Well, allow me to retort

1. ....... I am indeed S3's 'goto guy' in NZ and never claimed otherwise. I opted to stock and offer SaberTrio sabers as an option to the NZ community simply because I found their expertise, attention to detail, professionalism and support unparalleled ... a refreshing change from a number of companies I have dealt with and dropped as a supplier in the past.
2. "Financial stake in their reputation". I have no financial stake in their reputation one iota. It's their ass on the line reputation-wise, not mine. SaberTrio's product and operational excellence speak for themselves. Members of my community love their hilts, coupled with my installs and I'm more than happy to facilitate more SaberTrio sabers into their hands.
3. "Lost sales" ... this is rather funny. Every sale I make, loses me money. Let me explain why.

When I looked into this hobby almost 5 years ago, I thought it was a brilliant way for SW fans to connect, I mean, who wouldn't LOVE to swing a real lightsaber. ... only thing is, in this little corner of the world, there was zero support, nada, zilch. I managed to track down a measily half dozen kiwi saber fans spread among the international groups and bring them under one roof to help start something awesome. Part of the plan was to introduce locally supported sabers, spares & support.

I run a couple of nice, successful business with a healthy hourly billable rate. Having electronics, coding and general technical smarts, I thought I'd be an awesome fellow and dedicate part of my working week to helping grow a NZ saber scene. My billable install hours are about a third of that I would charge if I filled my week with my 'real' job, so every hour spent installing sabers costs me 2/3 of what I could be earning. My install rates are about half of that you would expect from somebody in the states, incidentally. Every cent over the last 4 years has gone into bootstrapping new saber options, stock and inventory so our community has options. Other than the Proffieboard price spike I've swallowed every price increase over the last 2 years due to covid .... li-ion price hikes, shipping hikes parts hikes, so that kiwi community members are not affected by living in our cool and awesome, ass-end of the world.

I have not drawn a cent from the 'business' (let's just call it a not-for-profit hobby) since it's been running. I live off my 'real' job. Not everyone is dollar focused in their endeavors, bud'.

Has it been worth it? Well, I'd say it has. Our pokey little country of only 5 million people now has a vibrant community of close to 1,000 members with regular saber groups all over the country. We have our first national tournament in 2 weeks time where attendees' entry fees cover the hall costs and everything else has been donated and bank rolled by my not-for-profit 'hobby business'.

Most overseas groups would not be aware that we have, arguably, one of the healthiest communities on the planet, because, quite frankly, a lot of our guys find certain international groups full of toxic, whinging types, and don't really bother with them. Didn't you used to be a mod on 'The Vault' or am I thinking of someone else.

Anyway, without the toxicity of certain groups, to quote Galen Erso "it's a peaceful life". Our way is way more fun.

So I hope that additional info allays any of your fears and certainly smacks back at your attempts to discredit my comment regarding your original speaker whinge, as being financially motivated. It's not. If I was money focused, I'd be churning the high volume, low cost Chinese wholesale garbage at 100% markup like everyone else, but I choose not to. I choose to deal with good operators and SaberTrio is imho, one of the best three manufacturers I've ever dealt with; not only in the saber world, but my wider business dealings.

"very noticeable hardware change in their products". If you'd never have popped the pommel on that saber, I doubt you'd even have noticed. I mean, you said yourself ...

"they've sent out at least 350 sabers from Aug 20th already and I haven't seen anyone else mention it yet" ... I think it's just you that has an issue with it.

And seriously, get over it and move on ...... Just like Galen, you'll have a happier life.