Agreed, I ordered the Decware and will be comparing it shortly to a Whest PS .20 and Hagerman Trumpet, both list priced at $1000 over the Decware, but available used within your budget in the case of the Hagerman. A lot of people like the EAR as well, which I believe is also just under $1500 new. However the MC gain was too high for me (72db).