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To ship or not to ship.....

Dave59

Dave59

Super Member
Moved from Australia to Texas last year and will be shipping some household stuff to our new home soon, so have to decide whether to ship my amps and CD/DAC to the states and use a step up transformer or buy new here. Will ship my speakers, and would like to hear from anyone who has had experience with step up/down transformers, and are there any brands that are better than others or audio? Have sought advice from manufacturers and importers and not really got ton much practical help
 
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I used a $120 Variac from Fry's (an electronics store here) to run my Japanese 100 volt amplifiers with. It is rated 0-130 volts, 1000 watts. It worked great. You can also use it to gently revive old tube amps. It won't work if you need 220v though - don't know what AU runs on...

If you have a turntable with a synchronous AC motor that is not for 60 Hz, that will be an issue.
 
Thanks, don't have a turntable, but did wonder whether the CD motor would be affected by 60 Hz rather than 50 Hz
 
No, that is DC and controlled by a servo.

You might just have to look inside and see if it can be rewired for 120. Smaller. newer components might have power supplies that don't need any rewiring, they just work. If it says on the back "80-250 VAC" it is a matter of a new cord. However power amps are not like that. (well very few)

Following the wires from the AC in to the switch and then the transformer should tell you. Somewhere there will be two wires from the primary connected together putting a split primary in series. To rewire those winding must be put in parallel. And in phase.

Quite a bit of equipment is not rewireable, This is no big thing with small stuff, but a step up transformer that can handle a beefy power amp can run into some bucks. If you like your peripherals, DAC, cassette, CD etc., that stuff does not pull any real power. But the amp is a different story. Give up the model number and we can look it up.
 
When you combine the cost of shipping and the step up transformer, it may be more cost effective to just start fresh. Sell the gear in your home land and use the money to fund your purchases.
 
wmgwizard said:
When you combine the cost of shipping and the step up transformer, it may be more cost effective to just start fresh. Sell the gear in your home land and use the money to fund your purchases.
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From what little I've seen in these forums about hi-fi prices in Australia, that's probably not a bad idea.
 
sqlsavior said:
From what little I've seen in these forums about hi-fi prices in Australia, that's probably not a bad idea.
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Seriously. From the crazy money stuff goes for there you could probably put together a killer system here in the states. Maybe keeping an eye out for multi-voltage stuff if you plan to move back.
I've found that living in an area that has/had a lot of military bases makes buying used stuff have a better than even chance of it being multi-voltage as 2/3rds of everything I've bought locally here in San Diego is switchable.
 
I think I would sell off the gear and then get new here, but perhaps ship the speakers if you love them.

Welcome Mate!
 
220 volts is available in the US from what I understand. Washing machines, dryers and air conditioners use it. You "might" be able to get a separate line for your amp and other gear. Might be worth investigating if you really want to take your stuff with you.
 
If it's a temporary move, I would just leave it behind. The cost of shipping plus a heavy duty transformer as well as the risk of damage during transit just isn't worth it if it's a temporary relocation. If it's a permanent move, I would also most likely consider selling and starting fresh instead of going the transformer route.

When I moved to Korea from the U.S. 3 years ago, I left behind my Naim system as well as other things that were absolutely not necessary at my parent's house since I wasn't sure how long I was going to be here.
 
No Money said:
220 volts is available in the US from what I understand. Washing machines, dryers and air conditioners use it. You "might" be able to get a separate line for your amp and other gear. Might be worth investigating if you really want to take your stuff with you.
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Yeah, 220 V (240 V, nominally) is available in the US, but only for special high power circuits, like for electric ranges, air conditioners, and electric dryers that need more power than can be had from 120 V, 15-20 A.

I say sell it off and buy again in the US.

Agree to consider keeping the speakers, after looking into how much shipping would cost vs. the value of the speakers. If you're freighting a bunch of stuff via slow boat anyway, adding a pair of speakers probably won't add much. But if they're not high-end speakers, the cost of shipping via a shipping service will probably make it not worth the cost. (not to mention trouble)

If they're good enough speakers to warrant insurance, shipping cost will go up a LOT.
 
Yup, no need for a transformer. Just drop in a 240V circuit and you're good to go (necessary plug adaptions not withstanding). As someone else mentioned, heck, just bring along a couple Aussie-style receptacles in your carry on or checked luggage.

There is no requirement that a 240V circuit be "heavy duty", only for large appliances. A single 15A 240V circuit would be more than sufficient for a few components.
 
FWIW, I picked up a couple large step up transformers cheap at a thrift store. I believe they may have been used be someone from Europe.

You may find some here, say on eBay or get a new one from Amazon. It may be cheaper than an electrician.

As said, 220 is available in the panel. Getting a wire to the stereo can be a trick.
 
OK y'all, that is bad advice.

The 240 in other countries is a hot and a neutral and a separate ground sometimes. The 240 here is balanced 120, which means you are putting a dangerous voltage on what is supposed to be the neutral.

And even if the danger doesn't get you, you are likely to get into hum problems.
Especially if this amp is to have TT to it, it should be run through a transformer.

Got two options here. One is to get the step up transformer. Another is to just get an isolation transformer for 240 volts. Actually these might be cheaper overseas, maybe. Service techs need to use them at times.

Or you could make a step up with two isolation transformers for the US. Just connect both of them in phase to the 120 and put the secondaries in series. Just remember the ampereage rating must be enough, and the VA. Buying two transformers might be more expensive than a step up.

I am not a licensed electrician but I know enough to be one. I learned from among the best. I have averted many catastrophes and this is one waiting to happen. It might not burn the house down, but there are so many different designs that you don't know what could be tolerant of impressing half the line voltage on the neutral, and is not.

I couldn't find much on this amp, how good is it ? Could you maybe sell it and pick up a high end Pioneer or something ? If it really has that special sound you like, I understand. If that is how it is, this CAN be done.

And actually, know what ? In the US there is alot of junk. We could go on a rampage looking for hefty transformers from amps that have gone all to smoke and add up the secondaries to make the voltage you need. Might be a bit awkward but might get done cheap. Put it this way, I got transformers from a JVC JR-S600 and a Sherwood AD-266R, I bet all the high current secondaries on them would add up to enough voltage. The important thing is that you can tie the neutral of the equipment to the neutral of the house wiring.

Do what you want, but simply running it off of US balanced 240 (works like a bridged power amp), if you get a problem with the power transformer in your amp, oh well. It might never happen but it might.
 
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First things first ... How replaceable is the Vincent? Looks like it got real good reviews. If you're truly a devoted fan of the beast, that makes it worth the effort to modify as necessary.

Next ... check with the manufacturer. Looks like they made country specific products, but I imagine it's mostly internal wiring with a common transformer. Maybe a simple rewire and plug adapter.

PS ... 50 or 60hz depends on how sensitive the equipment is. I can see some timing issues with ICs and such if you feed it the wrong frequency. There's a certain amount of slop in any power system, so I expect it'd depend a lot on how well designed the internal regulation of the equipment as to whether it will work or not.
 
Guys, thanks for all of the input. My employer is paying for shipping so that's a non issue. I really like the Vincent sound, and it is a good amp for the money have asked both Vincent and Audiolab for advice and they don't recommend running with a transformer. Will definitely ship the speakers as they are, to my ears anyway, excellent, and then look to buy a US amp set up, either hybrid integrated with the valve front end or a valve pre/solid state power. Can't quite bring myself to sell the Aussie stuff so might let one of my kids get some use out of it.
 
JURB said:
OK y'all, that is bad advice.

The 240 in other countries is a hot and a neutral and a separate ground sometimes. The 240 here is balanced 120, which means you are putting a dangerous voltage on what is supposed to be the neutral.
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Didn't know that. Interesting. As I might be shifting to the US in the not to distant future that makes me rethink a few things electronic.
 
We use a lot of European audio gear. We have several Seven Star and Rockstone transformers we purchased through Amazon. They allow configuration of both input and output. The ST-1000 provides 1000W. We also use an ST-2000 2000W transformer. We use them for our open-reel Studer, Sony DAT and Tascam Cassette players. Our Belgian engineers also use them for their computers and test gear when they're here. They are very easy to use as appear to do a good job. Prices new on Amazon are around $40 for the ST-1000, $90 for the ST-2000 and $109 for an ST-3000.
 
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