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running musical x-150 230 volt amp on 110?

i recently purchased a MF x-150 integrated for my gf. (i'm giving her my paradigm 20's to go with it.) anyway, it's set up for 230 volts. (that's right... 230!?) anyway, the seller promises that it works with 110, but i am hesitant to do it. in fact, i'm worried about *his* doing it when testing the amp.

should i be worried about running it on 110, given that it does, in fact, work on that voltage?

should i buy a converter with sufficient wattage rating?

or, since this unit is also sold in the u.s., is there some fuse i could switch internally? (the seller assures me of this, but doesn't know any more details.)

thanks very much.
qualia8
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,223 posts
 
Try it. The lower (110V) voltage will not damage the 230V tarnsformers, if the amp is indeed wired for 230V.

If it was another way round - that would be another story ...
qualia8 OP
49 posts
 
well, i contacted musical fidelity. they suggested i send off the amp to get switched over, internally, and so i did.

no harm done in the short term, but the tech there assured me that in the long run, the amp would die, b/c of running hotter.

i wonder why this is so. if voltage is lower, does that mean amperage goes higher, to keep the overall energy the same? (i know diddly about electronics!) if so, that amperage could be what overheats the wires.
phd
1,327 posts
 
Qualia8 it is good that you didn't take a chance with the incorrect voltage for any length of time. The amperage is different for 120v & 230v and also explains why the fuse value will have to be changed once the voltage is changed. Maybe 120 volts carries a higher amperage which might explain higher temperatures. Usually it is stamped on the circuit board next to the fuse holder as to what amperage fuse to use with the different voltage settings. In rare cases some amps are designed to sense the incoming voltage and make the correction automatically, maybe that was the case with mine who knows. More commonly on some units voltage can easily be changed on the rear panel with a turn of a screwdriver. Most of the amps I've own requires changing the position of the color coded internal wires for the desired voltage but one would need a mfgr diagram.
qualia8 OP
49 posts
 
thanks phd.

yeah, the tech said it's a matter of switching 3 wires and swapping out the fuse. 'which wires?' i asked. 'just send it in,' was the reply. oh well, $50 + shipping i'm going to try not to think about.
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,223 posts
 
You should have opened it first. The wires are marked 115V and 230V. I changed the supply voltage for my friend from 115V to 230V. Took me 2 minutes. I'm nat a technician. Piece of cake.
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