Using UK equipment in USA

David, don't use step-up transformers - performance will take a considerable hit, making it a waste of money.  Best to have the voltage properly changed by the factory before moving from the UK to the US.  Some equipment just requires a re-wire, fuse change and re-label, while others may require a new transformer and re-label.  Ask the service dept. for a quote to have this done.

Thought as much Richard, thanks. 

David O,

Are you moving into your own property in the US?  If so, I would give serious consideration to having a dedicated 240-volt circuit installed in your listening room. US mains panels almost always have additional vacant breaker positions and it's a simple matter of fitting a 2-pole breaker to get a 240-volt circuit. Easy job for a qualified electrician and very likely cheaper than voltage converting your three boxes.

Most US homes already have existing 240-volt circuits for electric clothes dryers, stoves and ranges, and sometimes 240-volts circuits in the garage for compressors or welders, so it's nothing unusual.

In your case then it's just a matter of having a UK socket (which you may have to order yourself) installed at the end of your dedicated 240-volt circuit.

And if someday you move back to the UK, take your unconverted Naim boxes right back with you.

Now that is a very useful & helpful suggestion...!!  I had heard that some US and/or Canadian homes had a 'high voltage' supply, but did not know it was quite common.

It's not just voltage that's different, but also mains frequency.  The US is 60Hz whether 120 or 240V, whereas UK and Europe Naim equipment requires 230V 50Hz.

[@mention:1566878603942595] - Are you saying that 240v AC at 60Hz is NOT OK.....?

Looking quickly at the Naim website - picked the Hicap -

The voltage is not selectable on the unit - You have to specify at time of order.  You can have a Hicap in 115V 60Hz (for US/Canada) or in 230V 50 Hz (for UK, Europe and other parts of the world). 100V is a special for Japan, and I'm not sure whether that's currently available.

Ian, I'm no electrician, and I'm not a Naim engineer, so I honestly don't know what the implications are of running 230V 50Hz Naim equipment on a US 240V 60Hz mains supply.  You would be best asking Naim themselves, or perhaps mailing someone like Chris West at AVOptions who has had a great deal of experience with Naim kit between the UK and US.

Richard Dane posted:

The voltage is not selectable on the unit - You have to specify at time of order.  You can have a Hicap in 115V 60Hz (for US/Canada) or in 230V 50 Hz (for UK, Europe and other parts of the world). 100V is a special for Japan, and I'm not sure whether that's currently available.

Whilst this statement is correct, does it have any bearing? Pardon me for challenging, but mains frequency is unlikely to be a critical factor, so finding this surprising I just looked at a photos of the 272 and 250 units on the website, To note that whilst bearing the 230v label neither also state a specific frequency, the only information on frequency being given as 50/60Hz.

Richard- Looking now in the back panel of a 140, which I happened to have nearby.....  'AC Only 50/60Hz' - mine has a Green 240V sticker on it. 

I agree that Naim and/or AVOptions should give the definitive view on this. What you have said is certainly 'safe'.

I've read several times where running gear designed for 230V 50Hz at 240V 60Hz is preferable. Apparently the increased cycles are a benefit, which makes some logical sense, but I'm no engineer.

My Plinius amp (from Australia, 230V 50 HZ supply) is equipped to allow a simple change of jumpers internally to switch between the two voltages. In fact, the North American distributor recommended to me that should I ever install a dedicated circuit going with 240V is a no brainer for Plinius. Then again, there may be some design compromises involved in allowing for this convenient switchability versus a dedicated voltage conversion within the unit.

IB, as to the bearing, I have already stated that I don't know for sure and have thus directed the OP to ask someone who would knowfor sure what the implications might be in relation to Naim equipment.

I don't like to speculate or guess on this kind of thing. It may well work, but how will the kit perform?  Or there may be a very good reason why it should not be connected to a US 240V 60Hz supply (I recall from my days in the US that the supply is rather different to what we have in the UK and you do need to be a bit careful with some kit).  Either way, I'm no expert on this, so much better to ask someone who is better qualified to answer.

My contribution seems appears out of sync, presumably due to having been delayed for approval, and I note the point had already been made by the time it appeared.

But of course, I fully agree that definitive advice from the manufacturer is best.

Naim Audio gear sold in North America is tagged with 115V stickers while the power supply in both the US and Canada is 120V. Caribbean nations operate on 110V. Each at 60 Hz.

Pretty much tells me how much to be concerned about +/- 5V of current at 115V, or for that matter +/- 10V at 230V. And how often are you ever getting the exact stated voltage delivered to your home?

Then again, this is the Naim forum.

joerand posted:

I've read several times where running gear designed for 230V 50Hz at 240V 60Hz is preferable. Apparently the increased cycles are a benefit, which makes some logical sense, but I'm no engineer.

My Plinius amp (from Australia, 230V 50 HZ supply) is equipped to allow a simple change of jumpers internally to switch between the two voltages. In fact, the North American distributor recommended to me that should I ever install a dedicated circuit going with 240V is a no brainer for Plinius. Then again, there may be some design compromises involved in allowing for this convenient switchability versus a dedicated voltage conversion within the unit.

Hi Joe, Plinius has never been an Australian product ,The progenitor of the brand Peter Thompson is an Australian but all Plinius product is and has been built in New Zealand.

As most of the world has harmonised on either 50Hz or 60Hz with some countries using multiple frequencies i doubt there will be an issue (and indeed the UK didn't standardise on 50Hz until after the Second World War). Critically a transformer supporting 50Hz will be larger and more expensive than one solely supporting 60Hz - and a 60Hz transformer might run slightly warmer than a 50Hz due to eddy current inefficiencies... however looking at my local toroidal transformer catalogue it is minimum frequencies that are stated and essentially I saw  a choice of between 48Hz or 50Hz minimum supporting most of the global mains voltages - so I suspect the Naim transformers will be fine at 60Hz with them having a minimum frequency of 50Hz. But again easily dealt with with a quick call to Naim customer care.

In my pre Naim era, I ran a UK style 50Hz stereo system from a certain Scottish manufacturer, in the US on a high capacity step-up transformer for many years. Everything was as cool as a cucumber and it sounded okay. The biggest issue was tripping over the transformer which was a complete PITA so I don't really recommend it except for a very short term temporary measure.

BTW, I also ran my UK power tools across 2-phases of the 110v supply as described by Joerand above. I'm very sure that my adaptor cable didn't comply with code but the power tools worked just fine although I never worked alone. My fancy orbital sander didn't do so well coming the other way though 

I know for a fact that Cyrus equipment requires an entirely different transformer for US spec equipment. You cannot just connect UK spec equipment to a US 240 volt circuit.

badlands posted:

..You cannot just connect UK spec equipment to a US 240 volt circuit.

Why? - some of the world uses 240volt 60Hz as standard - I am not aware of any warnings of any domestic equipment designed for 50Hz saying it cant run at 60Hz. In some countries you have a mixture of 50Hz and 60Hz and I have never seen variants of consumer products for these different specs and it could be a real PITA with shops having to stock two variants - one for 50Hz and one for 60Hz and I suspect most consumers in those countries wouldn't even know what their utility frequency was.

I have checked my Cyrus manuals - there is no mention of utility frequency - just that the device is either set for 230V (220-240)  or 115V  (110-120).......

joerand posted:

Naim Audio gear sold in North America is tagged with 115V stickers while the power supply in both the US and Canada is 120V. Caribbean nations operate on 110V. Each at 60 Hz.

Pretty much tells me how much to be concerned about +/- 5V of current at 115V, or for that matter +/- 10V at 230V. And how often are you ever getting the exact stated voltage delivered to your home?

Then again, this is the Naim forum.

Perhaps you should stop it Joerand, that sounds to logical.

However, I guess the million question, that begs to be answered!

Does Naim use the same transformers in their UK, and US versions?

Amps: 500>300>250

PS: 555>SC->HC

Allante93!

PS:

"Electrical sockets (outlets) in the United States of America USUALLY supply electricity at between 110 and120 volts AC. If you're plugging in an appliance that is compatible with multiple voltages, then an adapter is all you need."

PLUG TYPE: G ~ UK, B ~ US

joerand posted:

Pretty much tells me how much to be concerned about +/- 5V of current at 115V, or for that matter +/- 10V at 230V. And how often are you ever getting the exact stated voltage delivered to your home?

Likely never.

When Europe standardised on 230V they created a new "standard" which would encompass both the historical UK 240V and mainland Europe 220V standards.

So the European power generation is actually ... (in the UK) 240VAC + 6% and - 10% or (in mainland Europe) 220VAC +10% and -6%.  The 220V standard encompasses everything from European undervoltage of 206.8V upto UK overvoltage of 254.4V.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

badlands posted:

..You cannot just connect UK spec equipment to a US 240 volt circuit.

Why? - some of the world uses 240volt 60Hz as standard - I am not aware of any warnings of any domestic equipment designed for 50Hz saying it cant run at 60Hz. In some countries you have a mixture of 50Hz and 60Hz and I have never seen variants of consumer products for these different specs and it could be a real PITA with shops having to stock two variants - one for 50Hz and one for 60Hz and I suspect most consumers in those countries wouldn't even know what their utility frequency was.

I have checked my Cyrus manuals - there is no mention of utility frequency - just that the device is either set for 230V (220-240)  or 115V  (110-120).......

You learn something everyday!

But it appears, that a Super Power, would not be amongst a handful!

"Typically, either 120-volt AC or 240-volt AC is used. Most countries use 50Hz (50 Hertz or 50 cycles per second) as their AC frequency. Only a handful use 60Hz. The standard in the United States is 120V and 60Hz AC electricity.Mar 26, 2017"

What are the Advantages, or Disadvantages?

Allante93!

PS: 54% of are Budget is dedicated towards Defense to Police the World!

I know the Padded Cell!

Allante93 posted:

Most countries use 50Hz (50 Hertz or 50 cycles per second) as their AC frequency. Only a handful use 60Hz. The standard in the United States is 120V and 60Hz AC electricity.Mar 26, 2017"

What are the Advantages, or Disadvantages? 

  its a friggin' nuisance for manufacturers,  but It is what it is & in use it has niether pros or cons.    However higher voltage like 230v (vs 120v) means power cables can be aprx 50% smaller diameter to carry same wattage & similar for switch & power outlet ratings.   So higher voltage has potentially a small cost saving for the consumer,  but in practice its not really applicable as each country has its own set of domestic regulations that don't really allow comparison.        

Allante,

the answer to your question re. the transformers is that some are the same and some aren't - it depends on the model in question.  Some will be dedicated to a particular voltage (IIRC the i series introduced this), others will be re-wirable to work on either 230V/50Hz or 115V/60Hz.  I don't know exactly which is which these days as it's been some years since I took note of these things from when I was working at the factory, however, a quick question to Steve Hopkins at Naim for any particular unit should give you a prompt answer.

Of course, the transformer tolerances allow so that they can usually run 210-250V and 100-130V respectively.  And anecdotal evidence suggests that in parts of rural Australia voltages over 250V have been recorded and the transformers have seemingly coped Ok with that as well.

Reflecting on this, if the US so-called "240v" is actually derived from two phases 120° out of phase (as in 2 phases of a 3 phase generated supply), each of 120v RMS, then the voltage of the combined supply is actually 208v RMS, not 240v at all. 

The question then is whether the equipment can cope adequately with that low a voltage. It is just within the UK supply tolerance as noted by Eloise - provided that the real supply voltage doesn't drop much below 120v per phase.

if the above is the case then it would indeed be a question for the manufacturer - bur first would need to be confirmation of what the supply actually is, and I don't know if that might vary from between different States, so must be confirmed locally.