My Levinson doesn't like the juice


I have a problem I have been fighting since mid spring. My Levinson 383 shuts down and displays the message "HIGH LINE". The unit has been sent to Levinson and it was back in the system about two days before it shut down with the same message. (I've got to have my music and I'm freakin out man! Whoa.... I'm back now-I think?)

I checked the line voltage (I know, arse backwards trouble shooting) with a Simpson 260, which is uncallibrated, and it measured 126 V during the day and 130 V at night. I called the municipal power company; they arrived promptly, and measured the voltage level with a Fluke meter and read 122 V.
So with a 4 V discrepancy I'm guessing the night time voltage hovers right at 126 V, the 383's shut down level, because according to Levinson the 383's operating range is 115 V + or - 10% which tells me that it should be satisfied up to 126.5 V.

I live within a 1/4 mile of the substation and the line serves an area five miles away. And though the Utility may monitor my power with a recorder I doubt they will adjust the level downward for my listening pleasure.

So the question I pose before you here today is; are you a Steely Dan fan? But seriously, even if you're not, do you have any suggestions? I've considered a power conditioner with voltage regulation but I'd rather not spend that much if I don't have to and I think less is more in this area. Does anyone have any experience with using a buck-boost transformer with audio gear? Please help before I totally lose it.
garyb6
Since you are trying to lower the operating voltage to keep the integrated happy how about putting a higher wattage (but non-noisey) load such as a 600 watt space heater on the line suppling the power to the amp. As an alternative you might also try an extension cord plug between the 383's power cord and wall recepticle to try to produce several volts of voltage drop.

Interesting how most of us are trying to preserve our supply voltage with dedicated lines and you have the opposite problem of trying to eliminate some of it.
yeah I'm a dan fan..I wish someone would make a hi-fi half speed pressing of Pretzel Logic. Get rid of the Levinson and buy a used big Threshold.
I had a similar problem with an amp that hummed when the line voltage was too high. I called the power company and they came out and retapped the transformer out on the pole to solve the problem. The power company has to adjust your line if it is out of spec so you may wish to pursue that route. Since the weather is now getting cooler, it is only going to get worse with everyone not using their air conditioners.

I would also contact Levinson to see what the high voltage limit is since 126V is not really that high. It is hard to believe that Levinson would build an amp that can't handle AC voltage that is within spec. It seems to me that either the line voltage is out of spec or the 383 is.

You could also try an autotransformer to lower the voltage. They are commonly called Variacs. It is not actually a buck transformer but an adjustable inductive voltage divider. I used one with the amp above before the power company adjusted my voltage and it worked fine. If you live near Nashville I can let you borrow my Variac.