Law of Accelerating Returns

I've always thought of this phenomenon in abstract terms as an example of Xeno's Dichotomy paradox. As one approaches the (unattainable) goal of the Absolute sound, progress is experienced not as the distance travelled from the point of origin, but rather as a closing of the gap that remains. If one's system is 90% of what it can be, then a 5% progress to 95% is perceived as a 50% improvement-- closing the remaining gap by half. At 95% of goal, progress to 96% of goal is perceived as a 20% improvement in performance. This is why relatively small incremental improvements can be meaningful.

If you use live acoustic music as a reference point for 100% then it becomes reasonable to assign a percentage to mark progress toward that goal. It's admittedly a subjective measure. Percentages as a way to describe improvement have been common vernacular between audiophiles for a long time. Percentages are typically used to describe progress from the origin. But that approach doesn't account for the eye-popping improvement("accelerating returns") that is sometimes reported after making a small tweak near the finish line. The Zeno paradox is a thought experiment that helps account for this.