Using US equipment in Europe

I am moving to Norway and would like opinion as to whether I should bring my Triton Sevens and other audio equipment, or sell and buy something there.

 

Speakers should be fine.... but amps and stuff that plugs onto electrical outlets are different.....from the different current to the plug. Besides, you will find excellent gear there that's not sold State side.

 

Good point on different product availability. It also depends with how happy OP is with his current setup. As far as I know voltage converters aren't the cheapest thing, and you would need it in this case.
Just my advice.

 

In my opinion.... Europe and especially Japan, who learned the trade from America, as well as most of ASIA has past America in the audio hobbyist as well as manufacturing department.

 

I'd tend to agree too in most cases, especially when it comes to music/audio stuff.

 

@LordD I moved my equipment with me when I left England and returned to Canada. The only thing I sold was my cd player as I couldn't convert the voltage easily i.e. it wasn't just a simple fuse and switch change. But for everything else it wasn't an issue. I'm not that familiar with your gear but I did a bit of googling...

Music Hall a15.3- I had a look at pictures online and from what I can see there's a voltage selector at the back so you should be able to bring that with you and not worry about any external voltage conversion. A new power cord won't cost you much either. You might need to change the fuse but that should be pretty easy. I'd send an email to Music Hall and ask them if for clarification.

I think you might be able to bring your AT-LP120 with you as well based on the specs without the need for a converter. Again you should email them for confirmation but the specs say input 115/230V AC, 60/50 Hz.

I don't think the Onyko can do 240 without an external converter and you might need to deal with the 50/60hz difference as well, so I think this will need to be replaced.

Speakers will be no problem as Slippers-on mentioned above.

As colby2415 mentioned, I think a lot will depend on how happy you are with your current system. If you're in the mood for a change or upgrade it might be worth selling and buying new but if you've like what you have and see no need to change I'd bring what you can with you.

Even if you did want a change, bringing your current gear still makes sense to me because 1) you'll have something to use right away and 2) you can sell it in Norway. I could argue for a sell and buy there plan as well.

Really it's up to you and what works best for your scenario, but in terms of whether your gear will work there with minimal fuss, then yes most of it will.

I'm really glad I brought mine with me.

 

When I relocated to the UK from the US, I only brought gear that had switchable power supplies, and my speakers - so I left my amps in the US. I convinced myself it was a good opportunity to experiment with new gear, and purchased a new amp when I arrived.

My experiences with power converters have been mediocre at best (not with audio gear, just in general - kitchen appliances and whatnot).

 

Using 110V gear in 220V countries, no problem (a coupla decks on my rig are plugged into a transformer.

The other way around is a PITA unless it's switchable (dual voltage) from the factory.

 

I live overseas and have my U.S. Stereo with me. It's not a big deal. Get a step-up / step-down voltage converter and you will be set. Your amplifier will present the largest load by far so find out how many watts it draws and get a converter based on that amount.

 

I have a US amp set for UK voltage (of 230 volts) but as I understand it is designed for a frequency of 60Hz (the US value). In the UK it is 50Hz and whilst I can't be sure I've heard it is possible that the hum that I used to get on this amp was associated with this - it had a frequency of 150Hz (the hum was virtually eliminated by using a power regenerator).

 

Dont forget your LPs....

 

I disagree.

 

Ok.

 

eddiel - Thank you! Hmm, I've never changed a fuse in my life so even that is daunting. Bet I can learn though. I will take your advice in spirit at least.

I WILL bring the Golden Ear Triton sevens for sure. Not sure about the turntable and the Music Hall amp...

I forgot to mention that I also have a Marantz MM7025 power amp which I like a lot.

I also have an early beogram turntable which I may bring despite it not working...

 

eddiel,

Roy hall confirmed switch on a15.3 is for 230v so that is coming with me.

If you don't mind my asking, which company did you trust with shipping to Europe?

Regards,
LordD

 

I still have a 30 year old Technics turntable that I brought overseas from the USA many years ago. It works fine with a step-down transformer.

 

I went the other way around...Europe to Canada

I can't recall who I used off the top of my head but I still have the records. I'll check and PM you. They were really great. Like most shipping companies they dealt with a lot of the paper work but what I really liked about them is that were able to get the shipment over to me in about 6 weeks via sea. They put all my stuff on pallets and then wrapped it all in white plastic so it was bundled together really well.

I'm sure they ship either way. But I can't really recall.

If the people I used don't pan out, and you're probably going to do this anyway, spend time researching shipping companies and try and find reviews of them. It's worth the effort.

 

If they put dual or laddered primaries on a power transformer it would seem obvious that it is good for 50 hz or 60 Hz, but the obvious isn't necessarily true. Power transformers work better on higher frequencies, up to a point, in most cases, at least the ones of the types in audio equipment. In general any small transformer "designed for" 50 hz will run cooler on 60 Hz, and the rest of the power supply will work better as well. Unless it has some sort of resonant circuit, or is a ferroresonant transformer. I have never seen one in an audio amplifier.