chill, brother. one needn't be all-knowing to know that $500 for a used mass market record that was a best-seller for years and years and is in no way a rare item IS a very high price indeed.
one needn't be soaking in ressentiment (what Nietzsche famously called slave morality in THE GENEALOGY OF MORALS--a book crucial for fans of Steely Dan and meditators on the "royal scam" and such) to venture this opinion.
And of course to appreciate a $500 album one would presumably need a $20,000 system with a $4000+ cartridge, as Mr Port himself admits. So let's put all this in perspective, as this is a fun hobby that includes teachers, preachers, musicians, orthodontists, insurance adjusters, social workers, legal aid lawyers, and hedge fund managers.
I remember my local audiophile salon (where they sell $10K turntables and such) had plastic bottles of "ultra pure water" available in the glass case behind the counter. I asked the salesman about its worthy provenance in contrast to distilled water. He shrugged his shoulders, giggled conspiratorially, and noted that "like all hobbies, some customers do go over the deep end."
