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A very popular myth among the audio unwashed—and one still perpetuated by the pop hi-fi writers—is that nothing is to be gained by paying more than $1000 for a stereo system (footnote 1). Members of the general public, including masses of people who enjoy live, unamplified music, have the impression that more money simply buys one wider and wider frequency range, and defend their $500 "compact" systems with the lame excuse that their ears aren't all that good, and who needs to hear what bats hear anyway? This is no doubt a soothing emollient for one's disinclination to invest more money in audio gear, but it is a supreme self-deception.

When <I>Sound + Vision</I> splashed Tom Petty’s still remarkably vital mug across a recent cover it caught my attention. Inside, across 12 pages, they basically anointed his new record <I>Mojo</I>, as disc of the year. So Petty’s blues record, one that was a long time comin’, is the best album of 2010? No offense to Mike Mettler and Ken Richardson, both of whom I consider friends, but the whole thing seemed like a stretch to me.

Stereophile will be reporting live from the show starting July 30.

Will you be in or around Baltimore tomorrow night? Will you be in the mood for music, hi-fi, and wine? If so, this looks fun:

<a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/last_night_in_other_music/">L… night</a>, after leaving <a href="http://www.othermusic.com/">Other Music</a>, orange bag in my hand, I stopped in front of <a href="http://www.inlivingstereo.com/">In Living Stereo</a> and gazed dreamily at the window display: A pair of DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3s (just like home!), a Rega P3 (just like home!), and a…

On Friday, John Atkinson and I visited the lovely home of <a href="http://www.wircmedia.com/">WIRC Media</a>’s Micah Sheveloff, press representative for Thiel and Bryston.

Recent reviews in <I>Stereophile</I> have highlighted a wide variety of loudspeaker design approaches. What is your favorite speaker technology and why?