First AVR/Speakers Advice (First Post from South Korea!)

[joelaterdayz]

Hello Everyone!,

I'm a Soldier stationed in Daegu, South Korea and am looking at purchasing my first AVR and Front L/R Floorstanding Speakers. I'll be ordering online, as the only AVR's the local Military Exchange is carrying are over two years old and are still being sold for the original MSRP. I've been looking at ordering from Crutchfield, as they offer free shipping/no tax to APO boxes. Do you know of any other places I should consider?

As for equipment, I'm strongly considering the new Onkyo TX-SR508 ($350) or TX-SR608 ($499). These are 80 watts/7.1 and 100 watts/7.2 respectively with all the newest features. High end speakers for me would be Klipsch RF-82's ($549 each), if I go lower end it would be Infinity P362's ($200 each). Use would be 80% DVD and BLU-RAY using a PS3 with full HDMI connections through to a 65" Mitsubishi 1080P DLP, 20% music. Viewing/listening area is main living room (this is an apartment) which is about 18 feet wide with floor to ceiling glass on the left and completely open another 30 feet or so through to kitchen on the right. Walls are mostly high-end wallpaper and wood paneling, floor is wood and stone (similar to this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usag-daegu/4388457529/in/set-72157623386251837/). I can't drill in the walls, and a high-powered sub would probably annoy the neighbors, so I need the floor standers to do it all. Components also need to be durable/have a good warranty to survive frequent moves around the world. Other factors to consider are two feisty girls, 1 1/2 and three, who will likely lean agains/try to color on speakers. Oh, and I do not have an opportunity to listen to any of this equipment prior to purchase, unless the Klipsch Speakers in the local IMAX theater count (which are absolutely phenomenal).

Some separate questions: Are the RF-82's overkill? Any recommendations on speaker cable? Any other stores I should take a gander at?

Thank you,

- Joe

[InVeNtOr]

welcome to the forums!

never had a change to go there while i was in, is it nice?

it will be hard for many of us to give good advice because of your limitations. okay, it will be hard for me to give you good advice with your limitations....lol

it sounds like you want a AVR and 2 main speakers only. is that correct? if that's the case then the receivers you chose in my opinion would be wrong. since you only have 2 speakers then stick with a Stereo receiver. see what you can get and make sure it has HDMI input and outputs. also check to make sure it passes PS3 video and audio. i would call or e mail the manufacture if possible. the reason is simple, with 2 speakers you won't get all the cool sound effects that a 5.1 or 7.1 offers. it all has to come out the mains so why pay for something you can't use. you will save quite a bit getting a good stereo receiver. as far as electronics go in general, in your case go cheap. i have been there, lugging around a klipsch (ksf 10.5, 7.1) set up, it sucks. no matter how hard you try it gets damaged.

did you try ordering through AFEES? that's where i bought my set up. usually overseas they have deals we can't get here. to give an example, when i was in germany they had the newly released ksf 10.5 series. (they were $800 each in the stores in arkansas, over there, $400 total). they also had a Yahama A1 receiver, it was a 7.1. at the time, (i didn't know this) in the states you couldn't get a 6.1. i wish i would have got it, i would have been set for many many years. i even bought a 7.1 speaker set up figuring i would be able to get the A1. well i got home, there was nothing out like a 7.1, so after some time i bought a 6.1.

cables. for many of us here we order from www.monoprice.com. it has very good cables are very very good prices. i would suggest getting what ever you can at afees or the PX, keep it simple. as far as what to hook up your speakers, 12awg wire. you don't need any more than that. also, i wouldn't bi-amp either. you won't have the equipement to do it right or have it make a difference. i have done it, it didn't do much of anything. in your sitution any 12awg wire will work about the same.

as far as speakers go, i think the RF-82's would be a good bet. they are big enough to make an impact (wow factor). light enough to carry. cheap enough not to break the bank. and an overall really good speaker. now if you like, once you get board with the sound, you can upgrade the crossovers. that's a whole other topic. once you get to that point, post back and ask. lets keep it simple for now....

as far as the girls go, keep the grills on. lol. good luck!

to sum up:
RF-82 speakers

Stereo receiver

local (afees/ PX) HDMI cables and possibly 12awg wire.

you can try http://www.sounddistributors.com/ and see if he can ship to you. maybe he has a better price.

anyways, good luck with the purchase. we like pics around here so once you decide on your gear post them in the "lets see your home theater" topic.

[USNRET]

Nice to see you here, welcome and THANK YOU!

I just did a little checking in the last few minutes on what was available though the 'special order department' of AFEES. Dismal at best, I long for the old days before the exchanges got mandated by congress to not be UNFAIR to the local competition, but that is another story so I'll shit up on that (for now).

Daegu (or Taegu, changes every few years) is not that far from Seoul, check these guys out:

COMJANGSOO CO., LTD.

Comjangsoo Bldg., Wonhyo-Ro 3 Ga, 146-2,

Yangsan-Ku Seoul 140849

Seoul

Korea, Republic Of

Phone: 82-2-715-4345*105

Fax: 82-2-718-4348

Email: im@comjangsoo.com

Website: http://www.comjangsoo.com

If you find something there that interests you perhaps I can get my in-laws to drive over to the store and haggle a little for you [].

I lived down the road from you in Changwon and Busan (Pusan) a few years ago as a civilian. Man that place has changed since the '70s.

Back to the AFFES special order for a moment, they can order from Yamaha for you, just not at the decent prices we used to get but you can get $300 off a set of Booose 901s at the exchange. [:@]

Klipsch folks....are you listening? We don't want to kill your brick and mortar stores (can't due to regulations that the military stores can not under sell locals, we would just not pay the sales tax) but I do have it on good authority that the Exchange system will sell your goods if you let them.

[joelaterdayz]

Hi Inventor! Thank you for the response. Korea is a pretty good place, especially since I have my wife and kids here. They have a lot of cutting edge technology everywhere and the people are very, very polite family oriented people and there's little to no crime. When I first got here I felt like I was on another planet. But now that I've been here a while I've come to understand why they do things the way they do and have a lot of respect and admiration for them. The biggest downside for me is their culture is relatively newto mass car ownership, and so they are very dangerous behind the wheel. Also, there's a lot of industrial pollution, smog and overcrowding. But its definitely better than being deployed in a war zone away from my family for a year.

The reason I'm looking at the 7.1 systems is I eventually plan to acquire all the speakers for a 7.1 system. Not while I'm here, but after I get back to the states. I think if I hold on to the original boxes/packing material and watch the packers like a hawk I may turn out all right... I did look on AAFES, but they don't carry Klipsch, or newer receivers, and their prices aren't competetive. I've been in over 11 years and it just seems AAFES has really gone down the tubes.

Thank you for the great advice. It sounds like the RF-82's would be a good long term investment and something I can build upon.

Where did you serve?

- Joe

[joelaterdayz]

USNRET,

I checked out COMJANGSOO, their listed price for RF-82's, when converted to Dollars is roughly $1.850 per speaker. I know Koreans love to haggle, but I'm not sure they can match what I can get online.

I've been down to Pusan a few times, visited Hyaendae beach. It's really nice. The first time I visited Korea was TDY to Osan AB in 2001. In just nine years its changed a lot. They've really gotten rid of a lot of the less "reputable" establishments. Though I here Texas Street in Pusan is still pretty wild. The pace of development is also pretty staggering.

Thanks for the help and thanks for your service as well!

- Joe

[CECAA850]

No audio advise here, just wanted to say thank you for your service to our country.

[jrod]

Hey Joe!

Welcome, and like everyone else, thank you for what you do for this country (and freedom, in general!!)!

Okay, I really don't have any advice as to where you should look for your gear, but as you can see, I own 82's and I run them with an Onkyo receiver (Onkyo owns Integra, and the 608 you are looking at is very closely related to my 6.9, many of the same features, same power, ect...). Now I've added an amp recently, but the Integra alone had enough power to run the 82's to very loud/clean levels.

All I can say is that I LOVE my 82's/Onkyo combo. Absolutely fantastic with movies, and once you get it dialed in, not to shabby with music either!! So, basically, I guess this a vote for that combo. Once I get a little more settled in my life (just graduated college last Sat, Boomer Sooner!! ) I'll probably look to upgrade to the RF-63's or 83's, but for now the 82's suit me just fine, and are a great "bang for buck" speaker. Good luck and let us know what you end up with!!

Jrod

[Islander]

Are the RF-82's overkill? Any recommendations on speaker cable?

Overkill? That's not likely a term you'll hear on this forum. If and when you get into the bigger Heritage speakers, new or used, you can choose from La Scalas (washing machine size), Belles (kitchen stove size), or the mighty Jubilees (fridge size). The Jubilees are not official Heritage, more like honorary.

The RF-82s are popular speakers and I'm just mentioning the Heritage Series so you know you'll have something to move up to when you get a permanent location, since they're a bit less portable than the Reference Series.

As another poster mentioned, 12 gauge speaker cable should be all you need.

[InVeNtOr]

i had a few reasons for suggesting the Stereo receiver.

1. price. sounds like getting all this gear at once is going to stretch the pocket book. don't forget about the little stuff too, cables, wire, etc. it adds up quick.

2. since you won't have a 5.1 or 7.1 until some time in the distant future, you can't use any of the sound features. it doesn't matter if you have a 5K processor, you will have it in "Stereo."

3. outdatedness. if you go out and buy a good or low end receiver now that you can't use for a while, it will be much cheaper in the future. electronics never hold their value. a 1k receiver today is $800 tomorrow. to actually sell it you would have to price it at $700 including shipping, which means you only got back $650. with electronics you want to buy them when you actually need them. if you buy them and can't use features or have to wait to buy other stuff and keep it in the box, you would have spent too much.

4. i believe it would be more beneficial to get a better stereo receiver than a low end 5.1 for your current situation. the stereo receiver will do all the same things as the other one, but won't have the extra sound fields. besides, you already said you wanted to go up to the 63's later. this way you can keep the 82's and the stereo receiver and put it somewhere else, like the man cave. (if you are lucky enough to have one).

anyways those were some of the reasons for my suggestion.

i was stationed at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. it was fun, but was happy when i got out. okay they pushed me a little, but still happy to be gone. being in the military now is much more fun then 10 years ago. little rock is a military town and for the most part people didn't care about us. now people go out of their way to say thanks and give small presents. not jealous, it very nice and i am happy people now respect and care about the greatest military force on the planet. i was talking to an old marine that was in charge of the dorms one day. he about got irate when we were talking how he was treated. he was telling me when he came home from Vietnam the civilians would spit on the troops. (including him). he was very jealous seeing the troops coming back from the Iraq war to parades and stuff like that. i quickly changed the subject, i felt so bad for him.

anyways, i hope it all works out for you. good luck and have a great time over there!

[BluBitRates]

If you plan to move a few times less equipment may be better. The harmon kardon hk3490 and a pair of rf-82s would provide great sound and alot of bass. The Hk is a stereo receiver and does not have any hdmi and only two digital inputs, something i could live with. Good luck!

[joelaterdayz]

Thank you everyone for the support!

You all are giving me some great ideas. II see the angle with Stereo, and it totally makes sense, but I'm starting to think that maybe I should just spring for floor standing fronts and rears. That way I could pull off 5.1 without drilling wall mounts. In that case, would 82's for fronts and 52's for rears suffice? Or what about 62's for fronts and 52's for rears? Am I sacrificing anything by not having wall mounted rear surround speakers? I'm starting to eye my spare large unused bedroom here and thinking it could make a good little home theater with my 65' TV.

Inventor, I used to be an Air Force guy myself from 1998-2007, before I went to the Army for a commission. First assignment was Vogelweh, Germany, then six years in Hawaii, followed by one year in D.C. Korea is FUN! I'll be here till Sep 2011.

While I think we have had a lot of argument during these wars, most folks are directing their frustrations through peaceful means and the ballot. Which is the way it should be. The Armed Forces are a tool wielded by elected policymakers, and I think people recognize that, unlike during Vietnam. With that said, I really am greatful for all the support we've received since 9/11, and especially from folks who object to the way our foreign policy has played out over the past 9 years but still support us regardless.

[joelaterdayz]

Arghh! No one will ship the RF-62's or 82's to Korea, they're too big! Looks like I may be springing for 52's. I suppose I could catch a flight over China and try to score some where they are made... I wonder what kind of deal I could get THERE!

[InVeNtOr]

So all this trouble and they wont ship them. Man that sucks! Well try out the rb-61 or rb-81. I set a guys house up with a stereo receiver and a pair of rb-61s and it sounded really good. U could do a 5.1 all in rb-81s and I guarantee it would rock! Some people like getting the center channel and some like using another RB speaker.

It is a true blessing the general public knows the troops are just doing what they are trained for and are not the ones making the policy.

[BluBitRates]

Yes that is a great idea, you may want to first look into whether you can get the rc-62 or rc-52 shipped to you first. rb-81 and rc-62s up frontwould be really great

[joelaterdayz]

Are ya'll recommending the RB-81 over the RF-52? They both ship free, but I can get the RF-52 for less. The RF-52 has two 5 1/2 woofers to the 81's 8' woofer, plus a larger cabinet. I know those are only specs, but what am I looking at, difference wise, in listening?

Again, thank you for your expert help! You folks are awesome!

- Joe

[InVeNtOr]

well the 81's are a beefer speaker but i have never done a direct compression. i think the 81's are suppose to more like the 82's. the 61's would be like the 62's. i know the 61's kick butt. i was very impressed with them. in my set up i had them as rear surrounds, but they didn't work as well as rs-42's. i later sold them to a frined so he could have a 2.1 set up. after the set up i can say, they sounded really good. they were powered by a bottem end dennon.

hopefully someone one here who has heard the both of them will share some comments.

i can add this simple possible deal breaker. if you don't plan on adding a sub any time soon, the the 52's may be a better choice. they will give you more bass than the 81's. the 81's aren't designed to support the low end bass, as well as all the other bookshelf speakers.

there is benifit to both in the long run. either way it goes, once you settle down and buy more gear, either one can be moved for rear surround dutty.