Never come between a man and his beloved sound system | Rick Jackson

In one heavy box were my former ‘pride and joy’ speakers. For aficionados, B&W DM610s I bought new in 1992.

They cost more than £400 back then and were no mean investment as at the time I was only earning £100 a week as a coach painter.

They sounded glorious and stayed with me until I moved in with a girl!

Big speakers aren’t generally the done thing, but I did manage to find space for them and my beautiful-sounding Cambridge amplifier and Denon CD player.

Pride of place went to my turntable, a Technics SL1210, the stalwart of the club DJ, married to the Ortofon OM Pro stylus. See, serious stuff! Hope you’re paying close attention...

Sadly things went wrong when my best mate asked me to be his best man in 2003 and I decided to do a special radio report as part of my speech.

The amp and speakers were set up in the main banqueting room in the New Place Hotel at Shedfield and as I introduced the piece to guests, I cranked up the volume.

Before too long, a strong smell of burning was being emitted from the amplifier.

My fear was that something was going to go bang before the end of the piece.

But, thankfully, it didn’t.

Sadly, the amp was ruined and so the speakers and the rest of my beloved sound system went into boxes and I thought they would never see the light of day again… until this week.

Considering they had been in a box in the garage ever since, they sounded absolutely glorious as my father-in-law brought them back to life.

Now I want to reunite them with a new amp and my old turntable.

‘We have no room for it all,’ groans Sarah.

I’ve suggested the bay window.

This might take a while!​​​​​​​

SAM FENDER – WHAT A GREAT CHOICE FOR VICTORIOUS FESTIVAL

The song We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Disney’s computer-animated movie Encanto has finally fallen from the top of the charts.

Unlike the old days this also includes downloads and I’m sure my kids have had something to do with that!

Another song performing superbly is Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under from the album of the same name. This song has been in the Top 10 for more than 20 weeks now, but never reached No1 and only peaked at No3, but is showing it’s appeal with its longevity in the upper reaches of the charts.

What’s more, it’s proves what a result the organisers of Victorious Festival have had getting Sam to be the Sunday night headliner.

FICKLE FINGER OF FORTUNE THAT RULES ALL FOOTBALL FANS’ LIVES

I’m sure I’m not the only Pompey fan thinking it wasn’t happening for the Cowley brothers at Fratton Park.

After a strong start the side looked hopeless at times until February, but something clicked. What a run we’d been on. Nine games undefeated until Plymouth on Tuesday. Can we afford to dream?

My only worry is losing the momentum next season and I’m not a fan of taking players on loan. How can you build on a team and its spirit if an important part of that team leaves to return to their parent club and, dare I say, go out on loan somewhere else soon after?

But now we look great. In January I heard ‘Cowley Out’. Now it’s ‘Cowley for England’. Aren’t we fickle!​​​​​​​

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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