SOUTH KOREA: HK Audio’s Korean distributor Sama Sound Inc. turned its Seoul office into a three-week Open House showcasing the new LUNAR and PORTABLE SUB families alongside POLAR 8 MK2. Running from 11–31 August, the event transformed the company’s rehearsal room, normally used by its in-house band and for instrument demonstrations, into a dedicated pop-up experience space.

The first event of its kind at Sama Sound’s own premises, and its first pop-up centred on a new loudspeaker launch, the Open House drew sound engineers, audio professionals, musicians, dealers and students. Across its 14 opening days, 120 visitors attended, well above Sama Sound’s initial expectation of around 70.

“HK Audio has long been well loved in Korea and we wanted to strengthen its visibility among younger generations,” says Jason Moon, Product Manager at Sama Sound. “We knew we needed to create more opportunities for people to encounter the brand, both online and offline. Rather than simply asking visitors to share HK Audio on social media, we wanted to create a space and an experience they would naturally want to photograph and post. Our goal was simple: to see HK Audio appearing more often in people’s social media feeds.”

The environment was designed as an informal listening and product experience, with its colour palette, visual presentation, scent and music curation all considered as part of the setting. Visitors explored the systems, speak with the Sama Sound team and listen without the constraints of a conventional product demonstration.

The main system paired a stereo pair of LUNAR 112 XA active loudspeakers with a PORTABLE SUB 115 A. Dedicated listening sessions also feature POLAR 8 MK2, POLAR 10 MK2 White, SONAR 110 Xi and PORTABLE SUB 118 A, giving visitors the opportunity to compare configurations across HK Audio’s Portable Sound portfolio. The largely reservation-based format accommodates groups of up to five visitors per hour. Following a short product introduction, guests can explore the systems independently using a Sama-curated reference playlist designed to demonstrate different frequency ranges.

LUNAR was the centrepiece. The family comprises three loudspeakers with 10-inch, 12-inch and 15-inch woofers, designed for use as full-range systems, stage monitors or mid/high units with a subwoofer. Its interface uses a small number of intuitive controls and tuned presets rather than complex menu navigation. “Visitors responded particularly well when we explained why LUNAR doesn’t need an LCD screen and instead keeps only a few simple but powerful controls,” Moon continues. “We often said, ‘The best restaurants don’t need a long menu,’ and people really liked that idea. It helped us communicate the thinking behind LUNAR in a way that was immediate and easy to remember.”

The PORTABLE SUB family was also demonstrated as a complement to LUNAR, while retaining compatibility with other HK Audio systems and third-party setups. The 15-inch and 18-inch active subwoofers feature dedicated filter presets selectable at the touch of a button. Sama Sound even positioned one subwoofer facing backwards, exposing its controls while demonstrating how quickly users can switch between presets for different top speakers.

“The clarity and energy in the low-mid range exceeded my expectations. I think this combination would be a great option for venues and small to mid-sized rental companies looking for high-quality sound,” says Mark Kim of Team Mark, an engineering team working with well-known Korean artists and bands including Car the Garden.

The Open House also extended its reach beyond Sama Sound’s established audience, with industry professionals and students sharing photographs and videos from the event on social media. “We felt very proud when visitors began noticing the details we had carefully prepared,” Moon adds. “This is something other loudspeaker brands have rarely tried in Korea. We had some concerns at first, but the level of interest, the visitor numbers and the amount of social sharing all show us that we are moving in the right direction.”

Sama Sound now plans to carry that momentum into HK Audio Experience Day in South Korea, scheduled for October 2026.