# New Thai concrete house/new setup...HELP



## Bahtman (Feb 22, 2014)

:help:
Ok, where to begin?

Back in the day, I had a "new" Yamaha RX-V1, 4 Pioneer CS-88a speakers from Nam in1969 for fronts and rears, existing Bose 301's I used as surrounds (mounted as highs) 2 decent subs and 2 centers in a fully carpeted 18 x 36 room. There were no MultEQ, YPAO or MCACC room correction features then but to me and friends, they sounded sweet.

That was then, this is now.

No carpet here, tile over concrete floors and concrete rendering over block walls is my new "cave", literally.

Planning ahead, I've pre-wired as best I thought at the time with 2 locations for subs and 2 surrounds under the floor to locations shown, front highs and rears were run inside the accessible soffit.

Components are hard to come by here at any reasonably price due to import taxes, but I'm off to the states in March, and may pick up something there to save a few $$....but I see that it's recommended to pick up the speakers first. 

I'll try to attach some plans, pics in the hope someone can give me some direction.

Eventually, as budget allows, I can add the rears, highs and added sub if needed.

Budget? Well, as mentioned, prices here are up a notch....for example...
Klipsch RF-42II $700.00 RF-62 II $1250.00 RF-82 $1550.00......Monitor Audio RS 5 $1100.00 RX 8 $1750.00 Polk Audio RTi A5 $790.00 A7’s $1100.00 and KEF C-5 $800.00 C-7 and Q500’s at about $1100.
Also available are Tannoy, JBL, Paradigm and Yamaha, PSB and a few others.

I'd say 10k should cover, 5.1 speakers and a 9.1 AVR. (Pioneer promo here... SC-LX87 $2400.00, LX-77 $2000 and the 57 is about $1600 all include BD player.)

Just so you know....there's no such thing as "auditioning" here and the only dealers setup in town is pretty much acoustically perfect as they have the same type of construction, and forget about any return policy unless it’s dead.

Any and all input, suggestions, and constructive criticism will be well received.

Thanks in advance. 

The 22' deep room and high ceiling may provide some relief, your input is needed and appreciated.


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## TomFord (Jul 15, 2014)

I would contact a shipping service. For example my Hertz & Audison speakers in the car cost over $600 a pair here in the U.S. and the amount of retailers to choose from is under a handful. They are made in Italy. Germany & Italy are traditionally the two areas where u will find the most sellers for similar equipment in car audio. On the Hertz I found a seller in Israel that sold the Hertz shipped for $325 vs the $700 I would of had to pay from U.S. seller. The Audison's I went with are rarer & highly sought after. Found a few sellers in Italy that had them well under 50% the cost here, but do not ship to U.S. Contacted a carrier in Europe who provided me a European address, and for under $40 they were shipped to address provided then to me. 
Highly recommend you do the same. 

Also, I would put a black rug at the edge of TV stand that covers 4-5 feet between your couch. Putting black around the TV makes the picture better especially when there is a lot if light & reflective surfaces like you have.


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## Bahtman (Feb 22, 2014)

TomFord said:


> I would contact a shipping service. For example my Hertz & Audison speakers in the car cost over $600 a pair here in the U.S. and the amount of retailers to choose from is under a handful. They are made in Italy. Germany & Italy are traditionally the two areas where u will find the most sellers for similar equipment in car audio. On the Hertz I found a seller in Israel that sold the Hertz shipped for $325 vs the $700 I would of had to pay from U.S. seller. The Audison's I went with are rarer & highly sought after. Found a few sellers in Italy that had them well under 50% the cost here, but do not ship to U.S. Contacted a carrier in Europe who provided me a European address, and for under $40 they were shipped to address provided then to me.
> Highly recommend you do the same.
> 
> Also, I would put a black rug at the edge of TV stand that covers 4-5 feet between your couch. Putting black around the TV makes the picture better especially when there is a lot if light & reflective surfaces like you have.


What I've been looking for is a system first. Heading back to the US soon and with a 420# baggage allowance I thought it might be a good idea to bring some components back, however.

I've been looking at what seem to be fair prices on the Pioneer SC, Yamaha RX and Marantz SR's series AVR's. They're not far off the US pricing if at all, I don't have to worry about 110-220 conversions and I'll have an intact warranty. So a purchase here makes sense.

Doing some random searching over the last week I’ve found that, just for example, the Polk RTi's are the same price here as Crutchfield and Amazon, the KEF Q500 is actually cheaper and the Klipsch RF series are double the price So it’s just a matter of component combination that would best in my situation; things that would “sync” together properly. 

That’s where I may be getting a little to * a n a l* in my old age (MerriamWebster: extremely or overly neat, careful, or precise not biology : of, relating to, or located near the anus).

All this talk about matching the properties of the speakers and AVR seems to be a bit daunting to me, but I don’t want to just “settle” if I can help it.

As far as the floor covering, you’re absolutely right. The existing 32” on that cabinet is going out in place of a wall mounted 65” something with a shorter, lower case.

As carpet here is non-existent, the search continues into Bangkok. Persian type rugs are readily available, but not something I’m considering, yet. Locally there are thicker smaller rugs available and if need be stitching 3-4 together may be an option. 

But your spot on with your thoughts, and I appreciate you taking your time to pass them on.

(I actually moved here from the N.E. Houston area, Cypress actually, and will be visiting friends there in mid April)

Thanks again


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## Bahtman (Feb 22, 2014)

Moving right along, I've found some fairly priced speakers and AVR's that I'll be getting here, with warranties intact.

The task at hand is finding good speaker pricing here and matching an AVR. Hence this post.

The room size that it is, someone on another forum suggested JBL's which are priced the same as on Amazon, for comparison, and there's a JBL distributer in BKK I've been talking to

I looked at the Studio 500 series and the reviews seem quite favorable. The design 
2-580 towers, 2-530 surrounds, a 520 center and a 550P sub for about the same price in the US.

Then I noticed another LS package.
2-LS 80 towers, 2-LS 40 surrounds, an LS center and a 120P sub.

They also suggested if I use the JBL's I should match them up with a Marantz, HK, or Pioneer.

I'd really like another opinion and your thoughts on JBL's vs what you favor considering the large room size.

Any input is highly appreciated.


Thanks


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