[potkettleblack]

I mean this in the most positive sense, but Hifiman really need to sort out their construction and design methods in terms of applying quality to their products.

Just to be clear - the HE1000 (to me) looks very classy - but the quality of the build is awful for the price. The same can be said for the 560. In contrast the build and quality of say the LCD 4 (I'm not gonna mention failures), HD800, HD700, Stax 009 etc, are stellar, and are where we should be at for these kind of prices.

I am convinced that the final product for this project will not be worlds apart from what we are seeing now. I'm sorry to say.

 

[purk]

I mean this in the most positive sense, but Hifiman really need to sort out their construction and design methods in terms of applying quality to their products.

Just to be clear - the HE1000 (to me) looks very classy - but the quality of the build is awful for the price. The same can be said for the 560. In contrast the build and quality of say the LCD 4 (I'm not gonna mention failures), HD800, HD700, Stax 009 etc, are stellar, and are where we should be at for these kind of prices.

I am convinced that the final product for this project will not be worlds apart from what we are seeing now. I'm sorry to say.

I second this.  The HE1000 build quality is far from that of the SR009's and 18 year-old SR007.

 

[fjrabon]

am I mistaken or isn't the Shangri La in a HE1000 housing at this point?  Are they not the exact same?  If so, I'd definitely expect a new design when it's actually released.  At the very least it looks almost exactly the same as the HE1000.  Which, as Purk stated, is not a $3000 build quality, let alone whatever HFM ends up charging for the SL.

 

[KewlMunky]

  am I mistaken or isn't the Shangri La in a HE1000 housing at this point?  Are they not the exact same?  If so, I'd definitely expect a new design when it's actually released.  At the very least it looks almost exactly the same as the HE1000.  Which, as Purk stated, is not a $3000 build quality, let alone whatever HFM ends up charging for the SL.

 
It looks very similar, however I believe the grill is different. It seems to me the bars are flatter and also wider with less space in-between; especially the middle one.

 

[kid vic]

  ^ Yeah pretty sure he's talking about the song and dance when it switches on and off.
 
' 
 
The Orpheus definitely wins out on wank factor

So do you still wait for the tubes to heat up or does it rise when its warm? I must be simpleton because that seems only a little cool and not that awesome to me.

   
This is a prototype.  That means, they took a bunch of electronics and threw it into a box to see how it sounds.  When Alex Cavalli had the prototype Liquid Spark at Canjam Socal, it was in an off-the-shelf Hammond box.  The version he showed at RMAF looked much different.  Patience, folks.

hopefully this is true because Mr. Fang is getting torn apart of this stuff and I kind of agree.
 

Hopefully you are right but that amp box looks quite custom & polished for a hammond box like prototype.

And btw, here's a free (and imho freakin obvious) tip for hfman: since the HPs are presented as Jade2, how about making that box out of ... you guessed it ... jade. Coopt some chinese artists to sculpt that jade nicely and then you have a $45K statement kit. Otherwise, selling $5 wood & metal for $45k is quite ridiculous.

 
Is jade cheap enough to make that possible? Also if its being done by hand that will be WAAY more than 45k per dont you think?

 

[mulder01]

Well I just googled 'price of jade' and it says "According to the article, the demand for jade among China's newly rich “appears to have reached a frenzy in the past year or two.” The price of the finest jade has increased tenfold over the past decade, to $3000 an ounce, making it far more valuable than gold."
 
So that probably won't be happening

 

[subtle]

I mean this in the most positive sense, but Hifiman really need to sort out their construction and design methods in terms of applying quality to their products.

Just to be clear - the HE1000 (to me) looks very classy - but the quality of the build is awful for the price. The same can be said for the 560. In contrast the build and quality of say the LCD 4 (I'm not gonna mention failures), HD800, HD700, Stax 009 etc, are stellar, and are where we should be at for these kind of prices.

I am convinced that the final product for this project will not be worlds apart from what we are seeing now. I'm sorry to say.

Couldn't agree more.  Made in China FTL.

 

[prot]

Well I just googled 'price of jade' and it says "[COLOR=222222]According to the article, the demand for jade among China's newly rich “appears to have reached a frenzy in the past year or two.” The price of the finest jade has increased tenfold over the past decade, to [/COLOR][COLOR=222222]$3000[/COLOR][COLOR=222222] an ounce, making it far more valuable than gold."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=222222]So that probably won't be happening[/COLOR]

Forbes isnt exactly a source for 'normal' prices. And it doesnt have to be the finest jewelry-grade jade. One can buy jade for $50 per ounce or less (even in the US)
http://www.jademine.com/rough-jade/rough-jade-in-the-us/mineral-specimen.html
Few hundreds, thousands tops to build/decorate a nice jade box .. and a few thousands more for an artist to manually carve it.
$5K tops for a really nice box .. the kind a chinese emperor may own. And how's that too expensive for a $45k hp set ?!

P.S.
and of course you call the set Hifiman Jade Emperor .. it'll sell like $50k hotcakes

 

[fjrabon]

Forbes isnt exactly a source for 'normal' prices. And it doesnt have to be the finest jewelry-grade jade. One can buy jade for $50 per ounce or less (even in the US)
http://www.jademine.com/rough-jade/rough-jade-in-the-us/mineral-specimen.html
Few hundreds, thousands tops to build/decorate a nice jade box .. and a few thousands more for an artist to manually carve it.
$5K tops for a really nice box .. the kind a chinese emperor may own. And how's that too expensive for a $45k hp set ?!

Because of something called R&D and profit margins. A jade box would be... Questionable. and add 10-15 K just for a dumb box. And non jewelry grade jade would defeat the whole purpose of using jade in the first place.

 

[VandyMan]

Sometimes Head-Fi mystifies me. In the Orpheus 2 topic, people HATE the marble base and the high price. Here, people seem to be calling for a jade base and higher prices. Weird.

 

[prot]

Because of something called R&D and profit margins. A jade box would be... Questionable. and add 10-15 K just for a dumb box. And non jewelry grade jade would defeat the whole purpose of using jade in the first place.

A statement product like that is not supposed to make a profit .. also not supposed to cover many costs .. if any ..

Sometimes Head-Fi mystifies me. In the Orpheus 2 topic, people HATE the marble base and the high price. Here, people seem to be calling for a jade base and higher prices. Weird.

I surely never asked for higher prices .. just posted a way to make that thing 'worth' $45k .. or at least make it look like it's worth.
And 'people are different' isnt the biggest news .. other than that you are of course right.

 

[VandyMan]

A statement product like that is not supposed to make a profit .. also not supposed to cover many costs .. if any ..
I surely never asked for higher prices .. just posted a way to make that thing 'worth' $45k .. or at least make it look like it's worth.
And 'people are different' isnt the biggest news

.. other than that you are of course right.

 
If people dislike the Orpheus 2 marble base, it makes it less valuable, not more valuable. Same logic  would apply to a jade base. If no one actually wants/likes it, it does not justify a higher price. Beyond that, why do *you* want to make it "worth" a higher price? Why not just call for a lower price/better value? Arguing over how much a jade base should add to the price makes no sense if no one wants a jade base in the first place.

 

[Sound Eq]

interesting

 

[fjrabon]

   
If people dislike the Orpheus 2 marble base, it makes it less valuable, not more valuable. Same logic  would apply to a jade base. If no one actually wants/likes it, it does not justify a higher price. Beyond that, why do *you* want to make it "worth" a higher price? Why not just call for a lower price/better value? Arguing over how much a jade base should add to the price makes no sense if no one wants a jade base in the first place.

not to mention that however over the top the marble on the orpheus may be, it actually serves some purpose as it is a fairly stable base to work with to minimize vibration reaching the amp.  Jade is the opposite of that, being a brittle gem used virtually only for jewelry.  

 

[chowmein83]

  So do you still wait for the tubes to heat up or does it rise when its warm? I must be simpleton because that seems only a little cool and not that awesome to me.

 
A little off topic, but the idea is that once the new Orpheus amp has fully set itself up (the tubes are up, the headphone box with the Orpheus is open, the knobs are out, etc.) the tubes will have warmed up just enough for you to start listening.