110v vintage receiver to 230v US to France step up transformer


Hello everyone.

I have a Marantz 2325 receiver (110v AC), which I am transporting to France.

I understand I will need a step up/down transformer to regulate the 230v local AC, and knowing nothing about these, I am hoping the experts out there can offer some advice / recommendations for a good quality transformer, as there is a wide range it seems.

Obviously I do not want anything that damages the receiver / speakers, or anything that is going to cause audio interference.

Thanks in advance!


roddo69
I'm guessing you have other components that you'll be taking that will also run off of 120vac? You will need to determine the total wattage of all equipment before purchasing a transformer. You may want to have multiple transformers, but that will get costly. Good links provided above. Some comments on AG are from people that have no clue, but some understand that it's not difficult. My personal suggestion is about double the power consumption of the receiver, which is 550 watts at 110-120vac, I believe.
Hi Fiesta and mgattmch

Fortunately my PC PSU and monitor are both 110 - 240V, my TV MIGHT be ok, still checking it out, and that's all my electronics really.

Being risk adverse, I think I'd rather give the receiver its own dedicated transformer, then possibly complicate things by having a transformer supply more then one device, especially I might get away with only needing the one.

The issue for me is that there is inexpensive and expensive transformers, and I sure they massively fluctuate in quality. I want to make sure my receiver and speakers are supplied with correct consistent power.

Thanks for your replies.
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" My personal suggestion is about double the power consumption of the receiver, which is 550 watts at 110-120vac, I believe."

How to best calculate watts?

My receiver is a very solid 125w, powering 2X 4 ohm AR10 speakers.

Is it better to overpower watts, or match as closely as possible to max requirement?
On the back of the receiver, it will tell you the power consumption maximum. If you are driving 4 ohm speakers, I would go with about a 1000 watt transformer, just to have the added peak power when needed. If you don't listen loud, then you can get by with less. Most electronics, especially vintage, may have weaker filter capacitors in the power supply. I have found that LOW voltage is a problem for electronics in general. This is in addition to high or voltage spikes. Get a transformer the will keep voltage as constant as possible. You of course want something that is quiet for audio! More current is better for a supply, power = voltage X current.