Schiit Freya + Class A in Stereophile

Component of its kind extends to the dollar sign icon you mentioned. 
Yes, price is part of the definition. The least musical compromise for the $. 

Stereophile is very precise about explaining their process but nowhere do they mention that price is a consideration, you are making assumptions that don't exist. 

I remember a Freya thread where a Freya owner also bought a Don Dachs Model 2 preamp and admitted that it was, in fact, a better preamp. He got a lot of grief for that... even though he praised the Freya’s performance. The most outspoken criticism came from someone who never owned or heard the Don Sachs preamp.

The short of it is that, after a certain point, they all sound pretty good...but you really gotta hear the components for yourselves.

 its' pretty impressive that a 1000 preamp is put in the same category as 50K and up.  I can't really believe that the Freya + is that good. 

I can.  Knowledge is power.

This is, however, not a comment about the merits or otherwise of Stereophile.

Stereophile also put the Exposure 2010S integrated in Class A. I own one and I‘m an Exposure fanboy, and it‘s a POS.

The musical fidelity v90 dac was reviewed in Stereophile and was placed in the class A category as well. It is $299! I own 2 , one as a back up as it is now unavailable.  I think it is an Outstanding product.