How could it be any good?

Got a note from a reader concerning the new power amplifier I wrote about here. "Your new amp is going to sell for seven thousand and you write the goal is to make the best in the world. Really? How could it be any good at that price?" I was pretty shocked to read that. I am not sure what to write back. Do we still equate price and performance even when we're talking thousands of dollars? It's true the new amp is less than some. I've seen amps reaching into the many thens of thousands of dollars. It is also true it's significantly higher than many. Does price give products permission to lay claim to greatness? I am sure we'd all like to think we're above this and rely strictly on performance. But I fear we may be kidding ourselves. This whole subject confuses and confounds me. At my age I don't want to make products that compete within a category. We've done that for years. "Best in class." Boring. Time's too short. I want to make products that actually are the best. I wonder if within our culture the idea of price vs. performance isn't so ingrained as to be immovable? What do you think?