About Expressive Audio
Expressive Audio is a family-run business, established in 2017 on the South Coast of England. In 2021 we moved our base of operations to Lincolnshire, but retain a presence in Hampshire. We love music and cinema, and we are passionate about helping people to get the most out of their record, CD, streaming, and movie collections. Our aim is to allow you to get as close as possible to the experience of live entertainment, from the comfort of your own home. Whether you prefer analogue or digital, have a large budget or small, and want new, used, or a mix, we're here to meet all your audio, visual, and home automation needs.
Meet the Team
John Nelson - General Manager
John is an industry legend, having worked across the South of England for more than 20 years for Audio-T, and been on the staff of the Bristol Show since 2001. He's an expert in all matters HiFi, and is highly experienced in Dirac calibration and home cinema design and installation. He lives in Skegness with his partner and children, loves Xbox, and Manchester United. His favourite genre of music is modern country, and his home system is Arcam, Chord Company, and Monitor Audio.
Stephen Nelson-Smith - Founder
Founding partner Stephen Nelson-Smith has nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, initially with Audio-T, and then at The Cornflake Shop, then London's ultimate HiFi and multiroom consultancy, where he specialised in complex custom install design and wrote and installed software solutions for early digital streaming platforms. Stephen is our resident turntable and valve expert. He lives in Hampshire, loves table tennis, stamp collecting, and chess. His favourite genre is string quartets and lieder, and his personal system is the Chord Electronics Qutest, Ming Da Dynasty Cavatina Scatola, Van Den Hul cables, and Totem Forrest Signature loudspeakers.
Helena Nelson-Smith - Founder
Helena is co-founder and managing director of Expressive Audio, looking after the company finance and business strategy. She is passionate about music, both performing and listening.
She loves musical theatre and opera, and sings in the Portsmouth Grammar School Community choir. She loves dinosaurs, psychology, and all forms of learning. Her personal system is Blue Aura and AVI.
Web & Marketing Team
Corin Nelson-Smith
Corin has worked part time for Expressive Audio since its formation, and takes care of all matters web-related, from ensuring stock is up-to-date, to keeping on top of our blogs.
An accomplished multi-instrumentalist and musicologist, he has an excellent ear, and has listened carefully to and compared countless combinations of systems.
Besides music, his main passion is sailing and outdoor pursuits in Hampshire and Sussex. His favourite genre of music is folk. He prefers listening to music via headphones, using the Grado SR325x, and the Chord Electronics Mojo 2, but also enjoys the home system of Primare and Dali Oberon 7s.
Saskia Egeland-Jensen
Saskia joined the team in 2020, and oversees our social media channels (find us on Facebook,