I have been using kason till now, personally I think only yonex's TOPPEST requets could match with it. Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai also used kason when they are in China youth team. Can you guys see it in your country?
Now days, it's much easier to get Kason in US, and I believe they have their official distributor in US already. Also, many ppl (mainly from CHN) bring in equipment when they go back to visit / vacation.
I have tried Kason in US http://racketsupply.com/tsf_88.htm I think the price in US is double or more what it is in China. Since I can get Victor rackets cheaper in Taiwan, and I don't consider Kason better for me, I didn't buy Kason. If I play single more I may revisit Kason rackets. For double play I prefer Victor SuperNano or ArteryTec. I prefer high string tension (>25lb) and I like that's within Kason's recommended tension. Badminton equipment distribution is inefficient in US which leads to high prices. Only Yonex is widely available AFAIK. Any other brand suffer from limited distribution. IMO, that's a bad situation since people will be more comfortable purchasing something they can try out first. Another criticism I have on Kason is their color design. They look less attractive to me compared to Yonex or Victor. Aetheitices are personal, but I think Kason design probably doesn't appeal to mainstream US players (wild guess here). If I lived in China , Kason may become my #1 choice. But globalization haven't made local conditions similar for China and US.
I agree. However, that's pretty much true for any brand, or any business product. Brands like Yonex, Victor, MMOA, SOTX, etc are in general much cheaper in Asian market as well. Distribution might be a factor, but the higher cost of living (e.g. rent, labor, tax, etc) are other ones to be concerned. Unless you have connections oversea, otherwise, you can only settle for "hand carry", or suffer through expensive shipping (also risk) and possible duty tax.
I use Kason too! I'm using the TSF200 and i'm loving it! I supports high tension fine. I can't really notice the difference between hitting with a Yonex and a Kason. Each racket is different and the quality seems pretty good. No broken rackets so far.
I have 2 Kason Racktes, TSF-95 and TSF-109 and yes I considered one of the few really value-for-money range of rackets. But I beg to differ about the statement "only Yonex's toppest (I guess you mean best) rackets could match". This is rather subjective. LD and BCL used Kason racktes at that point of their carrer was because Kason was (and still is I believe) the sponsor of the China youth team. I donot think they had a choice to use something else, such as Yonex. This is the same elsewhere, for example, Winex used to be the sponsor of Taiwan youth team (I'm not sure if this is still the case now) and they used to use this as one of the main selling point in the local market. One could argue these brands must be of certain quality in order to be accepted as the racket sponsor, but sometimes commercial benefit also play a part. Therefore we cannot simply conclude because so-and-so used this brand, it must be good. This is no different to many other commercial endorsement.