Adam - UK Gear in the US?

Thanks Adam,

Good to know that the thread wasn't as unceremoniously 'dumped' as I suspected

Do you believe that the 1kW tranny is a limiting factor? The XPS etc are rated at less than that aren't they?

For the $1000 i 'saved' I've recently picked up an Olive Headline and a NAPSC, which I may try on the 102 also. To me, this offers greater benefit as I end up with more black boxes!! Optimising the equipment for this room/country is a little futile given my temporary position here. I'd rather invest in improvements, and optimise these when I return.

Thanks Nime, good to know I'm not alone in my musings!

Phil

quote:

Originally posted by Phil Cork:

.. there doesn't seem to be much point making the mod only to have it reversed when I come back to the UK.


Phil

There's every point and that's exactly what I did. It cost a few quid each time and it was well worth it. I knew the gear was working safely and properly with no enormous transformer sitting in the corner.

Some people like transformers.
There's a whole thread about them.
Every home has one somewhere nearby.
Many Naim boxes seem to have one.
I rest my case. (on a Hicap)

TomK,

Stepping up from 110V to 240V, and then down to 24V inside the black box, is perfectly safe and proper. Trust me, I'm trained in this! The 'enormous' tranny is only 5 or 6 inches cubed and is in the next room - not a problem, saves me $1000 in mods, which I've spent on more boxes, bargain

I think I'll just have to agree to disagree with some of you.

I'm happy, and eagerly anticipating picking up my Headline and NAPSC.

Phil

So where are you getting the $1000 figure? (If it's mentioned in the middle of this thread I apologise because I've not ploughed through it all.) It cost me about 20 quid each time as far as I remember. Done in 10 minutes while I stood watching in Russ Andrews shop in Edinburgh. I think it was a matter of unsoldering a connector from one tab on the transformer and resoldering it to another. I could have done it myself if my soldering skills had been better. Believe you me I'm not trying to encourage you to spend a fortune unnecessarily. If somebody's quoting you $1000 I think you should get a full breakdown of what they're planning to do.

We had 2 transformers when we were there and ended up barely using them as they were enormous unsightly things (9-12" square) weighing a ton with exposed connectors and which made a very audible hum. Not what you need for Naim kit!

Tom,

NANA quoted me $150 per unit, so XPS, HiCap, and 180, and possibly NAPSC when it arrives, although they said I may be able to do that myself. I was therefore costing 3*$150 each way - therefore $900, and then shipping on top of that...

I can imagine it's a simple mod, changing taps on the transformer, changing power leads (I presume I get to keep the old ones!), and changing the fuse - as Adam advised above.

If it's cheaper in the UK then fine, but still a lot of money...

The tranny's well built and is as small as I say - I'll post a pic when I get a minute!

Phil

Phil, that's OTT and I can understand why you've gone for the transformer solution. I only had the 250 and SNAPS to convert and as I said it was a simple, quick, inexpensive job. I also just replaced the UK plugs with US ones at a cost of a buck or two. And finally, perhaps transformer technology has moved on since 1987.
Anyway, good luck and enjoy your time in the USA.