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

Showing 4 responses by tabl10s

Haven't been there since '92, but I can tell you everything that you've ever wanted can be had seen in almost one building...the "Adelphi". Used as well as new items are for sale and at lower prices.
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.
For such a small place(26 miles long), it packs a lot of audio equipment, great weather(right on the Equator)and some of the most interesting looking women anywhere(saw a girl with bronze skin, pewter colored hair and blue eyes!).
Marty,

I was originally there for a military exercise which turned into a 27 day vacation with pay:). I would work six hours in the morning, take a nap, discover new audio stores in the afternoon and hit the clubs at night.

I had such a good time, I took a real 10-day vacation eight months later.