Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Sergio Mendes Available Now
UPDATE 2026
The commentary you see below was written in 2005 or thereabouts. Some changes have been made and links to newer commentaries added.
Thoughts from 2005
I often read about the idea of “diminishing returns” regarding the piece of equipment under review in an audio magazine, as if to say that we are so close to audio perfection that a gain of a few percent is the most we can hope for from this or that new megabuck amp or speaker.
It has been my experience that precisely the opposite is true.
There are huge improvements to be made on a regular basis, even without spending all that much money (keeping in mind that this is not exactly a poor man’s hobby).
If you are actively involved in seeking out better equipment, trying new things, and tweaking the hell out of your system as much as time and patience permit, I think an improvement of 10-25% per year in perceived sound quality is not an unreasonable expectation.