Hello kevin
Well the problem on this amp is that they have a Distributor here in the USA so they will not be allowed to sell me this amp in 120v.
I will not pay the retail for the amp here in the usa even after knowing how cheap i can get it from china for.
I have called the Distributor many times and sent an e-mail with no reply"talk about service".
nysound.com sells the same amp in 110v,but from what i have been reading on the net many people have had problems with these--maybe the modded transformers were not installed correctly.
Just don't know--that why i was looking at the 220v
And the stancor stepdown that was recommended to me here looks like it does not have enough amp draw.
Maybe this is something i should just pass and not mess with anymore,but i think this would be an outstanding sounding amp.Even for an die hard tube person like myself.
Well the problem on this amp is that they have a Distributor here in the USA so they will not be allowed to sell me this amp in 120v.
I will not pay the retail for the amp here in the usa even after knowing how cheap i can get it from china for.
I have called the Distributor many times and sent an e-mail with no reply"talk about service".
nysound.com sells the same amp in 110v,but from what i have been reading on the net many people have had problems with these--maybe the modded transformers were not installed correctly.
Just don't know--that why i was looking at the 220v
And the stancor stepdown that was recommended to me here looks like it does not have enough amp draw.
Maybe this is something i should just pass and not mess with anymore,but i think this would be an outstanding sounding amp.Even for an die hard tube person like myself.
These amplifiers are undoubtedly built in several versions, one to support 230V operation, one for 120V operation, and most likely one for 100V operation. (Japan)
My suspicion and prior experience tells me that if the 120V model is unreliable, then a 230V version is likely to be exactly the same. Changing the primary windings ratio is a very trivial design change. On this basis I would say this model would merit a pass, and I would seriously consider looking at something else.
I would expect your experience with the 230V version of this amplifier to be as bad as what others are experiencing with the US version, and worse since it is a gray market unit, you will have a lot of difficulty getting it repaired.
I distributed Chinese made amplifiers (of my design) here in the US and after extensive rework prior to sale, they were and have been extremely reliable. My mark up was intended to cover reasonable business expenses and to assure that my clients had someone to turn to in moments of difficulty. Depending on your skill level this may not be a problem, but is something you might want to consider.
Still the variety of neat little amplifiers, headphone amps, and pre-amps, not to mention cd/dvd players is quite enticing. I can well understand the allure.
I have 240V hifi equipment in my system and I have the option of running off of single phase 240V out of the wall or an isolation step-up transformer - which I markedly prefer. Currently I have a European Sony SACD single disk player that was never sold here with lots of mods. It doesn't sound that good..
One of these days I might finish the tweaks.
Good Luck!
My suspicion and prior experience tells me that if the 120V model is unreliable, then a 230V version is likely to be exactly the same. Changing the primary windings ratio is a very trivial design change. On this basis I would say this model would merit a pass, and I would seriously consider looking at something else.
I would expect your experience with the 230V version of this amplifier to be as bad as what others are experiencing with the US version, and worse since it is a gray market unit, you will have a lot of difficulty getting it repaired.
I distributed Chinese made amplifiers (of my design) here in the US and after extensive rework prior to sale, they were and have been extremely reliable. My mark up was intended to cover reasonable business expenses and to assure that my clients had someone to turn to in moments of difficulty. Depending on your skill level this may not be a problem, but is something you might want to consider.
Still the variety of neat little amplifiers, headphone amps, and pre-amps, not to mention cd/dvd players is quite enticing. I can well understand the allure.
I have 240V hifi equipment in my system and I have the option of running off of single phase 240V out of the wall or an isolation step-up transformer - which I markedly prefer. Currently I have a European Sony SACD single disk player that was never sold here with lots of mods. It doesn't sound that good..
One of these days I might finish the tweaks. Good Luck!
They claim it has some sort of adaptive bias scheme, but the heat sinks do seem quite small as do the toroids. For these kind of power levels in a class A amplifier I would expect to see something like a 750VA - 1kVA toroid for each channel as a minimum.
Large, possibly badly designed class A transistor amplifiers are something to avoid in my book.
IMO No SS amplifier ever sounds that close to a good tube amplifier, it may well sound good in its own right, but if you like the particular colorations of tube based circuits then an SS amplifier no matter how good is not going to fit the bill for long.
IMO all devices, whether active or passive have colorations.
I'm not a fan of SS amplifiers at all incidentally. Hope that is QUITE obvious...
Large, possibly badly designed class A transistor amplifiers are something to avoid in my book.
IMO No SS amplifier ever sounds that close to a good tube amplifier, it may well sound good in its own right, but if you like the particular colorations of tube based circuits then an SS amplifier no matter how good is not going to fit the bill for long.
IMO all devices, whether active or passive have colorations.
I'm not a fan of SS amplifiers at all incidentally. Hope that is QUITE obvious...
wa2ise said:
Hi
Is this true for solid state equipment too?
I have a 230V British amplifier and turntable (converted to 60Hz operation but still ~230V) which I'm running through a 110-240 stepup transformer. I was wondering if I could have my electrician wire in some 2-phase 220V outlets?
Thanks
gsintcaf
In North America, you have 240 coming to the house. It is called split phase, and is just a center tapped xformer 120-0-120. Your a/c, stove, electric hotwater heater, dryer, etc run 240. All the lights, wall sockets, etc use center tap as neutral and a 120 leg.
I should also add, that it will not be like Eurovolts, in that there really isn't a neutral. Both legs are hot, just opposite phase. Something to think about re: power switching, fusing and grounding, especially with an el-cheapo chinese amp.
I should also add, that it will not be like Eurovolts, in that there really isn't a neutral. Both legs are hot, just opposite phase. Something to think about re: power switching, fusing and grounding, especially with an el-cheapo chinese amp.
Huh? All this chatter for a chinese sand amp? Why?
Attention RogerWilco! Surf over to the chip amp forum, and see if anyone will build up an LM4780 amp for you. I built one for about $100. Sounds quite tasty for a sand amp. 100 watts parallel and, dunno, might be close to 300 watts bridged. That forum is very active, and will give better support than china, and you'll end up with something much more reliable. A lot of smart people worked pretty hard on those kits.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=40
http://www.chipamp.com
http://www.audiosector.com
Attention RogerWilco! Surf over to the chip amp forum, and see if anyone will build up an LM4780 amp for you. I built one for about $100. Sounds quite tasty for a sand amp. 100 watts parallel and, dunno, might be close to 300 watts bridged. That forum is very active, and will give better support than china, and you'll end up with something much more reliable. A lot of smart people worked pretty hard on those kits.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=40
http://www.chipamp.com
http://www.audiosector.com
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Many European power plugs "Schuko" will fit into their sockets either way, so the neutral and hot get randomly swapped. So European equipment needs to be built expecting either line to be hot. So European equipment running off of American 120-0-120V shouldn't be a problem. As far as power switching is concerned, there is always some bit of wire inside the equipment that stays hot no matter how the switching is done. That's why they say to pull the power plug before taking the covers off...
Yes, the equipment won't know nor care. The electrician will install a 2 pole circuit breaker in your panel for this 220V circuit. The poles will be mechanically linked together so a short on one side will disconnect both sides, so you won't have a dead but still hot from the other side circuit. Have him run 4 wire cable (2 hots, a neutral and a ground) so you can have 110V as well as 220V.
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