Pass Labs

They have to make money to stay in business. The extreme high end keeps them afloat.

The extreme high end market is 90% outside the USA.

Hopefully they will still service their older products in the future.

Look at ARC...... their cheapest product is $8,000 Today.

There is little to no market, for the average audiophile (affordable for someone making $65k).

The great recession killed reasonably priced SOTA audio for the average audiophile.

Cheap compared to some of these other amps. ;^)

https://www.pinterest.com/higherfi/extreme-hi-end-amplifiers/

Its cheap compared to other high end amp because everyone is pushing the envelope of what they can get away with..... The problem is that they can't sell many amps today.  There has to be a point of staying in existence....If every manufacturer could sell amps like the mass builders do, they could afford lower prices.  Manufactures will tell you that an entry level amp that sells for say $2000 may cost them $300 in their cost to produce,  but a couple of models up that may sells for say $10,000 may cost the manufacturer $1000 or less....Not the case of course with Pass, the manufacturing of their case alone is several hundred dollars. Even though these numbers may be out of line,  the essential idea expressed here is correct.  We pay for their knowledge and level of performance that they can get a product to produce.... Manufacturers charge what the market will bare.

jj77,
And so what? They're statement products for the wealthy few. As usual, if you are interested in their house sound, you will eventually benefit from trickle-down of the advanced design technology. No one is forcing you to buy, and there are many great values in new and used gear. 
I'm not sure what point you are trying to make, unless it is just a passing observation of how expensive some gear can get.