[kelly]

Joe Lau
Good of you to contribute to this thread. Thanks for that.

At these prices it's really hard to tell what's what. While the price may be more than double the Chinese price in the US, the actual dollar amount isn't much higher because the amp is so inexpensive to begin with. In other words, it's not like Stax where the SR-007 is $1400 in Japan and nearly $4000 in the US.

Still, I know for certain that the HP-100 that was briefly posted to Head-Fi (before it was removed as an advertisement by mods) and HeadWize was indeed the same or a version of the amp currently going by the name SonicAdventure. Has katsudon fully explained the relationship between the two amps here? I think the language barrier may be getting in my way. Let me ask the questions explicitly.

1. Does SonicAdventure manufacture an amplifier for the Chinese market called HP-100?
2. How does HP-100 differ from SonicAdventure Reality?
3. What is the Chinese price of the HP-100?

 

[shivohum]

Quote:

All I want to tell the potiential "SonicAdventure" buyers is that you could get the same amp from a Chinese website for as little as $120+ shipping+ whatever taxes. Many people in China have bought the HP-100 for about $120. Where's the business ethics?

Quote:

Katsudon1, if you don't mind to offer me $1000 for each "used" HP-100, then I think an Audio Note DAC and the Stax Omega II are on my way.

Hello?! Is this some joke to you?

You've accused a business of a lack of ethics because, you say, they are selling the same product overseas for less money.

First of all, as people have already mentioned, this is nothing dishonest. It is done all the time, and there are reasons for it like quality control, import tax, etc. Even if there were no extra costs, it would still not be dishonest. It's just a business decision.

Second, Katsudon1 challenged you on the facts: he said if you present him with a receipt for a NEW HP-100 or REALITY, he would pay $1000. That means he is saying that you are WRONG, that you CANNOT buy the HP-100 or REALITY brand new for $120 anymore. And you evaded the question by talking about used amplifiers.

So prove it. Prove that you can buy the HP-100 or REALITY NEW in China TODAY for $120, and collect your $1000. Or else apologize publicly, like you said you would.

Geez...

 

[Joe Lau]

It mean you can not buy HP-100 in China any more !

 

[katsudon1]

Let me ask the questions explicitly.

1.Does SonicAdventure manufacture an amplifier for the Chinese market called HP-100?
No, SonicAdventure never manufactured hp amp for the Chinese market. However, 2000ok (an individual), as an honorable member of Chinese head-fi DID sell units AT COST of the initial design there as a devotion of his passion to the community.

2. How does HP-100 differ from SonicAdventure Reality?
Here is the list of improvements of REALITY over HP-100:

1. Case manufactured in Hong Kong, hence, a smoother finish and no more uneven paint as found in some HP-100 casing
2. All internal wiring upgraded to use silver cable instead of copper cable.
3. Head problem resolved. HP-100 run at 50+ degree C while REALITY as some have reported just warm to touch
4. Solens caps replaced by WIMAs
5. Optimize Opamp operation state
6. PCB layout re-designed to more logical order and improved
7. RCA connecters are now gold plated
8. 1 m Monster Cable power cord included

And many minor improvements to improve on durability such as higher quality light bulks, new control switches, plastic volume control changed to an aluminum one. We also sent one unit for a lab test to ensure the product meet the more vigorous US standards for electronics.

3. What is the Chinese price of the HP-100?
The Chinese price of the HP-100 WAS USD120 (no power cord, no gold plated RCAs, old PCBs).

 

[katsudon1]

In the last few days, we have received a few PMs and emails from Head-fiers in support of our position. On behalf of SonicAdventure, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support given.

 

[kelly]

katsudon
Thank you for patiently answering those questions. I can imagine how frustrating this thread was for you. I think you shed a lot of light on the confusion here.

PC Corp
Your intentions were in the right place and this was a constructive and informative thread but having seen the amp in person and heard its performance, I'd tend to take katsudon's word on what he's saying here.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by katsudon1 In response to PC Corp's comment on the relationship between REALITY and HP100, we would like to clarify that HP100 was the prototype of REALITY and 2000ok was one of the founders of SonicAdventure. This has been asked a few times by others via email inquiries, hence, we have also stated this relationship [size=medium]EXPLICITY[/size] at our FAQs since September. Please Click here to see our FAQs. 2000ok sold some units since March [size=medium]AT COST[/size] to headphone enthusiasts in China to gather customer responses on the product. That is how Gary, Tinha and I meet 2000ok and we thought of going commercial to bring this exceptional well valued product to the market and make it available to foreign markets. The production is now being manufactured in [size=medium]HONG KONG[/size] instead of [size=medium]CHINA[/size] because we are able to provide higher craftsmanship, implement better quality control and secure higher quality Western and Japanese parts here. Since incorporation, the SonicAdventure Team have been carried out [size=medium]excessive R&D[/size], much of time and effort have been spent in order to tweak and improve on the 2000ok's already excellent original design and tackle a few technical problems that we initially had before a market launch. Our philosophy was and still is to bring what we believe the best value and high performance ratio products to the market. We guess you probably may not able to imagine how many prototypes the Team have laying around in our office and homes. So PC Corp, 2000ok apologizes for not forming a partnership with you and let you be an [size=medium]HONESET[/size] businessman. We, at SonicAdventure would like you to excuse us for being in the [size=medium]REAL WORLD![/size] Now that we have incorporated a company, with operating expenses and taxation to pay, we have to make a reasonable profit margin to survive in the market place. Considering our investments in terms of money, time and effort, we do not feel that what we are offering is excessively expensive. At least we are not just intended to be a reseller and earn a 50% profit margin by doing no R&D and providing no customer services! Please learn from business history, reseller model does not work anymore in nowadays' competitive market, DIRET SELL is the only way to benefit consumers. We would like to stress that we have been spending much of the revenue from revenue from the sales of REALITY in developing new products.

Well R&D according to the Babylon online dictionary of acronyms means: (slang) RippOff and Duplicate or Research and Development, be careful when using acronyms......