On its way to Switzerland, the shipment's tracking # showed that Greek customs in Athens had performed a physical inspection to cause a 3-day delay. Then the shipment froze again in Zürich customs. This time it was for lack of a proper commercial invoice. Konstantinos had declared a zero value since these were commercial samples not for sale. They would be returned to Greece in due time. What Konstantinos didn't know is that formal returns require temporary importation papers called a carnet before customs will waive these fees. Only a carnet creates a contractual tracking mechanism to document that the shipment left again after a predetermined time; or to enable customs to collect the relevant tariff retroactively if it doesn't. Just writing "zero value" on a big heavy crate whist adding serial numbers and "to be returned to sender" won't do. It'd be a pure honour system and thus open invitation to smugglers anywhere. But Konstantinos was very upset. "I have to declare a price and pay customs based on that? To me that's insane. I must pay tax for something that won't be sold and which is going to be sent back to me? There is no logic other than to steal my money." But he did submit a different invoice which Zürich customs accepted. Once I saw how big his crate was, I understood their prior refusal.

Popping its thin top cover by removing six screws, the amp revealed a rear panel that wasn't secured in its middle neither on the bottom or top. For as heavy a deck as this, that seemed a mechanical weakness. As these photos show, the innards are a bit of a spaghetti salad.