$100,000 line stage

Dave (dicockrum),
+1 yours is a wise observation.  Why be concerned regarding what another person chooses to do with their own money? Each and everyone of us has our own individual budget limit for a variety of diverse reasons. To each their own is a good philosophical stance IMO. 
Charles 

I'm not concerned with others. I was shopping preamp reviews and came across the one in initial post. I was taken back by the price for a preamp which is technically a simple configuration. Thats all. No envy or concern on my end. If one found a Billion dollar car for sale somewhere, many would post the same on another forum. If I had the money, I would probably buy such things myself (I am a sucker for high priced cameras and vehicles currently).

For  that price, Audio Note should have put the electronics in a nice case. It looks like a unit with a retail cost of $2k! Doesn't appear to have fancy feet either. For the price, it should have the BEST Stillpoints or equivalent.

There is a thread about what a case makes up in the cost equation of gear. This unit looks cheap, relatively speaking. Big FAIL!

There's  nothing wrong with buying gear at this level, I just think a manufacturer would also make a product that "looks" the part, along with performing at the highest level.

I suppose, if you're at this level of decadence, you just don't care if you're not getting everything (including appearance) in a product?

For me, the only interesting aspects of reading about these uber gear, be it electronics, cars, yachts, etc., is to learn about the technology and the workmanship used in creating these objects of desire. And in some cases, they are truly works of art. Was just reading about the Aston Martin Valkyrie super car priced at $3.5M and the entire production run is already sold out even before the first one made. Calling folks who appreciate the best of the best suckers is a disservice and a sign of ignorance.

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.