Bob,
I don't think there was a redesign or anything, just a pricing increase, which has been happeing about every 2 years on the AVETs.
When I bought my AVET MX, left handed, the price was the same as the standard reel.
Check out Charkbait.com, specifically, their left handed selection @
Avet Reels from CharkBait!
I'll be picking up another SX this year as well, for the wife (likely in the purple series), as I use an SX for fluke/blackfish/striper fishing, and it is the best reel I have ever had for that purpose.
There really isn't any discount market for AVETs, that I have ever seen.