HK Audio’s Korean distributor, Sama Sound Inc., has created an immersive three-week Open House at its Seoul office to introduce the new LUNAR and PORTABLE SUB families, alongside POLAR 8 MK2, to the country’s audio community.
Taking place from 11–31 August, the LUNAR Open House has transformed Sama Sound’s office rehearsal room – normally used by the company’s in-house band and for instrument demonstrations – into a dedicated pop-up experience space. It is the first event of its kind to be hosted at Sama Sound’s own premises and the first time the company has combined a pop-up event with the launch of a new loudspeaker range.
The relaxed, hands-on format has attracted sound engineers and other influential audio professionals alongside musicians, dealers and students. The Open House welcomed 120 visitors across its 14 opening days, exceeding Sama Sound’s original 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.”
From its colour palette and visual presentation to its scent and music curation, every aspect of the pop-up has been carefully considered to make the experience memorable. The environment gives visitors time to explore the products, speak with the Sama Sound team and experience the systems in an informal setting, while creating natural opportunities for social sharing.
The main demonstration system pairs 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, allowing visitors to experience and compare a range of configurations from HK Audio’s Portable Sound portfolio.
Designed as an intimate listening experience, the Open House is largely reservation-based, with one group of up to five visitors welcomed each hour. Following a short product introduction, guests can explore the systems at their own pace using a Sama-curated reference playlist selected to demonstrate different frequency ranges.
LUNAR has emerged as the hero product of the Open House. The family comprises three versatile, high-performance 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 deliberately simple user interface replaces complex menu navigation with a small number of intuitive controls and precisely tuned presets.
“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 has also attracted considerable interest. Designed to complement LUNAR while also integrating with other HK Audio systems and third-party setups, the 15-inch and 18-inch active subwoofers feature dedicated filter presets that can be selected at the touch of a button.
To demonstrate that versatility, Sama Sound displayed one of the subwoofers facing backwards, giving visitors a clear view of the controls and allowing the team to show 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’s distinctive format has helped it reach beyond Sama Sound’s established audience, with more industry professionals and students than expected 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 hopes to carry the momentum created by the LUNAR Open House into HK Audio Experience Day in South Korea, planned for October 2026.
For more information, visit: www.hkaudio.com
