Folks:
I'll be in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for 2 or 3 days each in a couple of weeks and will have a little spare time between meetings. While I'm not looking to carry home very much, are there any really good audio suppliers in either city that offer unusual parts or great bargains?
Regards,
Scott
I'll be in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for 2 or 3 days each in a couple of weeks and will have a little spare time between meetings. While I'm not looking to carry home very much, are there any really good audio suppliers in either city that offer unusual parts or great bargains?
Regards,
Scott
KL is expensive for audio, both new and second hand. We have an extra layer of dealer mark up via Singapore
I asked a similar question a few years ago and was suggested the Sim Lim Square/Tower
shops in Singapore:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/parts/66535-diy-supply-shops-hong-kong-singapore.html
Unfortunately I only had a quick look there and didn't end up buying anything.
Dennis
shops in Singapore:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/parts/66535-diy-supply-shops-hong-kong-singapore.html
Unfortunately I only had a quick look there and didn't end up buying anything.
Dennis
The Adelphi Complex （S'pore main commercial Hi-End HiFi and AV center, not many parts there though）
The Adelphi (Shopping Malls) - 1 Coleman Street (S)179803
Funan Digital Mall （Opp. Adelphi. A clean and tidy new commercial electronic equipments and PC center)
Funan DigitaLife Mall
Sim Lim Tower (the main industrial electronic parts center, a famous customize Belden cable shop there - LHS Electronics)
Sim Lim Tower (Commercial Building) - 10 Jalan Besar (S)208787
Sim Lim Square (Opp. Sim Lim Tower. The croudest PC center in SG at the upper floors, AV equipments and camera shops at the lower floors, be careful if you buy AV there as the shops owners/assistants there are more cunning)
SIM LIM SQUARE
Burlington Square (Beside Sim Lim Square. Two famous local tube amp shops there, has many Fostex fullrange speaker drivers there)
Burlington Square (Apartments) - 175 Bencoolen Street (S)189649
Shaw Tower (one or two commercial HiFi shops there)
Shaw Towers
The Adelphi (Shopping Malls) - 1 Coleman Street (S)179803
Funan Digital Mall （Opp. Adelphi. A clean and tidy new commercial electronic equipments and PC center)
Funan DigitaLife Mall
Sim Lim Tower (the main industrial electronic parts center, a famous customize Belden cable shop there - LHS Electronics)
Sim Lim Tower (Commercial Building) - 10 Jalan Besar (S)208787
Sim Lim Square (Opp. Sim Lim Tower. The croudest PC center in SG at the upper floors, AV equipments and camera shops at the lower floors, be careful if you buy AV there as the shops owners/assistants there are more cunning)
SIM LIM SQUARE
Burlington Square (Beside Sim Lim Square. Two famous local tube amp shops there, has many Fostex fullrange speaker drivers there)
Burlington Square (Apartments) - 175 Bencoolen Street (S)189649
Shaw Tower (one or two commercial HiFi shops there)
Shaw Towers
Last edited:
Scott,
If you do see anything interesting, please report back. I might go to
Singapore to visit an old classmate this year.
Cheers,
Dennis
If you do see anything interesting, please report back. I might go to
Singapore to visit an old classmate this year.
Cheers,
Dennis
Dennis:
In the words of my favorite Simpsons character, okily-dokily.
Regards,
Scott
Thanks, and have a great trip.
BTW, I had a roommate (who was a student in the divinity school)
who looked exactly like Ned.
Dennis
Folks:
I’ve been travelling across Asia for the past two weeks and arrived in Singapore yesterday for meetings that were scheduled to run all day today and tomorrow. After checking into my hotel, I asked the hotel concierge for directions to Sim Lim Square and Sim Lim Tower. The concierge was shocked and strongly encouraged me to go elsewhere: “they sell counterfeit goods there and do not offer good deals. It would be better if you went to more reputable shops.” The concierge remained dubious when I explained the goal was to find unusual audio parts. But he did provide directions. Here’s what I found:
Sim Lim Square is a five story mall filled with electronics vendors; see the first photo below. Very few of the vendors sell parts; the vast majority of the stalls sell packaged electronics such as computers, video equipment, surveillance equipment, cameras, mobile phones, cables of all types and game systems (and games). The vendor located in the center of the bottom floor had bin after bin of mobile phone cables, phone chargers, cases and USB connectors. There was a vendor that sold fog machines and related theatrical equipment and a few that sold video signs and LED light displays. If you’ve been there, imagine a vertical version of NYC’s 47th Street area. The place is colorful and loud, but I cannot vouch for the provenance of anything sold at Sim Lim Square or the prices and would not return if I were looking for parts.
Sim Lim Tower, which is located a block away, was a little more interesting. While Sim Lim Tower itself appears to be about 16 stories, the vendors were located on just the 4 bottom floors. Again, I cannot vouch for the provenance of anything sold there. I was interested in buying the silicon mounts used to suspend certain laser assemblies (the VAM1202/12 in particular) from drawer assemblies in CD players (see the third photo); I mauled a couple when attempting to repair my CD player and have been having a terrible time finding a source for replacements. I showed the photo of the silicon mounts to almost every vendor in Sim Lim Tower, and almost every single one gave me a pitying smile and said “no, we don’t sell anything like that here.” What they did sell were a variety of capacitors, both big and small, a huge variety of crimp connectors, terminal blocks, audio connectors, wire (lots of Belden), soldering equipment, and odds and ends. A couple vendors had shelves of resistors and other passive parts, but I doubt any were exotic or even hard to find. There were businesses that sold hand tools, computer parts, industrial relays, control equipment, lighting equipment and loads of other non-audio parts. There were also a few of the same sort of stores found at Sim Lim Square. The few prices I checked seemed high – for example, bags of 50 or 100 small crimp connectors were selling anywhere from 11 to 18 Singapore dollars (about 8 to 15 USD at current exchange rates). I suspect you can bargain at Sim Lim Tower but, unless you have a lot of spare time, e-bay might be a more convenient and reliable source.
I had gone to the Sim Lims with the naïve hope that even if I couldn’t find the silicon mounts, I might find a treasure trove of bargains that the vendors couldn’t wait to unload on me. No such luck. In fact, I suspect that there are very few obsolete or hard-to-find parts at either place; all of the businesses seemed to stock things they expected to be able to sell without much trouble. Understand my perspective: I live in North America where the availability of parts is very good and the prices reasonably low. If I lived where parts are harder to come by, I’d likely have done a more thorough job sifting through the stalls at Sim Lim Tower.
Regards,
Scott
I’ve been travelling across Asia for the past two weeks and arrived in Singapore yesterday for meetings that were scheduled to run all day today and tomorrow. After checking into my hotel, I asked the hotel concierge for directions to Sim Lim Square and Sim Lim Tower. The concierge was shocked and strongly encouraged me to go elsewhere: “they sell counterfeit goods there and do not offer good deals. It would be better if you went to more reputable shops.” The concierge remained dubious when I explained the goal was to find unusual audio parts. But he did provide directions. Here’s what I found:
Sim Lim Square is a five story mall filled with electronics vendors; see the first photo below. Very few of the vendors sell parts; the vast majority of the stalls sell packaged electronics such as computers, video equipment, surveillance equipment, cameras, mobile phones, cables of all types and game systems (and games). The vendor located in the center of the bottom floor had bin after bin of mobile phone cables, phone chargers, cases and USB connectors. There was a vendor that sold fog machines and related theatrical equipment and a few that sold video signs and LED light displays. If you’ve been there, imagine a vertical version of NYC’s 47th Street area. The place is colorful and loud, but I cannot vouch for the provenance of anything sold at Sim Lim Square or the prices and would not return if I were looking for parts.
Sim Lim Tower, which is located a block away, was a little more interesting. While Sim Lim Tower itself appears to be about 16 stories, the vendors were located on just the 4 bottom floors. Again, I cannot vouch for the provenance of anything sold there. I was interested in buying the silicon mounts used to suspend certain laser assemblies (the VAM1202/12 in particular) from drawer assemblies in CD players (see the third photo); I mauled a couple when attempting to repair my CD player and have been having a terrible time finding a source for replacements. I showed the photo of the silicon mounts to almost every vendor in Sim Lim Tower, and almost every single one gave me a pitying smile and said “no, we don’t sell anything like that here.” What they did sell were a variety of capacitors, both big and small, a huge variety of crimp connectors, terminal blocks, audio connectors, wire (lots of Belden), soldering equipment, and odds and ends. A couple vendors had shelves of resistors and other passive parts, but I doubt any were exotic or even hard to find. There were businesses that sold hand tools, computer parts, industrial relays, control equipment, lighting equipment and loads of other non-audio parts. There were also a few of the same sort of stores found at Sim Lim Square. The few prices I checked seemed high – for example, bags of 50 or 100 small crimp connectors were selling anywhere from 11 to 18 Singapore dollars (about 8 to 15 USD at current exchange rates). I suspect you can bargain at Sim Lim Tower but, unless you have a lot of spare time, e-bay might be a more convenient and reliable source.
I had gone to the Sim Lims with the naïve hope that even if I couldn’t find the silicon mounts, I might find a treasure trove of bargains that the vendors couldn’t wait to unload on me. No such luck. In fact, I suspect that there are very few obsolete or hard-to-find parts at either place; all of the businesses seemed to stock things they expected to be able to sell without much trouble. Understand my perspective: I live in North America where the availability of parts is very good and the prices reasonably low. If I lived where parts are harder to come by, I’d likely have done a more thorough job sifting through the stalls at Sim Lim Tower.
Regards,
Scott
Attachments
if you looking for capacitor and toroid , I suggest you to contact distributor directly - online shop like RS Component / Mouser / Farnel Element14. My friend in Indonesia ever contact Singapore RS component & Singapore Mouser directly and ask for buying online but deliver in Singapore resident where they will be going to Singapore. Ask also for free shipping. Some of big component distributor can give free delivery if you buy several items.
I ever go to Sim Lim but the price was not reasonable. Never going to Funan & Burlington, but try to go there someday. Thanks
I ever go to Sim Lim but the price was not reasonable. Never going to Funan & Burlington, but try to go there someday. Thanks
".....I might find a treasure trove of bargains....."
Well you do get some nice stuff in the basement of the SimLim Tower where all the semiconductor and test equipment shops are. I got a great temp controlled Goot soldering iron at prices lower than Amazon.com. Many semiconductors are surely cheaper than American stores! Maybe you need to buy at least 50 I guess, but at low prices you could do just that. They will tell you if any part is not genuine ! I've never had a bad deal or got ripped off here.
Some parts like Alps pots might be more expensive than what you get on the Net. You might consider how much something on the Net would cost 'including' shipping while comparing prices ! But usually parts that move well appear to be lower priced.
Well you do get some nice stuff in the basement of the SimLim Tower where all the semiconductor and test equipment shops are. I got a great temp controlled Goot soldering iron at prices lower than Amazon.com. Many semiconductors are surely cheaper than American stores! Maybe you need to buy at least 50 I guess, but at low prices you could do just that. They will tell you if any part is not genuine ! I've never had a bad deal or got ripped off here.
Some parts like Alps pots might be more expensive than what you get on the Net. You might consider how much something on the Net would cost 'including' shipping while comparing prices ! But usually parts that move well appear to be lower priced.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.