@tomic601, I too am a customer of Randy’s (I bought an ARC LS-1 from him, which I still have. It has a mode switch!). His shop is a half-block off Pacific Coast Highway, overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean.
I accompanied Brooks Berdan to the Vegas CES in the 90’s-early 2000’s (my gawd did that man snore ;-), getting a glimpse into the High End business. Like all businesses, I suppose; some cool guys, some not so cool. Bill Johnson was an old-world gentleman, Richard Vandersteen and George Cardas hardcore audiophiles, Harvey Rosenberg, Max Townshend, and Tim deParacivini eccentrically brilliant.
I witnessed Brooks being squeezed by the sales manager of a certain loudspeaker company, forcing him to choose between selling that company’s models, or the similarly-priced (and imo superior) models of a competitor. I also witnessed Brooks’ wealthy customers buying "bragging rights" electronics instead of the more modestly-priced Music Reference products (which Brooks considered better designed, built, and sounding). Money talks!