Part of the reason is meticulous care taken at every step of the process, including replacing anything that can improve things when it is discovered. I understand some people think the price is too high. The sound sure is considerably better than conventional CDs, however. Whether it's worth it or not is obviously an individual decision.
Why JVC XRCDs are so expensive?
Telarc just reduced the SACD price from $24.99 to $19.99 per disc and average re-issued SONY classical SACD is around $17.00 steet price. I heard someone said the difference of sonic quality of SACD and XRCD is undetectable. For average of classical music fan like me, the $25 per disc of XRCD is just TOO expensive for only 30 to 50 minutes of total time.