Thank you Mateored, lets keep politics in this audio forum! Obama was handed an impossible mess to clean up. It hasn't been easy, and it sure ain't pretty. My full time brick and morter business grossed $54.00 this week but I am not blaming Obama for the implosion caused by decades of misguided policies. If he had not done what he did since taking office, our country would be in a much worse state than you could ever imagine. As for Martin logan, they will go the way of Manley labs who also raised prices recently. In the end, the consumer will decide FOR them whether this was a good move or not. I suspect the panel prices were artificially low as a good will gesture to their customers since panel replacement sadly seems to be an inevitable need with their electrostatics. They may have never made much money on them.