I find these shootout/comparison videos useful to demonstrate the subtle differences that changing little things on your drums can make. Here is one from Michael Dawson of "Modern Drummer" demonstrating the difference between die-cast and triple flanged hoops on a snare drum with same heads and tuning.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who may be interested.
If you were forwarded this and would like your own copies, visit http://drumlessonsinla.com/bulletin