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I find myself appreciating more and more the way perfectionist audio—a peculiar mix of art, craft, and engineering—tends to attract idealists. Temperamentally, hi-fi people tend to be unlike people involved in the manufacture of ring-joint gaskets or digital kitchen timers—activities that, without a doubt, have their own scales of excellence. But those who labor at hi-fi believe in the possibility of creating a musical experience that can change your life—or at least beautify it in matterful ways—and are willing to invest nontrivial amounts of time and money on this conviction. I confess I…
One of my favorite things about this pastime is the modesty of its aims. Despite the sometimes-astronomical sums spent on gear, and the small handful of drama queens who populate various corners of this hobby, all we're doing is trying to enjoy recorded music at home. No one here is reversing planetary warming or solving the Riemann hypothesis. The sole purpose of the pursuit we write about in these pages is to please, enlighten, and entertain. I like that about it.
This means that aesthetics matter. During a recent trip to Japan, I found myself marveling at the many vintage audio…