Tube Amp Pricing

R&D, low unit volume to amortize the fixed costs, and piffle (aka, audiophile tax)

audiophile gear is subject to some concept in economics called reverse xxx - as the price goes up, sales go up

the classic example is BMW cars in the 1980s where sales were fueled by yuppie desires for showing off a luxury product (in the early to mid-1970s, my 2002 was relatively unknown and priced about the same as Olds)

somewhere I saw a video of Audio Research amp construction - maybe a factory tour - it shows how they are built (laboriously), the careful selection of wire & components, and the testing of each unit

Harman Intl. has an extensive laboratory used for audio testing (but are a very large conglomerate these days so it is affordable)

those 2 examples show good reasons why some things cost a lot

I doubt it is where it should be(!)

Benchmark is an xlnt amp for $3k - I'd like to see the reliable listening tests of amps that can 'beat' it.

At some level one might select resistors carefully (maybe after caps, active devices, transformers, circuit design, etc.), so see this:
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1278251&page_number=1