Wealthy mega-yacht owners who are into audio may think nothing of dropping that amount of money on the BAT preamp. Hey, get a couple for the kids! The problem arises when a rabid audiophool get sucked in buys this and his wife & kids go hungry. As for the BAT, well, it's just batty. No need for a small signal preamp to cost that much, even if it has a gold plated toilet paper holder mounted on its side.