms much lower in our range.
When I read equipment reviews, I usually like to know a little about who is conducting the review because it helps to know a specific reviewers’ tastes and whether they are trustworthy. For those of you who may not know David Price, it may help to say that he is one of the most respected Hi-Fi reviewers in the industry. Currently the editor-in-chief of Stereonet, he has also been the editor of Hi-Fi World for a decade. He conducted many of the group comparison tests in Hi-Fi Choice for years and, to this day, is a regular contributor to both Hi-Fi Choice and News. Mike Evans has experience retailing Hi-Fi and contributing to Stereonet UK.
Recently, David and Mike have been sitting down to discuss all things audio on Hi-Fi Riff, which is a YouTube channel run by the pair. In one of their recent episodes, they extolled the virtues of the Sovereign-S Turntable and Agile Tonearm. Listen to their thoughts on Origin Live, founder Mark Baker, and most importantly, experiencing vinyl playback like never before.
 
Video Below:
Watch David Price and Mike Evans of Hi-Fi Riff on the Sovereign-S & Agile
 

Transcript Highlights:

Mike Evans on hearing Synchronicity on the Sovereign:

“We’ve been listening to Synchronicity by The Police. Now, I’ve always thought that album’s not particularly well recorded. I don’t play it very often for that reason. As much as I quite like the music, it doesn’t really do it for me. But wow I mean, I’ve just heard it for the first time. And that’s kind of what this sort of system can do. And I’m really, I’m still quite blown away by the separation between the instruments, the level of detail. The way I can now understand what the producer was trying to do in the studio. It’s like having a new Album!”

David Price on Dual, Rega & Linn vs the Sovereign, and how it compares to the Technics SL-1000R:

“We’d have both got that Police album Synchronicity and we’re playing it on our Dual CS505 or whatever that we had; Rega Planar 3, and you think well you know that’s pretty good, sounds nice but it’s not amazing. And then you upgrade to a Linn and then you think well uh it’s kind of better. But it’s much less better than I expected and maybe it’s not such a good album after all in terms of recording. And then you get to something like this. Which is, you know, a very expensive high-end arm and cartridge and turntable, and then suddenly it just unpeels, doesn’t it, it just opens up. The overall result is that you get incredibly detailed sound, but it’s not a detailed sound in a kind of forensic way or a kind of Hi-Fi way; it’s very organic.”

“The Technics SL-1000R is about the same money. It’s 18 Grand and it’s an amazing turntable. It weighs about 60 kilograms. When we tested it for Hi-Fi News three or four years ago it was the best measuring turntable Paul Miller had ever measured. Incredible speed stability, really architectural sound, loads of detail Etc. But I think the Technics is slightly less musical, it’s less kind of natural and organic sounding. They’re both fantastic decks you know it’s kind of Ferrari or Lamborghini, and you know we’ve talked about this quite often. If you get the opportunity to, you know compare these products. If you’re in that market I think you have to try to do that. It’s been an absolute privilege being able to listen to this lovely turntable, tonearm and cartridge set up through your system here with the Kerr Acoustics. That’s been brilliant, but if you are in this market then you’ve got a short list this turntable.”

Ok we’ll say it: The Sovereign is probably the best turntable in the world at this price (and often at much higher prices too).

Interestingly, this isn’t the first comparison we’ve heard between the Sovereign and the SL-1000R. A few of our customers have had the chance to compare the two, both reporting a ‘clinical’ sound from the Technics, and deciding to opt for the Sovereign turntable after hearing its separated, open performance, and that natural, organic sound that David and Mike rave about in their discussion on the turntable.