Replacing a turntable stylus can work magic  An upgrade to my
turntable stylus rendered previously unplayable records
miraculously well again.  Arthur C. Clarke is credited with
saying that any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic, but when it comes to music, the
older gear is more miraculous--and mysterious--to me. MP3
players are just special-purpose hard drives or memory sticks,
Pandora and other online radio services are just twists on the
streaming audio sites that first emerged in the early Web days,
and every online tool for musicians simply takes an old task--
recording, CD manufacturing, distribution--and moves it to the
Web, gaining various efficiencies along the way. Even digital
audio workstations like ProTools and Cubase are somewhat
intuitive to a longtime computer user.  It's a miracle: the
Goldring 1022GX.  But a turntable involves actual mechanical and
electrical engineering, and, despite being a longtime vinyl
buff, I find the technology remains an absolute mystery