Relocating from Europe to US

11 replies
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petrosbeli (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 08:17 GMT
#1919464

Hi all,

I am relocating from Europe to US, and I've been thinking what I should do with my B&O equipment. Company pays for the relocation, so no worries about the shipment cost, rather than the voltage (220 to 110).

I have a BV7, BS9000, Beloab 7-1, Beolab 6000, Beolab 2000 and BeoPort...

So, what do you suggest?

a) Selling them in Europe and rebuy them in US (=huge loss of money)

b) Buying 110->220V transformers for them in US (is audio quality going to be affected?)

c) Is there a way to do an official B&O modification to them (change internal transformers). Cost?

d) Would my European dealer allow a trade-in? (give my old equipment and buy US equivelant that will be shipped directly to US?)

e) Other suggestions?

 

Br,

P.

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Alex (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 09:26 GMT
#1919465

If your BV7 is MK IV or never I would bring everything to the US and have it converted.  Step down converters are not 100% safe and are pretty large and impossible to hide.  If I'm not mistaken the BeoVision 7's manufactured after the System 3 was introduced in to the platform might be in a "switched" voltage mode that would not require a voltage conversion when you get here.

 

Where in the states are you moving?

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spirost (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 12:55 GMT
#1919466
Petro kalispera,

I would probably keep them and use the converter.

Any other solution would be costly in either way.

And of course you never know about the future. You come back after certain period and face the same dilemma vice versa!!!!

Or of course you can send them to some friend in Patrida!!!!

Best regards kai Kali epitihia

Spiros
BE
Offline
Beolab1
Gold
Posted November 6, 2010 at 15:23 GMT
#1919467

A friend of mine had the same issue. He hired an electrician in the U.S. who rewired and replaced some of his power wall sockets. These wall sockets were rewired  to a separate group. This group got 220V from one special professional converter that was placed in the fuse box area in his basement. This way he had very good quality 220V without any power surges, without having to deal with several converters around the house. These wall sockets themselves were replaced with standard European ones, so he didn't even have to change the plugs on the B&O power cords. It also solved the problem that anyone might accidently stick the power cord of a U.S. 110V appliance in the wrong wall socket. 

B(
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burantek (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 15:47 GMT
#1919468
Simple, elegant, brilliant!
L(
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linder (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 15:55 GMT
#1919469

Beolab1 wrote:

A friend of mine had the same issue. He hired an electrician in the U.S. who rewired and replaced some of his power wall sockets. These wall sockets were rewired  to a separate group. This group got 220V from one special professional converter that was placed in the fuse box area in his basement. This way he had very good quality 220V without any power surges, without having to deal with several converters around the house. These wall sockets themselves were replaced with standard European ones, so he didn't even have to change the plugs on the B&O power cords. It also solved the problem that anyone might accidently stick the power cord of a U.S. 110V appliance in the wrong wall socket. 

This is an absolutely brilliant idea.  220v is available to most homes.  However if you are moving into a condo or apartment, 220v may not be available.

S(
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spirost (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 15:57 GMT
#1919470
I think that would be an ideal solution.

Petros you might have to check this for availability!

B(
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BeoFab (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 6, 2010 at 17:45 GMT
#1919471
I live in a condo in USA and 220v is available everywhere because some appliances only work with with 220v like ovens, some cooktops and the drying machine. Obviously is not available directly in all the outlets in your home, you need a good electrician to run the right connection.

In my case my oven, dryer, microwave, cooktop are 220v, even the hood is Italian 220v imported directly and connected with European style of outlet, no converter of any type.
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petrosbeli (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 7, 2010 at 17:46 GMT
#1919472

Hi all and thanks for the replies. While the 220V directly at the house sounds very elegant solution, I would probably not be able to do that (as I'll be staying at a rentent house for the first year, at least, and have no control over this).

So, we are back to the other alternatives....

My BV7 is a 32", MKIII (so it does not use the system 3 platform).

But do I get it correctly that for all my B&O equipment I'll be able to do an official internal transformer replacement at B&O?

I'll be moving to San Francisco area, in CA.

Thanks again!

D(
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dilznik (archived)
Bronze
Posted November 7, 2010 at 18:58 GMT
#1919473

This is the single most intelligent, fantastic post I've ever seen on any forum.  Ever.  This is frikkin' brilliant.

 

One question though, if you buy a bunch of sockets in the EU, are they up to US spec?  As in, if your house burns down because of one of them, will your insurance deny coverage for using EU spec Schuko sockets?

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