Shopping around the world?

B

BabyBottle

Member
Hello,

First, I like to say that I don't not where to post this thread but I believe this could very well be seen as a newbie-question...

I would like to know if it is possible to buy musical gear (that require power supply) in, for exemple the US that will work in the EU, in particular in Scandinavia... Is there another country than the US that is cheap to buy from? (There is a good rate SEK-USD at the moment).

(I'm interested in a pair of active monitors, eventually with a sub as well... I'm looking at 4 different setups:
1. KRK RP G2 + sub
2. KRK VXT:s + sub
3. M-audio BX8 Deluxe + SBX10 sub
or
4. DSM2 with the SBX10 sub - unless someone has a better suggestion).

Thx for all tips and sugestions you might have/give!
 
Hey man. I am not sure of the voltage difference, so I will not even attempt to answer that.

I DO know though that a bunch of people here are not from the USA, yet they still buy gear from the USA. It might be as simple as plug it in and go. Think about it, there is a ton of gear not made in the USA that we use here in the usa. Example - Neve 1073

However, ebay is always a great place to find used gear for less than store value.

I have had great experience with proaudiostar.com as well as musiciansfriend.com.

If you call them and negotiate, they will usually take a good 10-15% off for you!

I also just purchased a bunch of gear from altomusic.com. I have not received my items yet, so I cannot vouch for them, but they have an AWESOME system where the more you add to your cart, the more money they take off! Its really cool!

Anyways, good luck and I am sure you can pay a little more for worldwide shipping :cool:
 
Is it possible to buy 230v heat fr.o.m. The US or is there any other place? (the resdon for My interest is the current SEK-USD exchange rare...
 
BabyBottle said:
Is it possible to buy 230v heat fr.o.m. The US or is there any other place? (the resdon for My interest is the current SEK-USD exchange rare...
Click to expand...

I don't understand what "230v heat fr.o.m" means. :confused:
 
I buy from all over the world, in Australia the voltage is 240v, well it's supposed to be, it's 248v at the moment. I do have some US 110v gear.

The way to do it is to buy US gear that you want and set up the studio run it from a 110v circuit. The way to do this is to buy 1 230v to 110v transformer, rated to run all of the us gear you are getting plus a bit more (for any other gear you might buy) and plug all the US gear into the 1 transformer. You have to check wether it's still cheaper to buy the transformer and get the cheaper prices.

You may also find that some gear has voltage selection switches, and some of the newer gear is designed to automatically run on any voltage, auto switching.

Cheers
Alan.
 
Being in the US I'd say unless you want to fart around with transformers look for an alternative. Good rule of thumb. If it plugs in the wall it's region specific, if it doesn't, you're good to go anywhere.
 
Sorry gor the "230v heat fr.o.m", it's my iPhone. I misses when it believed it had to correct my spelling (it didn't understand that It were english). If the gear has a voltage selection switch, like my Mackie 1640 then it would work without any problem. Does any one know it the M-audio or KRK monitors has this feature?
Is the US the cheapest country to shop from?

(Thx Dintymoore, the cord/contact shown in your link is the one I would like to avoid).
 
buzzard bass said:
Being in the US I'd say unless you want to fart around with transformers look for an alternative. Good rule of thumb. If it plugs in the wall it's region specific, if it doesn't, you're good to go anywhere.
Click to expand...

Thats right, I forgot to say if it's got an external wall wart type power supply you just buy one for your country, I was only taking about mains powered internal stuff.

It's Ok with the region specific thing, and sometimes i agree, but sometimes you can't buy the item in your region, I'm thinking of companies that don't have resellers in the country or when it's old and collectable.

Alan
 
BabyBottle said:
Hello,

First, I like to say that I don't not where to post this thread but I believe this could very well be seen as a newbie-question...

I would like to know if it is possible to buy musical gear (that require power supply) in, for exemple the US that will work in the EU, in particular in Scandinavia... Is there another country than the US that is cheap to buy from? (There is a good rate SEK-USD at the moment).

(I'm interested in a pair of active monitors, eventually with a sub as well... I'm looking at 4 different setups:
1. KRK RP G2 + sub
2. KRK VXT:s + sub
3. M-audio BX8 Deluxe + SBX10 sub
or
4. DSM2 with the SBX10 sub - unless someone has a better suggestion).

Thx for all tips and sugestions you might have/give!
Click to expand...

I wouls always be very careful about buying from abroad.

It's not only the voltage thing (though if it's got a universal PSU, or wall wart it can be overcome) - it's also the shipping and insurance costs, Customs Duty and VAT and the fact that they will normally have to be returned to the country you bought them from if they need fixing under guarantee.

Under EU law, the guarantee is with the dealer.

Normally the hassles outweigh the savings.
 
Hey Baby bottle ..... just stop messing around and make the big move and relocate to the US. Just think of all of the hassles that you'll be done with. :D








:cool:
 
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