That meters been in the catalog for like 20 years, literally. Maybe the tooling got broke, they wanted to update the look, the feel, the packaging, who knows. I'm sure the new one will function much as the old one did. It is the best bargain in audio, and I am amazed that guys with expensive home theaters "calibrate" by ear. To me, it's like driving a car with no speedometer or going on a diet with no scale (well sort of).
For a slightly better more precise and more expensive SPL meter, check the Checkmates:
Checkmate
