Nov 16, 2012 at 1:21 PM | Rock Square News | By Chris Stamm

Two weeks ago, Rock Square announced the lucky winner of our October Turntable Giveaway, the month-long contest that found both new Rock Square Community members and veteran Community habitués vying for the chance to win a brand new Rega RP1 Turntable. The machine in question retails for $445, so yeah, we’re talking top-notch equipment here.

Entering was easy: new members only needed to register with the Rock Square Community, while existing members were able to enter on our Facebook page.

And if you clicked either of those links in that last paragraph, you’ll see we’re revisiting our September contest and once again giving away an Epiphone SG Special. Use those links to enter and we’ll randomly select a winner by the time December rolls around.

But we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here.

Like last month, when we got to know Mark DelMedico, the winner of our September Guitar Giveaway, Rock Square set aside some time to chat with our Turntable winner, Stephan Vermette, to find out a little bit about his musical projects and listening habits. Stephan hails from Ottawa, Ontario, where he plays keyboards in a Christian rock band called Subject2Change as well as an “electronic/progressive/synth” side project called Verm Project.

Stephan’s journey into the heart of rock 'n' roll began at an early age, mostly due to the fact that Stephan had an older brother who was keen on filling his little bro’s head with top-notch tunes.

“Because my brother was nine years older than me, he was into better music than me,” Stephan explains. “And so his musical tastes rubbed off on me. I knew The Beatles, Queen, Heart, Pink Floyd [and] The Eagles long before many of my friends did.”

Stephan was a quick study, and craved a vinyl fix from a very early age. “I remember at the age of six or so, begging my parents to buy me Crime of the Century by Supertramp on LP! I still have that vinyl today, although it's in deplorable shape, after being abused and played on my childhood record player.”

Like so many music fans, Stephan soon discovered the value of well-cared-for records and quality stereo equipment.

“As I grew older, every time I heard familiar music on better and better equipment, I knew something was better, but could never put my finger on it,” he says. “That’s the magic I’ve always found with hi-fi. You can hear when it's bad, but you can feel when it's good!”

Stephan currently chases that feeling with a stereo set-up that includes a Technics SL-BD20 “pumped through a BTech BT26 phono preamp, and then into a Denon DRA-295 receiver.”

This is obviously a guy who pays attention to the finer points of music appreciation, so we were really curious to find out whether our winner’s new Rega RP1 would pass muster. Stephan was generous enough to share in his inaugural Rega voyage, which we can promise is an essential viewing for fellow music fans, who like to dig into and geek out on technical specs. Check out his MySquare profile to view his unpacking journey and make sure to connect with him here!

Stephan went the extra mile with his unboxing/demo video, going so far as to offer a rundown of the albums vying for the first crack at the new Rega. We won’t spoil the big reveal, but here’s the first half of Stephan’s ranked list:

8. Godspeed You Black Emperor, Yanqui UXO

7. Scarlet Rivera, Self-titled

6. Moody Blues, Greatest Hits

5. Jean-Michel Jarre, Revolution

Watch the video below for the rest of Stephan’s countdown and listen with him as he breaks in his brand new Rega with his number one pick. Okay, here’s a spoiler: the Rega sounds awesome.

Congratulations Steven and thank you for sharing your unpacking experience with Rock Square!

As for the rest of you, don’t forget to check out our November Guitar Giveaway. Who knows--we might be interviewing you next month!

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