Can someone explain to me why : Accupahse Equipment is that expensive ?

Thank you Al - and always nice to hear from you. I am really surprised as you noted  - that there does not seem to be a lot of interest here in the US for Accuphase. I truly enjoy my Esoteric - A03 amp which is 50 wats of pure class A power  - and ooooh is all so sweet but at times, it does lack a little push as I am driving Wilson Benesch speakers which are a tad inefficient. So looking at different amps and Accuphase was on my list and I came to s dead halt. Looking at the McIntosh 452 but do think it will have the resolution I am used to and I am looking into the Luxman M-900u and also  the top of the line Esoteric S-02. None of these are cheap and do not want to make a mistake. I really like the Cardas  XL's and have re-done my whole system with them. The Clear Beyond as you and I have talked about  - are not all that far beyond ( no pun intended ) are pretty darn good cords. Also looking ta Rowland but I think are out of my range. Stay well and thank you for your input as what you noted seems to be the issue.            

My experience with high end gear from Japan is that it may be much cheaper to buy it there, but the price here is often double (or more), due in part to the cost of maintaining a dealer network, mark-up and support. (There may also be tariffs but I’d defer to someone more knowledgeable on the subject).
Most of these companies will refuse to support or service gray market goods, so your only alternative is to pay the marked up price or buy used or gray market. (Used gray market may be the worst, so I’d be careful in verifying that any used product was authorized for sale here and will be supported, even if out of warranty).
I have no idea what their dealership network is like here in the States or how distribution is handled. My experience in buying equipment is that you can often get a dealer or distributor to work with you to some degree on price, but you aren’t going to change the basic pricing structure.
Japan is no longer considered a source for cheaply made goods, as you likely know. Have you looked at the prices in Japan, just for informational purposes? I suspect their products aren’t a bargain there either.
PS: I just looked AXISS is the US distributor. They also distribute Airtight, whose cartridges I use. Those are 1/2 price if you buy from Japan but you won't get any help here if you do. 

It’s quite simple.  The US importer has chosen to mark up Accuphase at a ridiculous rate.  He is more interested in funding his retirement than promoting the brand in the US.  I’ve owned the E470 and E600 integrated amps but they are twice the price of Luxman and they are just marginally better.  Resale is horrendous so if you are patient, you could score a gently used piece at a huge discount. 

I just checked. The gray market price for the big mono block amp is less than 1/2 the retail price in the US. I suspect there is some wiggle room there, but you are negotiating from a very high starting number.
There’s a piece in 6moons about this where the distributor was quizzed about a certain importer of gray goods. Their position was -not only is it unsupported, but using voltage adapters can affect SQ, can cause equipment failures, and the goods could even be subject to seizure at the border. In terrorem indeed!
I’m sure with a little research you can find they same things I did. I’m not going to diss AXiSS- I’ve bought through them via dealers, and I do know they need some profit to maintain the business here. As to whether they are taking too much, I guess that’s part of the consumer-distributor-manufacturer equation. I suspect if they wanted to, they could bring the stuff in at a lower price to broaden the market. But this is not the kind of gear that is going to benefit from a broad market- it’s pricey, niche stuff.
One thing worth checking is whether they will support used gear that was legitimately sold here. A thread about a year ago involving another manufacturer revealed that any used purchase, even of gear that was legitimately sold in the States, would not be supported by the manufacturer. Crazy.

…..thank you for this information and it all makes sense now and some of this through my travels has come up in the past. I think that I will continue my search and look at other amps. My concern is what Mr Whart has noted about not being able to service if it ever needed.