I look at Bud's and I see Sphinx for $999 and CZ P09 for $471. I will assume that those prices are representative.
I did not say that P09 is on par with Sphinx when it comes to all the finites you mentioned. What I said is that according to most reviews albeit with more detailed craftmanship, Sphinx does not better CZ P09 where it really matters - reliability and accuracy.
For me it is like with 1911. There will be always market for the high end guns that give you a better feel but still don't do anything better. But that market will be always limited. With CZ not having such a large following in US as 1911 has, Sphinx is a risky bet for the manufacturer.
Early P07 was uses plastic that CZ stopped using on its guns and for a good reason. I don't think that it is a fair comparison given that the manufacturer itself considered it unsatisfactory product.
On the other hand, I was shooting new P09 yesterday and I must admit that it does feel cheap. I was thinking about getting one together with PDW conversion, but I am not so sure after yesterday. But that may be because I mainly shoot and carry CZ 75 Stainless with competition hammer (the other carry gun is CZ 75 Compact D, which is about the same weight as P09 but with its aluminum alloy frame simply feels as much more of a gun than the polymer).
I believe that your initial premise is flawed because you are attempting to apply subjective tastes, wants and performance differences as if they were universal truth. I think Walt's car analogy is spot on. In the right hands the difference in performance between two very good products can be revealed. That does not mean everyone needs to buy a Porsche over a Vet but to ignore or discount the differences seems wrong.
You are working under the assumption
For me it is like with 1911. There will be always market for the high end guns that give you a better feel but still don't do anything better. But that market will be always limited.
A truly bespoke 1911 is capable in the right hands of doing things that a RIA GI gun cannot. That is fact. For example Les Baer and other manufacturers can guarantee you a 1.5" group at 50 yards. That might not matter to you. You might not want to pay extra for that but to say that a gun capable of that group doesn't do anything better than a $400 RIA is not correct. Also the idea that a market is limited does not diminish the differences between one product or another. A limited market also does not diminish value or performance. There is a limited market for Ferrari 488s and it can certainly do things that a Honda Accord cannot. The limited market does not change the nature and performance of the 2 cars.
When you approach this subject with this as your foundational premise of course you come to the conclusion that the P07 is just as good as the SDP. Your reason is circular. Mine for justifying the SDP over the P07 is as well. We are working from different spheres of belief and value. So it only makes sense that we draw different conclusions. For me best bang for the buck is no longer the criteria that I purchase handguns with. I am looking for "value" and performance based on my personal subjective criteria. With that in mind here is why I think the SDP is a better value than the P07.
I think your dollar figures are a bit off. The SDP Alpha can be had for about $725 give or take a few $$$. If you are stepping up to the SDP with the all aluminum frame you are adding $75-$100. $999 is MSRP and no one should pay that for any gun. IMHO. The CZ P07 is a $400-$425 gun. I see them for sale at that price all the time.
So we are really talking about a $300 spread between the 2 guns. For me and my $$$ there is more than $300 worth of value in the SDP over the CZ P07. They are all subjective but I believe they are worth the upcharage. The barrel is polygon rifling, the ergos are better, the sights are better, the trigger pull out of the box is cleaner, the overall quality of the materials and workmanship are superior. For me is simply a better all around gun and most important of all it shoots better in my hands.
This does not mean that the P07 is not a good gun and that it does not get the job done. It certainly can and does. When you are comparing one gun to another the law of diminishing returns is always at play. The P07 gets you 85-90% of the way to a Sphinx IMHO. You will then pay almost 70% more to get that extra 10-15% that the SDP in my mind represents. This is assuming you leave them stock. For me it is worth it. Clearly for you it is not. You see a waste of money where I see a ton of value. I compare my SDP to custom or semi-custom guns. For me the comparison is not the SDP down to the P07 but up. I compare it to guns like the HK P7, the Sig P210, custom 1911s and custom BHPs all of which cost more than the SDP.
To get the P07 into the discussion it needs some upgrades. As a point of comparison if you bought a P07 and then bought a CGW custom Pro kit and had them install it you would be over the cost of the SDP. The Pro Kit installed is $329 IIRC plus the cost of shipping both ways. Lets call that $100. So a CGW P07 is going to run you $829. If you install the parts yourself you can save $200. So in that scenario you have $629 in a P07. The ergos are still not as good. The overall quality of construction is lower and the sights are still not as good. Now its action and it pure functionality is going to be very close to the SDP but in order to close the gap you needed to add at least $229 to your P07 price and you are still falling short of the level of the SDP. So for me personally I paid the extra $100 + $15 for a few springs and bought the SDP.
The other comparison I would offer up is that the SDPs workmanship, materials and over all feel are equal to guns that cost 2 to 3X what the SDP cost me. It is a production line gun but in my hand it feels on par with these two which cost a lot more than the SDP did.
So value becomes a matter of perspective. Anyway clearly you do not see the value in the SDP line over the CZ. I can understand that but I look at it from a different angle.
