Greg, New Zealand is not a great place for high-end audio, except for perhaps the choice of good locally made amplifiers (of which Plinius is just one, and they are much cheaper here). The market is too small due to the small population and low incomes. This means it is hard to get to try stuff, the service is usually very poor, if it breaks down you are lucky to get it fixed within six months, selling second-hand means taking huge losses etc. Hence the internet has been a great benefit. I am lucky because I get to travel on business, but I have had to buy a lot of stuff speculatively because it is not practical to try it first. For example, I currently have a Sonic Frontiers Line One and a Meridian 500/566 combo for sale - they will probably take about six months to sell and the price will be well below what they would sell for in the US. But despite all of this there are many of us that adjust for all of these problems and pursue this crazy hobby anyway. I am about to move to Fiji to live for a few years, where audiophiles are an even more endangered species. Certainly there are NO high-end dealers in Fiji whatsoever.