“I always wanted to go somewhere which could be all about musical appreciation, to hear someone dig really deeply into their record collection and explore their private passions,” said Paul Noble, Spiritland’s artistic director. After two successful years with a pop-up venture at a restaurant in East London, his team found a permanent home and invested heavily in a customized system, designed by the British company Living Voice. It is valued at just under a half-million dollars.

“These speakers were built totally without compromise,” Mr. Noble said. “When you have equipment this good, it can deliver such high quality that it emotionally connects you to the music. We’re not afraid to say that listening to music is a very magical thing.”

That mystical philosophy echoes back to New York, where Mr. Mancuso obsessed over the hi-fi setup for his weekly Loft parties in the 1970s and ’80s. Purity was paramount: Mr. Mancuso stripped away mixing equipment used by many D.J.s, imagining that fewer cables and boxes would liberate the sound waves and, consequently, his guests on the dance floor.

Tim Lawrence, the author of books including “Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979,” explained: “The D.J. didn’t mix or perform tricks on the equalizer. The D.J. divested themselves of their ego, stopped trying to interfere with the music, and they just chose really good tunes.” When Mr. Mancuso had the idea of taking his Loft concept to London in 2003, he called Mr. Lawrence — and the Lucky Cloud sound system was born.

Another Mancuso disciple to join the effort was Colleen Murphy, an American D.J. who regularly played at the Loft before moving to England, where she is now a familiar face behind the Lucky Cloud turntables. In 2010 she began Classic Album Sundays, turning one of her favorite social activities into a public gathering: Every month, people are invited to hear a culturally significant record on vinyl with luxury audio gear.