I wanted to buy an Accuphase but ended up with a Luxman (which I am very happy with) because of the exorbitant markup by the distributor. At the time it was more that twice the Japanese price in the US. I could have ordered two from Japan, even with shipping they would have been less than buying one here! I think it is just greed on the part of the distributor. The prices are very high in Europe as well.
Also, the distributor here sounded very unpleasant to deal with.
Why Accuphase allows this is beyond me. They would sell a lot more with a reasonable markup.
On the other hand, I have since heard that many US dealers will offer discounts so it might be worth a shot to see what they can offer.
Like I said, I am very happy with my Luxman. They are very close in many respects to Accuphase in sound. Luxman has a new (and better IMO) distributor in the US who has lowered prices a bit from what they were.
I must say that I do like the looks of the Accuphase better.
