Hi, this has always been a popular discussion.

I saw nice Hansgrohe taps at the Archidex but price is quite hefty. Do you guys think its worth the value?

I must say Hansa has interesting design, but very little is known about them.

Grohe seems reputable but design seems a bit on 'the rough' side. Does not look as 'refined' as the Hansas and Hansgrohe.

overpriced plumbing fixtures for a common brand

try cobra

why not SORENTO? The design is good, price is affordable and it comes with 5 years warranty for the cartridge.
www.sorento.com.my

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This post has been edited by zheilwane: Jul 14 2011, 11:25 PM

I like the old Grohe as they were solid and made in Germany. I have one which is so heavy and well built that you know that it will last a lifetime Now a lot of Grohes are made in Thailand and still carry hefty price tag. Hansgrohe looks not bad. However when I shopped for my kitchen taps, I settled for Blanco since I got my Blanco sinks. Moreover, for taps I was looking for design rather than the brand I think Grohe is overpriced and not as sleek.

If you want to pay for expensive faucets, Moen is another choice.

exactly my point

the old ones are solidly built and you pay for something that's made in their native country

most manufacturers relocate to china and still charge exorbitant prices



try to go for the ones manufactured in their own country

i'm not saying china / thailand has quality issues, but imagine this: would you want to pay RM3k for a genuine LV handbag that was hand made in china?

This is an interesting arguement though. We know iPhone is made in China and people are still buying them like crazy. Sooner or later, made in China may be just as prestigious as made in other developed countries. Some of you may remember that Made in Japan used to be percieved as bad quality and we were looking for Milo label on the Toyota metal body!

For the time being, I still like Porsche made in Germany; Bottega Veneta made in Italy; Patek to be Swiss made and kimchi from Korea!

The main point is which brand gives you better performance (water flow design/pressure) and durability.

If there is a difference then, you judge if it is worth it.

If based on my perception,
Hans Grohe seems to be Classier,
Grohe seems to be clunckier,
Hansa - dunno

If there is a brand with design that gives better feel water "feel" and solid durability, I dont care if it is from india, I also buy.

Psst :- when I say "feel", I mean that the shower must give me orgasm

Just make sure that you got the right type of taps for the right part of the house. We don't want to see you having orgasm in the kitchen!

Well, their quality drop too.

Whose quality dropped too?

have a look at kwc also

With due respect Sorento is not comparable I thought.

Grohes compare to many years back.

The other too, according to my plumber.

I went through the same choices when shopping for faucets and tap fittings for my house. The 2 biggest influencers were design and quality.

Design is very individual and quite subjective. All the major Euro brands have a range of designs, some nice and some not so nice. Just depends whether the design you like falls into a higher or lower price range.

As for quality, yeah many people say it's not as good as before. But really how do you tell quality and how much quality is needed for a tap anyway? From my reading it seems the cartridge is the most important part since that is the one with most wear and tear. Most use ceramics nowadays but I think quality can still vary.

The rest like the body and handle are just pieces of cast brass (I think) with the nice shiny chrome plating on it. As long as the pieces are well finished and plating is heavy and durable, I think these parts should last a lifetime.

I was quite fussy about the smoothness of the action. I did try Grohe, Hansgrohe, Hansa and Zucchetti. I felt Grohe and Hansgrohe were the smoothest.

Some of these are still made in the home country. The Hansa I saw were still made in Germany and the Zucchetti made in Italy. As for Grohe, not clearly stated in the box but yes I now about their plant in Thailand. A number of their shower sets are from Germany though. Not sure about Hansgrohe.

Note: retail prices for these are exorbitant in Malaysia. Buy them during the sale. Flowline (which carries Grohe) has 50% sales every year I think.

In case you're wondering in the end I settled on Grohe. Bought most from Flowline during sale. A few other pieces which Flowline didn't have I imported direct from Germany (via ebay.de). The Grohes I got are still heavy and feel very substantial. I don't have any old models to compare to though.

And for the wet kitchen and laundry sinks I got Fiore (made in Italy). These are carried by Bina Warehouse (same fellas who do Hansgrohe).

This post has been edited by jchong: Jul 17 2011, 09:59 AM

Do you'll notice now this brand don't give spare ceramic cartridge anymore. I remember buying one many years back online it give me two spare. Sometime getting the exact replacement will be hard.

Yeah, I didn't get any spare cartridges. Maybe I should buy a few to keep.

In the end, went for Hansgrohe. You are right, Hansgrohe also have Made in China and Germany models. Hence, need to know which models come from where.

As for me, I got the Talis E (guest bath), Metris S(all other bathrooms)and Puravida (master bath). Hopefully, I made the right choice.

how much was the overall expenses?

Talis E2 was slightly below RM700

Metris S is around RM900+

Puravida was way more expensive hence I got it from Spore at around RM1.4K

Congrats on the purchase. Did they tell you which model was from China and which from Germany?