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

Showing 2 responses by phd

Long time ago, I used an amp that was wired for 230 volts on a 120 volts. The amp played fine & no damage occured but the amp probably did not play to its full potential. (I still would recommend having the correct voltage set as soon as possible). On the other side of the coin I'm sure if the amp was wired for 120v & used on 230v the unit most definately would sustain instant damage. You should be able to have the correct voltage set by a tech easily. Contact MF for further information, maybe they could email you a diagram on how this is done. By the way changing the internal fuse will not change the voltage. When the voltage has been changed then the internal fuse will have to be replaced with one of a different value (amperage) that is for 120v.
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.