120V or 240V

Thank you all for your input!! I had talked with several folks (incl. dealer and distributor) who thought the 240V would sound a bit more airy. I have contemplated the resale issue as well and decided to go with the 120V version to not be limited to one outlet.

To answer 6550's question: I am from Germany and have known about SL for more than 20 years. I heard the Kraft 400 last year and was blown away. I am very partial to tube amplifiers, but the SL was the first amp that could compete. I had ordered a Kraft 300 stereo amp that, unfortunately, was damaged during shipping. It played well and sounded great, but had a few nicks. Nevertheless, I never heard better bass or more three-dimensional sound. Paired with a first-rate tube preamp, it also gets the mids right! To make a long story short, the shipping issue is finally settled and I decided to upgrade to the 250 monos.

I think you are proceeding correctly with the 120V version, for the reasons stated by the others who advocated doing that.

The only technical differences I can envision that would result from running on 240V are:

1)Less current would flow in the power wiring, the ac fuse and switch, and the primary of the power transformer. I would expect any sonic differences resulting from that to be subtle and unpredictable at most, and not necessarily in the direction of being better.

2)You would be exposing the ac input of the amps to noise or distortion that may be present unequally on both 120V phases, instead of what may be present on just one phase. That difference should be minimal since the 240V wiring you would be using is a dedicated run. But to the extent that there were any differences, they would probably be in the direction of making 120V operation preferable.

Re the dealer and others claiming that 240V is preferable, I question whether those claims are based on extensive and carefully controlled comparisons that eliminated other possible variables.

Regards,
-- Al

A third possible difference, that I should have included in my previous post:

3)Leakage currents between the ac input and chassis/circuit ground in the amp, that might flow through parasitic capacitances or resistances in the power transformer, would be greater with 240V applied than with 120V. I would expect those currents to most likely be insignificant, but if there were any significance it would be in the direction of favoring 120V.

-- Al

If the resale value is much greater in europé for à 240v than 120v in us, the 240v might be a better investment, in economic terms, not necessarily in convenience though.

I heard the Kraft 400 last year and was blown away. I am very partial to tube amplifiers, but the SL was the first amp that could compete... DRV

Symphonic Line Kraft 400 .. wow!!!.. whatta fantastic Amps!!!!
I can understand you .. DRV... I listened one time in Milano .. and your comparison to tube amps sound is totally true!