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

Make no mistake: AVRs and home cinema receivers and even affordable modern hi-fi equipment are junk compared to serious high-end gear. No offence intended, just a statement of fact, but for this reason, your local hi-fi store not only doesn’t sell Accuphase, but they also cannot sell it because they don’t have access to it, nor can their customers afford it.

The mainstream hi-fi press generally won’t review or even discuss Accuphase, because 9 out of 10 people can’t afford it, so it’s pointless from an advertising revenue perspective. Accuphase is so far ahead of other equipment 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, so it’s not a 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 or care about high-performance audio. These customers prefer the A/V gear that these non-specialty stores focus on.

I’ll give you an example. The cheapest Accuphase CD player, the DP-450, sells for about $11,000 AUD. My power amplifier, the A-75, had an RRP of $33,000 AUD. Very few people spend this kind of money on their entire systems, let alone one component. Accuphase products, therefore, tend to be selectively offered to the very best hi-fi stores and publications, because these entities target customers who can afford it and appreciate the difference.

For these reasons, even many of my customers have never heard of the brand until they read about it on my site or hear me talk about it. This partly accounts for the many amusing mispronunciations of the name ‘Accuphase’ I’ve heard over the years including:

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

I’ll stop there, but you get the idea 😂