The NAD 3020 integrated amp had a retail price of $175 when new. It's phono stage was quite good at the time and offered amazing details and dynamics for a small 20WPC amplifier. It sounded too good for its pricetag.
The Airtech MG-1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm. This Linear tracker costs a mere $699 and performs comparably well with tonearms costing 3X as much.
Denon DL103 Moving Coil cartridge. This forty year old design is still around for one simple reason. It's good--very good. I've found only subtle differences when compared side by side with cartridges costing $1500. For my opinion, the differences are not enough to justify the difference in pricetag.
The Airtech MG-1 Air Bearing Linear Tracking Tonearm. This Linear tracker costs a mere $699 and performs comparably well with tonearms costing 3X as much.
Denon DL103 Moving Coil cartridge. This forty year old design is still around for one simple reason. It's good--very good. I've found only subtle differences when compared side by side with cartridges costing $1500. For my opinion, the differences are not enough to justify the difference in pricetag.