Wow. I had no idea that booth space was that pricey.

I recall most of the high-end oriented print publications (i.e., Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, etc.) scope out CES for hot, new products. This can help put a bit of a fire in the bellies of potential consumers and build some momentum for a new product launch. If the new pre/pros had been ready in time for the show next week, maybe, just maybe, a showing would have paid some dividends early on that would make up for the booth fees (?)