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

From reading this post it seems like it comes down to name brand acceptance and recognition. The reason for the other comparisons to watches and cars is due to the fact that the underlying reason for the pricing of anything is to get as much as the market will bear.  Market exploitation AKA greed.

Accuphase as others know that their market demographic, especially in the US, will pay top dollar to belong to their club. So either you are apart of the club and will pay for entry or not. They know that achieving that goal is far more important to their constituents than actually achieving audio nirvana. 

Accuphase does make a very good product with the highest quality of parts for sure. But it is not going to take an audiophile to the brink of solving the ever elusive problem of sound replication.

There are several other smaller, US companies that push that envelope for far less. However for this particular discussion there is no interest in that aspect. In fact the only other comparable brands offered in this discussion seem to be obligatory  big name drops -  which are bundled by Hedge fund investors.   

Just like Rolex does't keep time better than any other time piece,
Tiffany's Diamonds are far short from the best quality,and Mercedes Benz is not the fastest car.

They all serve a common purpose which is to say that even though they are not the absolute best they achieve the goal of representing  a status for their constituents to fulfill their expectations on what others may think of them. 

  

Ford Pinto? You have a really good memory.

Mr. Glupson …….drove one of those to a Daytona Spring Break in the 70's .....from New York !

Garebear: I can’t add to what appear to be good answers to your question of why does Accuphase gear cost so much, but if you are willing to buy vintage gear, you can get good deals if you are patient.

Billshenefelt: I have a C-200, and find them attractive and build quality excellent, if impressively unusual for the time (has board cards that plug into slots like a computer, and a robust chassis). I love the sound and performance, however, they are prone to specific problems, and some parts are no longer available. One of the common problems is corrosion of some of the transistor cans on one or more of the boards; I suspect that was from an adhesive or threadlock they used that became corrosive with age and/or heat. If yours aren’t too badly corroded, and all the parts are present and intact, it certainly is worth having recapped. Friday evening I replaced the power supply and larger filter electrolytics, and put it back in service while I wait for a few more caps for the boards. After some break-in all day Saturday, the sound is even better than it was before (it had original caps, but the previous owner used the preamp regularly, and the caps were high quality so did not leak from the can, but some did drift and had high current leakage).

If current Accuphase gear is engineered and built as well as the vintage units, I can understand how prices are high, though high markup here in the U.S. may make it a poor value.