1. you will be OK with 110V.
2. your warranty will void, but there are lots of independed techs able to service Accuphase that is not so complicated.
3. don't ask Accuphase dealer about anything done on unit purchased outside of US. they won't honor your request.
4. i know nothing about the import process, but if you will experience one, please share. |
Some distributors will not service grey market items. I would contact Accuphase USA first before buying. Alternatively, why not ask Accuphase Japan to sell you NA spec'd amp. |
i asked Axxis (US dealer of Accuphase)
they refuse
if i will ask Japan i guess they will tell me to buy from US dealer , right? |
Thanks Czarivey
import process it's very easy , that is no custom Tax
2 days shipping with Fedex
i heard that if i plug 100V Japan model to US AC wall
the power supply will be warn all the time
and i guess the life of the Amp will decrease (not sure) |
Most Accuphase products have multi tap primaries, at least the few I've had come through here, so any qualified tech should easily be able to convert it for 120V operation by reconfiguring a few jumpers. It may however be that products sold in Japan have only a 100V primary transformer installed.
I would not recommend running a 100V product on 120V, you could however buy a step-down transformer for few hundred $ that will facilitate proper operation.
Best of luck
Peter |
|
those are expensive Amps
the step down will not ruin the sound?
people invest a lot of money on AC tweaks and power conditioner - i'm afraid of that |
A good isolation / step-down transformer maybe even configured with balanced power output 50V - 0 - 50V would improve the sound.
It would have to be custom made but certainly do-able
Best of luck
Peter |
What kind of savings are we talking about? Half price? |
With the link Lowrider provided above the A65 is listed at YP840000 which is roughly US$8300. dont know what the US retail is.
Good Listening
Peter |
It's roughly 2x savings, but I heard even better figures closer to 3x and there's a room to do more shopping.
Definitely worth even if US warranty is void. If you consider that $7...8k spent by average Japanese consumer is somewhat equivalent to spending $1k by avarage US consumer, than Accuphase equipment is at substantially higher affordability level than in US and must be pretty popular and available at multiple vendors and locations. |
I can tell you. I list price here in the US is $26500. That isn't a typo. It's pretty crazy, imo. And Accuphase (someone from the factory) said to me that the transformers degrade the sound. You might want to ask them as well. You can buy from those Japanese equipment websites, but Accuphase told me that they are not authorized dealers. I'm not saying this is all correct info, this is what I've been told by the factory rep. |
Dave,
A properly designed isolation transformer - especially if you go balanced power out, will improve sound quality not degrade it.
A crappy undersized voltage converter most certainly will.
Good Listening
Peter |
|
Yeah, Czarivey, you're paying roughly $20k more here in the US just for that warranty, which isn't even that long. Then you have to deal with sending money overseas, which can be risky if not through a reputable dealer. The whole thing is crazy, really. |
Peter ,
"properly designed isolation transformer"
do you have an example for one?
$26,500 it's the price for Pair or one Amp ?!
i don't get it , usually the price in the USA are the cheapest compare to the rest of the world. |
Pelo
Send me an email and we can discuss your options, I can surely have a isolation transformer made for you.
Good Listening
Peter |
Pelo, that is for 1 A-65. Well, I don't know what the dist. is thinking, but if he can get that much, good luck to him. I think that's a crazy price to be honest. |
Dave, the list price of $26k is often discounted to $15k, but that doesn't mean that the unit is actually worth only $8,000 or even lower. If the list price were $50k, the discount would be even higher and more attractive:-) |
Who discounts that low? I called every damn Accuphase dealer in the US and the best price I could get was $18k from a dealer in So Cal. |
