Accuphase E-260 Voltage Conversion (100V to 230V)

Hello @imhififan,

Hope this message finds you well. I am a young lad from France and love vintage Hifi gear. In 15 days, I will be visiting Japan and would like to buy an Accuphase E303. Do you think that the wiring system is similar and that it would be possible to convert it to 230V AC ? Below, you can find some of the pictures that I found on Internet. 

Thank you very much for your answer and for sharing your knowledge with all the forum members 🙏🏽

Best regards,

João Ferreira

P.S. If you know these devices, which one do you prefer? E202 vs E303? Do you think they can marry well with a pair of Ditton 66? I have currently a Citation 16+17 and I am not happy with the result. Thank you

@joaop_ferreira

Welcome to the forum!

I will be visiting Japan and would like to buy an Accuphase E303. Do you think that the wiring system is similar and that it would be possible to convert it to 230V AC ?

Yes, you can download the service manual at https://elektrotanya.com/accuphase e-303, It shows voltage conversion.

If you know these devices, which one do you prefer? E202 vs E303?

IMO, Accuphase's newer models generally have better specs than their predecessors, and I would choose the E-303 over the E-202.

Do you think they can marry well with a pair of Ditton 66? I have currently a Citation 16+17 and I am not happy with the result.

Sorry, I have no experience with Ditton 66. Maybe other forum members will climing in to give you advises.

@imhififan 

Thank you very much for answering so promptly. I will look into it and try to find a nice unit in Japan. I will let you know. 
 

Hi @imhififan 

I have successfully converted my E-270 from 100v to 120v thanks to your help. However, I keep wondering how come the conversion doesn’t affect the voltage output that goes into the internal components?  Is the internal power transformer designed to provide the same voltage output to the components regardless of the input, whether it’s 100v or 240v ? Thanks again for your help. 

@jgore 

You're welcome, glad I could help.

The function of the power transformer is to convert the mains voltage into the operating voltage required by the amplifier. It all has to do with the "turns ratio" of the primary to secondary windings. For example, the amplifier requires an operating voltage of 50V, while the mains voltage in Japan is 100V. To obtain 50V voltage, the primary and secondary winding turns ratio should be 2:1. For 120V North American mains, to obtain the same 50V secondary output voltage, the turns ratio should be 2.4:1; for 240V countries, the turns ratio should be 4.8:1.

Accuphase designed the power transformer primary winding with different turns ratio taps so we can connect the mains voltage to the designated taps to get the same secondary winding voltage.