I don't think accommodation pricing is the issue with the Lexicon/Oppo player "controversy". With that price, which is not anywhere near "free", usually comes a prohibition against reselling the item. Reviewers only have so much space for gear, just like us all, and they buy the stuff they lust after, just like us all. They don't have garages full of unused gear, and most stuff goes back to the manufacturer, in the end.
And, because it's their profession, they spend far more on gear, with their own money, discount or no discount, than most of their readers do. You can't be a reviewer if you don't care about hifi, and every one was once a lowly retail-paying consumer at some point in their lives.
I would be more concerned to learn of an association, like a contract to promote a company's wares in general, than to learn the reviewer bought something, at a discount or not. Just like us all, if a reviewer buys something, it's because he thinks it offers value.
Reviewers are no different than the rest of us, in that we all need to see value in a product before we pull out the wallet, discount or no discount. Compared to ordinary consumers, with a reviewer the bar would probably be even higher; they have better stuff than me.
As good as the Oppo/Lexicon is performance-wise, there's a good chance an established reviewer already owns something that's equal or better, or that they prefer for one reason or another.
If not, then they buy the unit and there's the new bar set. They won't then be buying every Blu-Ray player that someone sends to consider for review.
To get someone who is intimately familiar with the products offered in the market to pay out of his pocket, regardless of the discount, is a form of endorsement, not payola.
Nor is the audio press amongst the worst of the bunch; computer reviewers generally get to keep all software and most inexpensive hardware, at no cost whatsoever, and with no limits on reselling the loot. As do a number of other online reviewers. There is a current IRS investigation on the practice; and they're not going after serious audio magazines; they're not the problem and the IRS knows it.
I think there are plenty of issues regarding the Oppo/Lexicon topic without worrying about whether someone got a discount, the same discount he, and any reviewer, can get from any other product for personal use only. That's a level playing field.
