How to use a Audio Research 230v preaamp in the US

thestewman · Oct 23, 2014

i have the opportunity to by a rare Audio Research preamp.
The problem is it is a european model setup at 230v input.
Anyone know who does Audio Research voltage changes as the factory has a policy not to not do them.
i have a 220v Ac line available but it consistently measures around 252v (126v on each leg) and I worry that that voltage may be too high.
So again I am asking for advice or ideas

Peter Breuninger · Oct 23, 2014

I would contact Audio Research and have them do it. You don't want to skimp on a classic piece of audio equipment.

Steve Williams · Oct 23, 2014

I agree. It's an easy fix at their factory

microstrip · Oct 23, 2014

thestewman said:
i have the opportunity to by a rare Audio Research preamp.
The problem is it is a european model setup at 230v input.
Anyone know who does Audio Research voltage changes as the factory has a policy not to not do them.
i have a 220v Ac line available but it consistently measures around 252v (126v on each leg) and I worry that that voltage may be too high.
So again I am asking for advice or ideas

It will depend on the type and age of the preamplifier. Equipment prepared to work in the UK (240V before the CE directives) was prepared to accept even higher mains supply without any problem. Better asking the factory if your distributor has doubts on it.

thestewman · Oct 23, 2014

Peter Breuninger said:
I would contact Audio Research and have them do it. You don't want to skimp on a classic piece of audio equipment.

Steve Williams said:
I agree. It's an easy fix at their factory

microstrip said:
It will depend on the type and age of the preamplifier. Equipment prepared to work in the UK (240V before the CE directives) was prepared to accept even higher mains supply without any problem. Better asking the factory if your distributor has doubts on it.

Yes, I thought so also but Audio Research believes otherwise.

"As stated our Service Policies on our web site—we do not perform voltage conversions on our products. If you wish, you could use the unit with a step up transformer."

Best Regards,

Kalvin Dahl
Customer Support Manager

LL21 · Oct 23, 2014

Wow...disappointing. Conrad Johnson by contrast will actually fax the diagram same day so you know exactly what to do to 'move the taps' and convert voltage.

microstrip · Oct 23, 2014

thestewman said:
Yes, I thought so also but Audio Research believes otherwise.

"As stated our Service Policies on our web site—we do not perform voltage conversions on our products. If you wish, you could use the unit with a step up transformer."

Best Regards,

Kalvin Dahl
Customer Support Manager

Can we know what is the model of preamplifier? Although they do not perform voltage conversions to current products to protect their international distributors, they instruct their distributors on how to do it in discontinued equipment.

microstrip · Oct 23, 2014

LL21 said:
Wow...disappointing. Conrad Johnson by contrast will actually fax the diagram same day so you know exactly what to do to 'move the taps' and convert voltage.

Most older Audio Research equipments needs new transformers to change voltage - it is not just question of moving taps. Just moving taps in power transformers optimized for 60Hz can result in transformers producing mechanical hum. I had to power some of my old cj gear at 60Hz using a PSAudio power regenerator - btw it also sounded better.

LL21 · Oct 23, 2014

microstrip said:
Most older Audio Research equipments needs new transformers to change voltage - it is not just question of moving taps. Just moving taps in power transformers optimized for 60Hz can result in transformers producing mechanical hum. I had to power some of my old cj gear at 60Hz using a PSAudio power regenerator - btw it also sounded better.

Thanks for that...I was just really commenting on the fact that CJ support all their products worldwide. The fact that an experienced audiotech can probably convert the voltage on an ARC amp is not the point...I just like the fact that CJ provided such excellent support.

TheMadMilkman · Oct 23, 2014

thestewman said:
Yes, I thought so also but Audio Research believes otherwise.

"As stated our Service Policies on our web site—we do not perform voltage conversions on our products. If you wish, you could use the unit with a step up transformer."

I can understand this for current-production products, but for discontinued items this is a really bad policy.

thestewman · Oct 23, 2014

microstrip said:
Can we know what is the model of preamplifier? Although they do not perform voltage conversions to current products to protect their international distributors, they instruct their distributors on how to do it in discontinued equipment.

The preamp is an Audio Research MP1. A discontinued multichannel preamp. This particular model is discontinued but this particular unit was sold new in 2012.

Elberoth · Oct 23, 2014

TheMadMilkman said:
I can understand this for current-production products, but for discontinued items this is a really bad policy.

+1.

I would also add, that their policy is aimed at protecting markets OUTSIDE the US, where ARC gear is much more expensive. I'm puzzled why they cannot do this for an US customer.

thedudeabides · Oct 23, 2014

Indeed.

On the surface and absent reasons why AR will not help, this appears to be very bad customer service.

This can't be that unusual.

microstrip · Oct 23, 2014

thestewman said:
The preamp is an Audio Research MP1. A discontinued multichannel preamp. This particular model is discontinued but this particular unit was sold new in 2012.

Fortunately Audio Research answers your initial question in the manual of the MP1 available in their site - the 230V MP1 can work with mains between 200-270VAC (50/60Hz).
BTW, most of the schematics (showing if conversion of voltage is possible by simple rewiring) of ARC legacy equipment are freely available on their site.

You can now email Italy fast!

microstrip · Oct 23, 2014

Elberoth said:
+1.

I would also add, that their policy is aimed at protecting markets OUTSIDE the US, where ARC gear is much more expensive. I'm puzzled why they cannot do this for an US customer.

The original poster is importing an almost new unit back to the US and is asking questions to ARC before buying the unit. Also, the MP1 is not officially discontinued in the Audio Research database site. IMHO Audio Research did the correct thing. Remember that Europe is not the only place having 230V - Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and most of South America also have it.

Elberoth · Oct 24, 2014

microstrip said:
The original poster is importing an almost new unit back to the US and is asking questions to ARC before buying the unit. Also, the MP1 is not officially discontinued in the Audio Research database site. IMHO Audio Research did the correct thing. Remember that Europe is not the only place having 230V - Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and most of South America also have it.

And in all the palces you mentioned, ARC gear is more expensive than in the US, which is the reason for their 'no voltage' conversion policy. It have always been european distributors that pressed for this, not US dealers (which makes sense, since importing gear from Europe to the US is all but very rare).

egidius · Oct 25, 2014

A very good option would be to go Battery at the same time! You get someone to make you a battery power unit, actually straight forward, makes no big difference if going to 230 or 115V. This is basically what my Audio Consulting gear does inside, but you can easily explore this route by going to talk to a Battery specialist. For a pre, the best solution soundwise!!

thestewman · Oct 28, 2014

microstrip said:
Fortunately Audio Research answers your initial question in the manual of the MP1 available in their site - the 230V MP1 can work with mains between 200-270VAC (50/60Hz).
BTW, most of the schematics (showing if conversion of voltage is possible by simple rewiring) of ARC legacy equipment are freely available on their site.

You can now email Italy fast!

Your response gave me some hope until I received this from Audio Research

"The power specifications for the MP1 listed online are incorrect. The MP1 is designed to work with120V and 220-240 volt AC power lines. If you power is routinely above 250 volts this will most likely cause premature failure of the filter caps."

Since US AC voltage is 120v/220v +- 5% it easily exceeds the limits. Each leg of my 220 line measures 125 volts which is 250v average

Atmasphere · Oct 28, 2014

If you are in the US I'm pretty sure you have a measurement error. There is no place in the US where the unit would be damaged by US voltages.

How to use a Audio Research 230v preaamp in the US

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