Red Rose Vs. Korsun u2 (1 Viewer)

[Scott Oliver]

I don't care about Mark Levinson or Red Rose or whatever, but this guy's webpage fully admits to the innards being different and this is just with a couple pictures to compare. Plus these pictures are not zoomed in to the point where you can read what brand of capacitors and all those other parts are. Tweaks done to a piece that keeps the overall layout the same are not going to be easy see from a distance, at least some of them.

Also keep in mind the Shanling CD player it was procured by a guy who led Shanling into thinking he was a dealer for $800. Now it is imported into the US by Music Hall with a MSRP of $2200. So if the the Reod Rose vs the Korsun have prices of $200 to $2000 respectively, then $500 in tweaks would keep it right in line witht the Shanling's pricing. So taking into account that differences are already visible from a couple feet away, and that there could be some more in there then this seems reasonable.

What I think all this shows is that it is damn cheap to produce stuff in China, and that the Chinese line laborers are getting screwed.

 

[Chu Gai]

maybe they can spend $505 and replace the cheesy RCA's too

 

[Lee Scoggins]

What I think all this shows is that it is damn cheap to produce stuff in China, and that the Chinese line laborers are getting screwed.

I am not sure about the "screwed" part. This may be a great job in a place where the cost of living is very low.

I do agree that it is real cheap to mfr gear in China.

 

[Walt N]

So the man, Levinson, OEM'ed his amps with a few cents worth of metal film resistors in place of the stock ceramic versions, perhaps with some thought that later when the inevitable comparisons came up he could proclaim, "see, it IS different!" Don't be fooled, guys. It seems to me there is some stretching of common sense boundries taking place here in the defense of a virtually non-defendable position.

 

[NickSP]

"Don't be fooled, guys. It seems to me there is some stretching of common sense boundries taking place here in the defense of a virtually non-defendable position."

Amen to that, Sir.

 

[Terry St]

Interesting... Given the usual price breakdown of speakers, re-using the cabinet of $348 speakers to make $3500 speakers is a bit odd. Either the drivers, crossover network, and wiring cost several times what the cabinet does (which is really odd) or something is very very wrong here.

 

[Chu Gai]

I think the majority of the cost is in the cabinetry...Just think if the Chinese came out with their version of Corian...you'd see knock offs of the watt puppies...maybe call them beijing puppies or something like that. Some, but not all of the factories are ISO certified and that implies a tremendous amount of consistency.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Just think if the Chinese came out with their version of Corian

This is a very good thought Chu. I want this to happen.

Imagine a Corian like one-piece cabinet construction. That could come close to offering Wilson Audio sound without the very high price. By now, one would think that a Corian-like structure could be doable. Maybe Dupont would even fund an audio venture to test this idea. They collect Corian royalties but Chinese mfr keeps the retail price down. Kindof like a super low-budget Rockport Technologies monitor.

Chu could import them under the "Sound King" brand name. I am not joking here, this could really be interesting and I like the Sound King name a lot (but reserve my opinion on the cables).

Very interesting...

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Oh yes, Chu and I import the speakers, get rich, and then spend our days conducting DBTs...
Hey it could happen.

 

[Larry B]

That could come close to offering Wilson Audio sound without the very high price

Personally, I wouldn't want that sound at any price.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Perhaps, if it's not too much trouble, can you share the approach you took to get them to you? Got a final estimated price?

There was a group purchase on them last week. A pair of the Deluxe were $545 shipped to your door. The Original Leisure 2 were a bit cheaper at $483 shipped, but I thought the $60 or so was worth the difference.