Regarding pricing, the Liric is a baby Empyrean essentially with the same tech, plus it was built from the ground up in-house. All of this costs a lot, other companies can reduce costs by recycling the same chassis, drivers, etc which isn't happening here. Despite this, the Liric is half the price.
This means these features will become cheaper in subsequent releases. As we've seen from others like 64 Audio and their tia tech, these innovations become cheaper over time and cost-savings compound with reduced cost of chassis and driver design after their initial inception. Sure, I wish it was cheaper, but one day it will be. Until then, innovation is good and there will always be those who can afford and will enjoy it.
As for reviewers advertising, I wish this generated some form of income but you can ask any reviewer, this is not a viable source of income even if you were to resell the samples - a lot of companies are now marking review units physically to dissuade from this practice. Unless you're generating huge views on Youtube and are amassing sponsorships accordingly, you won't be in the green.
No company has ever offered to pay for a review nor would I accept it. It is a huge investment of time and as a dental student, this is not something I have readily available - I cannot imagine how difficult it is to balance for those with full-time jobs and a family too. I just enjoy audio, writing, photography and meeting new people with like interests.
I am nothing but grateful for the opportunities manufacturers afford reviewers and also for the reviewers who take the time to write impressions on gear when I am looking to purchase as a paying customer. I will always be thankful to those that value my opinion enough to read through some lengthy word salad