Do you really think the reviewer bought the review unit at 50% off retail? Mark-ups on some of these uber priced gear can be unbelievable. When I was importing Kondo gear (Audio Note Japan) and selling Ongaku amps they had a retail of $89,000. I sold them to customers for 24-26k depending on the value of the Yen and still made a profit! I bet the reviewer didn't pay more than 20k for the pre-amp.That may be accurate in this case. I'm not going to question any reviewer's ethics or practices since I do not know them personally or follow their work. I know some reviewers in major stereo rags purchase equipment as well.
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As someone who's been in and around the business for a long time, I don't think those numbers are accurate at all.
That bit of information, if true, would have hit the streets long ago.