I bought an A5 for $120 during their sale a little over a year ago. I like the rod and it is definitely worth the money I spent. I don't, however, think it is worth anywhere near the $550 they are currently asking, even with the improvements they added to the "NS" version. As has been stated, they seem to have "once-a-year" sales every couple of months so if you want one, hold out for a while. If you have $550 to burn, in my mind there are much better options out there and if you want to keep it sub $200 this certainly isn't the only really good rod in that pricepoint either so look around a little if you're heart's not set on the Albright.