I've never seen Clarion sell their top of the line CD head for over $1K.

Those headunits are fine for a company that has other products to sell and is in the car audio industry. They can easily tool for different units, unlike SB. And considering the markup for those car audio companies (multiple hundred percent, perhaps thousand for some products), they can sell only the handful to break even. Or lose money on them if only to promote their brand.

People who are "in-to" car audio enough to spend $8K on a head unit do not keep the consumer electronics companies running (not with their purchases anyway).

Do you have any links to this $8K Sony head by the way? I want to have a laugh at what someone thought was a good buy.

Bruno