Exactly the sound I needed
Maurice
Maurice Heuveling loves sharing his passion for high-quality audio with others: He even set up the MarantzForum to do so. “It’s fantastic how in the course of time that has developed into a meeting place where fans come together. I’ve seen true friendships born there.”
Maurice became interested in music at an early age. “As a six-year-old, I remember holding cassette tapes in front of the radio, ready to record my favourite songs,” he recalls. “I could spend afternoons on end listening to those recordings.” He did so on a makeshift audio system, because he was the only one in the family with music as a hobby. “Once I turned 19, I had the resources to buy a decent audio set. First priority was to decide on the right speakers, and then set out on the difficult journey to find the right amplifier.”
Warm sound
Maurice was moved by the Marantz sound. An audiophile cousin helped him to take the decision. “He had a Marantz PM95. That turned out to be precisely the sound I needed. So when he tipped me that a HiFi store had exactly what I wanted for the right price, I bought it.” That was almost 20 years ago, although Maurice remembers the amplifier’s warm vibe as if it as if it were yesterday. “I like a rich sound and the amplifier added that little bit extra. In those days, I listened a lot to singer-songwriters. Marantz made their music even more special.”
Broad musical taste
Although Maurice tends to let particular genres prevail in certain periods, he does not let this restrict him in any way. “My musical taste has always been pretty broad, because I heard a little bit of everything on the radio. In the course of time, I’ve been into prog metal, experimental jazz, classical music, house, rap and singer-songwriter. Actually, when I’m playing music, there’s only one rule: I choose what most appeals to me at that moment.” He is not somebody who thinks that life used to be so much better – only perhaps that the musical offering on radio was much more diverse. “These days, you tend to hear overproduced, unemotional pop music on many channels, but a lot of good music is still being composed. You just need to search for it a bit harder.”
Stereo man
Maurice sees himself as a stereo man. “But I tend to take a more balanced point of view when audiophiles tell me there’s nothing better than stereo,” he says laughing. “It comes down to what you feel like at that moment. Surround and stereo both have their end-goal and advantages. Surround brings a live concert recording to life – literally. But because music is the main meal for me, I choose the best possible stereo sound I can find.”
Analog audio
Ease-of-use takes centre stage in this process. “There’s a lot to be said for LPs and CDs, but streaming sometimes simply comes in handy. If I’m on my laptop, or moving around at home with headphones, I like to use Spotify or I stream from my NAS,” says Maurice. “But if I have the time for it, I still enjoy popping an LP on the record player. For me, it’s the overall experience: The record sleeves with the full-size visuals and the lyrics on the back, the analog audio. I occasionally do a test with friends by playing the same album first on CD and then as an LP. Everybody thinks the LP sounds the best, but thought it was the CD,” he says, laughing again.
Self-made speakers
Maurice takes all the time he needs to find value for money. Building his own speakers to save money comes naturally to him. “Some people make it more complicated than it is, because there are plenty of ready-to-go prefab kits on the market. There are even a number of specialist stores in the Netherlands. When I read about a do-it-yourself package based on the same construction as a top-of-the-bill speaker, I drove over to the dealer. I thought the audio was so good that I decided to build the speakers myself. The sound they produce is fantastic.”
Connecting people
Marantz connects people – the forum that Maurice created together with his cousin is living proof of this. “I have heard stories from people who now celebrate New Year’s Eve together with all the family. “And that can make me emotional,” he says. “I’ve also gotten to know some really nice people. My boiler gave up the ghost during the extremely cold winter last year. A friend from the forum helped me to repair it via WhatsApp and on the phone. He even wanted to come by personally. A passion for audio opens a world of opportunity!”
That ‘Marantz moment’
“The most important thing for me is that the equipment you’re using simply fades away, so that only the audio remains,” says Maurice. “When I turned on the Marantz amplifier, I wasn’t listening to an audio system, but to the music. And that feeling makes my ‘Marantz moment.’
