barua

Hello,
Has anyone moved their home theatre kit to US and if so what's the safest so that they are not damaged in transit. What was your experience?
I am aware of the voltage differences and was planning to buy step up transformers from maplin and take them along so that I can use my avr, blurray player and my blurry collection along with 9 speakers

dj6372

The safest way, sell the lot on EBay, and buy new over here, Electronics toys are ultra cheap, and it save faffing around with transporting them, transformers etc

steveq

You may well find a lot of your kit is dual voltage. Take a careful look.

barua

I considered selling route but will lose some money.
It's some nice avr kit recently bought so it's almost the same price there not as cheap as I thought. Best if i keep them. Unfortunately though it's top range amp doesn't have dual voltage.
Hence checking to see if anyone safely transported them.

Pulaski

Well I have always kept the boxes my hifi and A/V gear came in, so given that much of it was shipped one third of the way around the world without damage before I even bought it, I would say that putting it back in the original packaging would be optimal. .... Which is what I did, and that alone was sufficient. If you have a turntable the shipping bolts should be put back too.

If you chucked the original packaging, I would find the toughest cardboard packing boxes and pack them with LOTS of packing peanut - six inches in the bottom before putting anything in, then several inches between each item, and only one or two items in each box. I'd probably wrap each item in bubblewrap too before putting them in the box.

Using some of those interlocking-top plastic storage crates, instead of cardboard boxes, would be another possibility. You can get cheap ones like this:
from B&Q or Homebase, or more robust ones from commercial suppliers of storage crates.

If you are going down the route of using transformers make sure that they are "smoothing" transformers, because US power is notoriously "noisy" with spikes and interference which can impact the use of quality hifi gear. Also be sure that the transformers can handle the power for an amplifier, as they can make very high short-term power demands - my amp is plugged in to a 2Kw smoothing transformer.

livinginnyc

I'd echo the other people on selling the kit and re-buying it here. You might lose cash on it short term, but It's an off-set between shipping (and possible custom fees) vs buying the kit here cheaper anyway. Personal preference, but I wouldn't run an amp on a transformer (certainly not long term anyway).

I'm sure you're probably aware of this but be unless you've 'modded' your Bluray, you'll have region issues. Pending any picture kit/how you've set it up, there are also potential issues with PAL vs A/NTSC - Just throwing it out there as you may have that already covered!

If you're set on bringing it all over here, and its expensive kit, I'd advise in investing in some decent flight-cases where you can cut the foam inserts to house your equipment. That way your equipment will take a beating but still come out the other-side unscathed. You can then chose if you want to have it flown ($$$$) or shipped ($$$).

Hope this helps!

Pulaski

There are no customs fees or duties for personal possessions that you have owned longer that six (?) months.
PAL transmissions were halted the UK in 2012.

livinginnyc

DVB vs ATSC then ^^

steveq

If you use the HDMI port, nothing is incompatible. We have been using our old british tv here for two years,

barua

Thanks Pulaski, livinginnyc and steveq. That's some wonderful advise there. Yes I'm aware that my Blu ray player will only run region b about 60 bluray collection. Given that my employer pays for shipping some by air and by sea, planning to take as many. That's one good point over customs there. Let me check a bit on that.

steveq

As Pulaski notes, there is no duty on personal effects, older than 6 mo.

Steve

Abu Nazir

came in to say this, stuff is so much cheaper here vs the uk. don't get why people are so desperate to keep their crap and mess around with transformers and adapters when you can a replacement at best buy 20/30% cheaper than what you'd pay at curry's

Pulaski

Some people have stuff that is better than the crap you buy at Curry's. ..... Just like some people drive a Porsche and enjoy it rather more than driving a Kia.

mrken30

Marshall amps seem to be more expensive in the US, same with Dysons. Some quality stuff is either more available or cheaper in the UK

Pulaski

When I moved to the US, flat panel TVs were a LOT cheaper in the UK, though still insanely expensive by today's standards. At the time the manufacturers were milking the US market for the huge CRT and projector TVs (that were far too big for British homes and had never sold in any numbers other than to businesses and schools), knowing full well that US consumers would toss out their huge TVs a few years later to buy a flat panel TV.