11/11 saw Stylelaser, CMY have some planned sale on Shopee & Lazada. Not much discount though.
I plan to get some new speakers from the UK or US for Black Friday. I hope there are some good discounts, if not then I'll just wait for stock clearance. Not in a hurry.

Managed to get a second PSB Subseries 300 used unit for a good price. Having 2 x 12" subs is amazing I must say
So for subs on a budget (as opposed to a budget sub), going used is a good idea.

Depends on where I find the best deals.
In life cannot worry too much, need to take some risks

Did they just charge you 10‰ sales tax on importation?
I notice that there is no import duties on loudspeakers, just the sales tax.

Oh I see. So previously they had import duty of 10%. Based on the current rates from Customs, there are no import duties, only Sales Tax of 10%. So its now slightly cheaper to import speakers.

Happy bargain hunting

What amp are you using?
Even the depth of Marantz MM8077 and Anthem MRX 1120 are below 40cm and these are quite beefy but the bulk makes them taller not deeper. Do you have one of those narrow but very deep stereo amps?
If you are in KL, you can visit the many furniture shops around Jln Kuching (near the Taman Wahyu area), you should be able to find a cabinet that is slightly deeper 45-50cm. If you need around 60cm, I think you have no choice but to get it customised.

AV Receivers with bluetooth transmitters are a relatively new thing and thus are not cheap since you can't just get an older or used model.
A better alternative is to buy a bluetooth receiver & transmitter dongle and plug it into one of the AVRs inputs or to your PC. The PC dongle and amplifier dongles are usually not the same thing due to different connection options.

Anyway, what do you mean by speaker set? How many speakers do you want? Subwoofer included?

To be honest, your budget is barely enough for a new AVR and will leave very little money for speakers. I don't intend to discourage you or ask you to increase your budget, but my advice will be to look for used AVRs / stereo integrated amplifiers and a pair of decent used book shelf speakers. This will get you started on your audio journey and give you more satisfaction in terms of audio quality not to mention keep you within your budget for now. The alternative is to buy one of those packaged home theater sets which may look more appealing on the surface but is usually very mediocre compared to what I am suggesting.

This is what I meant with the bolded part in my earlier reply. If you prefer more speakers and bad sound then can go for this choice.
Otherwise, go with the 2 floor stand / book shelf speakers and AVR. The active speaker choice suggested by KTEK is also a good and simple option for newbies.

Wharfedale Crystal if you want to buy without hearing first. I think its a safer bet.

Do you have active surround speakers? If yes, you will need to have cables & power point for them at the place you are going to place them (in addition to the wireless kit).
If they are passive speakers, how are you going to send power via wireless?

We have all (most) been through the process of thinking that we can't run wires for surround speakers but now most of us do. The bottom line is once you know how good your system can sound, you will find a way

Agree
By the way what speaker cables do you use?

You have some nice cables there, especially the Vermouth
I have been using Oxygen cables for a while now and only realized how good they are after trying some other mainstream cables (Transparent and QED) which are more expensive but are considered entry level for those brands.
Will probably keep them running-in for awhile and see how it goes. But right now I am liking my cheap Oxygen cables a lot more and I understand why it was recommended in this forum a few years back.

You can always buy from overseas if you want. But my advice will be to stick to wired surrounds. Wireless speakers commonly have latency issues and the fact that the device needs to convert digital source from the transmitter using its internal DAC which will be different from your receiver and use a different amplifier (from your main receiver). Its unnecessarily complicated and expensive and might still give you results which are not as good as simple wired surrounds.

Running wires is easier compared to going through all the loops above. When there's a will there's a way

Yes, your budget is too little for a decent 5.1.2 Atmos system and yes, you can do better if you decide to spend the same amount on a 2.1 system. You can do even better if you are willing to go used.
Cheap Atmos setup is too over-rated. Nowadays everyone is looking for atmos in soundbars, headphones, handphones, etc. In my experience, a good 2.1 system is always better than a cheap atmos system especially at the same price point (this is probably true until you get to a budget >20k). You can even start with 2.0 first and add the sub later. As kevinlim001 said, a good sub starts at >3k, so if RM6.5k is all you can spend now, can leave the sub for later. But if you go used, probably can get an AVR, front speakers and a sub within RM6.5k.

For new speakers I would recommend Wharfedale Evo 4.2 Shopee
These are very good speakers for their price. Must also budget RM500-1,000 for good stands for them. Take note that these speakers will need some experimentation with positioning and toe-in, but once placed right, they are quite awesome.

For amplifier, I don't really have a preferred unit within your budget range but these Yamaha WXA-50 Shopee are pretty good for their low price. It comes with music streaming capabilities, has optical input as well as sub-woofer out. They have about 50 watts per channel at 8 Ohms (class-D Icepower modules) so quite decent.

The above recommendation assumes you want to stick with 2.0 or 2.1 and not aspiring to add centre, surround and height speakers later on. If you want to add more speakers later on, then should get an AV Receiver.

This post has been edited by gobiomani: May 6 2021, 03:51 PM

Referring to the bolded part, that is some lofty claim you made there. Can you give some details of what you have tried and compared against what amp system to come to your conclusion?
Really interested to know as I always thought that soundbars are rubbish and cannot compete with amps + passive speakers of similar value. If soundbars have indeed improved so much I would also be keen to give them a try.
Thanks in advance.

Ok, so you are just a newbie who have just discovered atmos and are now preaching about its goodness. Saw your post in another thread where you posted the same link. Welcome to the audio world!
I agree about space, many people like soundbars for their form factor and this is fine, but to claim that they sound great compared to separate amps & speakers is misleading.
For "great" sound, I will choose a pair of passive speakers with an amplifier over any "Atmos" soundbar (of comparable value) every single time.

You want active bookshelf speakers or passive ones? Passive ones will need a separate amplifier and maybe a DAC and streamer depending on your source. Do you plan to use it for your TV only?