Because Accuphase does not make affordable or mainstream consumer hi-fi equipment and is marketed to a different demographic.

For this reason, the hi-fi store down the road not only doesn’t sell Accuphase, but they also cannot sell it because they don’t have access to it. The mainstream hi-fi press, driven to sell equipment made by their advertisers, generally won’t review or even discuss Accuphase, because 9 out of 10 people can’t afford it and it’s so far ahead of the cheap stuff that even discussing it is a liability. And so, the regular hi-fi equipment owner is unlikely to come across it.

Keep in mind that the average hi-fi equipment buyer/owner might not spend what one piece of Accuphase equipment costs on their entire system. This makes it completely out of consideration for most buyers. Stores that sell audio-visual equipment don’t serve the sorts of customers who want to spend that much on hi-fi stereo equipment. Their customers often don’t even want stereo equipment, preferring the A/V gear that these non-specialty stores focus on.

I’ll give you an example. The cheapest CD player Accuphase sells is about $11,000 AUD, for the DP-450. My power amplifier, the A-75, cost about $33,000 AUD when new. Very few people are spending this kind of money on new Accuphase, myself included. Accuphase products, therefore, tend to be selectively offered to the best hi-fi stores and publications (not What HiFi or HiFi Choice), that target customers who can afford it and appreciate the difference.

For these reasons, many of my customers have never heard of the brand until they read about it on my site or hear me mention it. This partly accounts for the many amusing mispronunciations of the name ‘Accuphase’. The following phonetically spelt mispronunciations stand out for me:

• Aquifase
• Aquifrase
• Akrifase
• Akooofase
• Arkifase
• Arqifrase

I’ll stop there, but you get the idea! 🙂