Ok, now we're getting somewhere and thanks to both Ski and DD for the support.
I contacted the JBL distributor in BKK and he pointed be to some of the retailers there, but I'll stop to see him first and swing a deal. Thai's are notorious negotiators.
He said he'd give me a package deal consisting of 2- Studio 580's, 2-530's a 520 center and a 550P sub. As it happens, there all 6 Ohm's. (Don't know if that's good or bad.) Price tag is 100,000 Baht, roughly converted to the $ is $3125.00.
Searching online US pricing and using Amazon for comparison it's something like $25.00 more here.
Considering not having to slide them by customs here, and getting full warranty in Thailand, it sounds like a pretty good package price and if I can get over the rather odd design they have moved up on my short list.
Additionally, the 500 series JBL's reviews have been glowing throughout the web, so it would confirm the feedback and recommendations I'm getting here are spot on.
The real issue here is matching an AVR to speakers (which I know should come first.) at a fair price, somewhat comparable to the US or Europe, hence the reason for this post. I can audition them in BKK on my way back to the US, but in actuality it's will probably be in a acoustically corrected room.
I'm now gathering info on the Pioneer, Marantz and HK DD mentioned and will get back soon.
But based on the JBL's 6 Ohm rating and output, how much juice will I need to light um' up?
For example:
Marantz
SR 7009 9.2 200w x 9 @6 ohms then another spec says 125W (0.08% @ 8 Ohm).
And the 5009 gets even worse.
SR 5009 7.1 180w x 7
The overview says 180W from the seven amplifiers but the specs page says:
Power Output (6 ohm, 1 kHz, 1% 1ch Drive)180 W
Power Output (6 ohm, 1 kHz, 0.7% 2ch Drive)140 W
Power Output (8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.08% 2ch Drive)100 W
As hard as I've tried and searched, I can't wrap my head around this.
Can you enlighten me??
Thanks again