CD players sold in Japan can work in US with no problem?

As a rule the mains voltage should not be greater than 10% of the manufacturer’s rated voltage. The extra fudge factor is for AC mains voltage that may be higher than the equipment’s rated input voltage, overvoltage events, and or a serge voltage event on the mains.
100V x 10% = 10V
110VAc would be the max mains voltage for the CDP.
Your average AC mains voltage could run anywhere from 115V to 122V.. My Mains voltage holds pretty steady at 120V.

I have been using my Japanese 100V Onkyo player with no transformer and no problems. I did a fair amount of research about it and the consensus seemed to be there is no problem in doing so. Having said that, I’m very careful to protect the rest of my electronics, especially computers, against under and over voltage. I paid very little for this CD player so if it craps out it’s not the end of the world.

big_greg 

453 posts  
04-17-2019 9:33am 

I have been using my Japanese 100V Onkyo player with no transformer and no problems. I did a fair amount of research about it and the consensus seemed to be there is no problem in doing so. Having said that, I’m very careful to protect the rest of my electronics, especially computers, against under and over voltage. I paid very little for this CD player so if it craps out it’s not the end of the world.

Yes it works,  but the life of the CDP will be shortened.
The voltage regulators in the DC power supply are working their butts off trying to maintain a constant designed rated voltage.

@jea48 Good to know, thanks.  Maybe I'll get a step down unit just to be safe.  I paid less than $200 for the player, but it might be hard to replace if it goes out.  

Yes it works, but the life of the CDP will be shortened.
The voltage regulators in the DC power supply are working their butts off trying to maintain a constant designed rated voltage.

Good Lord. This is so far beyond wrong its backwards!

The challenge in building a really good regulated power supply is in maintaining constant voltage in the face of wildly varying swings in demand. Not supply. Demand. 

The challenge with regards to incoming voltage isn't the voltage per se, but the noise riding on the AC line. Whatever the incoming voltage, hardly matters, because it is gonna be stored in caps anyway. The idea is the caps, in storing the power also filter the noise. Which they do, just never as good as we'd like, which is why power supply mods and things like dedicated lines, power cords and conditioners matter so much.

But remember I said it was not just wrong but backwards? I'm gonna use the usual water metaphors here. Voltage is pressure. The caps are dams storing up the water. We want the dam full at all times, to help keep constant water pressure coming out the other end of the hose. The higher the pressure (voltage) coming in, the faster the dam fills, the easier that is. Not harder. Easier.