I had the opportunity to chat with Dave at SoundHifi and he informed me that audiotechnica have upped their wholesale prices by some 70%.

Yikes! I was considering an OC9-MLII at the old price but I took too much time to make up my mind.

On the other hand for those that don't mind going direct to a japanese source the AT33PTG and AT33EV can be had at US$369 and $549 respectively plus shipping. (look here ; http://www.audiocubes2.com/brand/Audio-Technica.html )

Do the sums and even if you have to pay import duty and VAT on top your going to get a great cartridge at an unbeatable price.

Can't wait to get my mitts on the the AT33PTG that I ordered.

cheers