Recording Quality and Different Studios

Music Direct and Acoustic Sounds are direct competitors, each with a associated record company wholly owned by the company or its principal. Music Direct  (principal-Jim Davis) owns Mobile Fidelity and its assets including mastering chain.
Chad Kassem owns Acoustic Sounds as well as Analogue Productions/Quality Record Pressing and is making an all out assault to be engaged in every aspect of record production from mastering to pressing the biscuits to printing the record jackets to selling the final product.
There are also Soundstagedirect, Elusive Disc and others. For getting my records delivered without bends, folds, dents, etc--Acoustic Sounds and Soundstagedirect are the best.
They all compete so when one has a holiday sale, the others often follow.  

martinman
As much as I like the staff at Music Direct, I have never understood the company's stubborn refusal to properly pack vinyl for shipping. Acoustic Sounds creates that cardboard slope at each end of the vinyl cardboard package which absorb corner dents that ALWAYS happen in shipping, Soundstagedirect has internal cardboard bumpers that do so as well. I don't recall the last time I received a album jacket that was damaged anywhere based on the great packaging by both of the above.
Music Direct's packing, with its hard 90 degree corners near the corner of the album jacket practically exacerbate the corner crushes that occur in shipping and often crush at least one corner of the album or albums within. I realize it's not the end of the world but why should I bother with them when I can get a clean new album from another co. By the way, I have alerted MD to the problem a few times over the years but to no avail. So I rarely buy from them anymore. Am I alone?