2. home-theater
  3. 1309205842

Moving to Singapore. Help needed

I appreciate some help with my present situation.

I will be relocating to Singapore later this year, and was advised several times that speakers, receivers and amplifiers are SIGNIFICANTLY more affordable in the US. As shipping will be borne by my company, I wonder it'll make sense to assemble a set here and ship them over. I understand the electrical system is different in Singapore (220-240v), compared to 110-120v here.

My specific questions:
1. Is it possible to get 220-240v amplifiers/receivers in the US? Is there any specific brand that either carries models that support the 220-240v or allows one to tweak 110-120v to 220-240v easily? I am not very keen on a transformer, as they are generally bulky and will avoid them if I could.

2. Do the differences in electrical supply have any bearing on the performance of speakers?

3. I understand Iphone/Mac users can stream music to their receiver using AirPlay or adding an Airport Express; so far only Pioneer supports AirPlay (as far as I know). Is this true? Is it possible to play music through my Iphone/Ipad/laptop on these systems with no AirPlay compatibility? Appreciate if you could share some of your experience here.

4. An 804 diamond currently retails at $7500, while used 804S and 804d are selling for much less. Is the price difference really worth the sound quality? I spend time listening to vocals, jazz and instrumentals.

Many thanks for your time to ease my audiophilic dilemma.

SP
av_enthusiast
bobschneider
27 posts
 
One more thing, since this is the Home Theatre forum. When I was living there, the TV standard was completely different than the US standard, so a US TV or VHS deck wouldn't work there at all. Expats used to buy "multi system" TVs, which would work on either the US NSTC system or the UK PAL system Singapore used.

This may have changed with HDTV - you should check before bringing over any TVs, DVD players, etc.
tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,077 posts
 
They have/used to have a digest sized mag that had a listing for every audio store in the city. There's a used store in a shopping center in Sambawang that's pretty good.

P.S. Don't chew gum or spit. Beware of the Triad and don't walk in tall grass at night(King Cobra's). Enjoy the warm rain and get used to the expression "Lah" used after every few words.
av_enthusiast OP
1 posts
 
Just got back from a work trip and boy, you guys are awesome!!!

Insomniac928, my place will come with a hall about 10 x 12 feet, not sure about the ceiling.

Richardyc, the website is exactly what I had tried to look for, it seems very active!

Seems like the best way is to bring along my speakers (since it doesn't depend on power supply) and get a receiver in Singapore.

I know this may be strange to some regarding the trouble getting an audio system over, but it is really one of the few things I truly enjoy.

Thanks for all your advice.

qkot
1 posts
 
Hi AV_enthusiast

I am an expat living in Singapore for the last 5 years. I brought over my Bryston gear (converted it to 240 V) and bought new B&W 804S which I am still using today.

It would be interesting to hear how you made out and your impressions of Singapore so far
More to discover