Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Coming to America

Hello all,

I've just landed a job in Washington DC where I will be for approx the next 5 years and although great news I have now started to consider the full consequences of going on my av setup.....

Should I just accept that my TV and M system are not going to work or is there a reasonably inexpensive method - that will not sap the quality from the mains - that can covert the voltage and make getting the kit shipped out worthwhile?

I assume even if there is (fingers crossed) my BR player will be redundant as there seems to be no way of region hacking them yet?

I'd be very grateful if someone could put me out of my misery here but I guess its 'karma' for getting my dream job!! Doh!

Cheers

Simon

I made the move out here in 2000. I took my kit in to Huntingdon and had it converted to 110, they turned it around in a couple of days. I don't remember the cost but it was very reasonable. Some items are just a matter on flicking a switch on the power supply other require a little more work.

TV standards are different so the TV wouldn't work even if you could power it up.

Consumer electronics are much cheaper over there too.

Sorry.

Steve.

Done that a few times. In general:

TV almost certainly not worth it, nearly always better to sell it and buy new when you get there.

M kit - some components are universal voltage. Speakers are not but speaker voltage changes are one of the more reasonably priced spares, something like 200 each. And you keep the old PSUs for when / if you move back to 220v.

Bluray - I think the Oppo can be had fully multi-region / multi-zone ?

Regards

Mark

I would just get a converter considering I think only the 3100's need it. They are not expensive. I run one pair of 5K's on a 110V to 220V converter and they work prefect.

We do actually have 220V here but it's usually only on large appliances (AC, Stove, Dryer etc.). But you can easily add a 220V circuit any where in the house (with a UK adapter).

Looking at the pricing threads on this forum, I've always believed that US prices for M kit were lower than those in the UK. I'd seriously consider seeing whether you can sell your 3100s in the UK and pick up 5 larger DSPs in the US for only a small amount of outlay.

Precisely, this is exactly what I did when I went to the US a few years ago - in fact as I bought a new house, I took advantage of running a few 240V rings and installing strategically placed UK sockets before finishing the basement. The standard US mains is derived from a 'split-phase' distribution system such that the 110V load consists of two banks of circuits connected between the Neutral and the two different Live ccts. The high power devices run off 240V connected between the two live phases directly as otherwise they would draw such a large current that their operation would not be feasible. This will power UK devices fine assuming they are OK with 60Hz - most are.

The one important safety point to note is that the UK 240V system has Neutral at or near to ground voltage - if you are running off the split-phase US system, both legs of the 240V cct will sit 120V away from ground. Not generally an issue for Double Insulated equipment, however, it is important to take this into account for safety reasons.

I am sure that running 240V mains and installing UK socket does not meet US Code, however it worked for me and I simply removed / disconnected the 240V wiring from the distribution panel before selling the house.

Thus for me, everything from the kitchen kettle to my Meridian equipment and UK TV was re-used - clearly the TV could not receive terrestrial broadcasts directly however it could take in the Video feed from a Sat box / Terrestrial HD box fine.

Clearly one needs to have a complete grasp of the safety aspects of working with 240V in the US - if you are unsure, don't attempt it. If you know what you are doing, virtually all UK equipment will work fine in the US.

John

240V in the US is "Balanced" so it will obviously sound better

One thing I had not thought about is it's 60Hz in the US vs 50hz in UK. So I take it that is not an issue.

For 2nd hand kit, prices here are definitely alot cheaper but new kit is considerably more. Check out Audiogon: http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/srch_fs.pl?searchstring=meridian

Like the earlier poster, I had my 557s and M60C swapped for 110V at Huntingdon since they quoted a much cheaper figure than Atlanta and I lived fairly close in Newmarket at the time too. That was 8 years ago now though (how time flys!) so things may have changed and you might have to go through a dealer. Sir Des even accomodated a tour of the (old) factory

Unless you want your household insurance to be void, I wouldn't run UK outlets on US 220V lines due to the previous reasons given. If you had an electrical fire and the insurance investigator saw those, they'd just close the file and walk away. There probably isn't a single municipality that doesn't require inspections for electrical changes to ensure they meet the NEC code too. I bought converters for the few things I needed from http://www.220converters.com/ and they still work fine and don't appear to waste much based on a Kill-A-Watt reading. For the price, it's worth the piece of mind.

www.jvbdigital.com (any relation to the jvb user here?) can make many BD players multi-region, but it's probably cheaper to buy an Oppo 80 with the mod already installed.

Good luck!

Oh and if you're bringing a bike it can be better to leave the tires behind and buy new ones here. Some colleagues who moved at the same time had their shipments impounded for 2-3 months while testing and fumigating for foot-n-mouth was performed After 8 years it might not apply now though.

Don't try it with a fridge / freezer etc - everything else pretty much OK. I think the vacuum cleaner ran a bit hot but lasted the 5 years that it was in US in addition to its 5 years before that in the UK. One change of it's motor brushes, and it is still going strong now it is back in the UK after another 5 years!

Virtually nothing uses the mains frequency directly these days, anything electronic uses a rectified and smoothed dc supply that is immune to 50/60Hz. AC motors also often have electronic speed controls / a slight speed shift is not really noticeable.

AV equipment will all work fine provided the voltage is matched appropriately / has a universal switched-mode power supply.

John