In the audiophile world it's easy to lose sight of the market area that is populated by hard working folk who are not multi millionaires.. To these 'ordinary folk' there are many factors to consider when choosing equipment, having backed the smaller producers and spent tens of thousands on products that have given me nothing but grief I personally wish I had thought more like Sal when choosing what to spend my money on.
For most customers looking to spend serious money on audio equipment things like reliability and resale value are not considerations. Talking to the designer and reading glowing reviews are more what they are intrested in, given the subsequent affirmation that affords them they fall in love with the products and champion them at every chance.
These 'new' brands become like little cults, beyond any criticism and seem to survive in the frankly bizarre world that is consumer audio. It's bizarre because I know of no other industry that gets away with charging so much for so little, seems to give no consideration to the kind of values one would normally expect.
I'm a working man, I work manually on a building site and while you may well be great, making great reliable products I can't help but think spending £10k on a amp from a brand with no real historical value is for me a risk not worth taking. Iv been down that road and it cost me years of savings..
