Metropoulos Forum

Living in the ol USA I always wondered if a Marshall amp sounded better on 220V and what about useing a variac..

In my case it did not sound right until I corrected the heater voltage cause the old heads wanna have 220 volts and we got 230 coming from the power outlet so the heater voltage was always a tiny bit too high !

....... and we also got 230 Volt at 50 Hz compared to the US 120 at 60 Hz ..... maybe that's important too

George Lynch from Dokken said re: early LP recording in Europe with 220VAC at 50Hz, a Marshall plexi never sounded better (paraphrasing). He couldn't get as good a sound with 220 here at 60 Hz...

I prefer the 240/250V primary

Roe wrote:I prefer the 240/250V primary

Me too - but of course that is our wall voltage (well strictly speaking 230v,+10 to -6% -allegedly!)

So could I go to Home Depot and get a plug for my washerdryers 220V...would it hurt if the power chord was 10 or 12 feet long to reach into my bedroom from the hallway...Also if you use a variac in the UK and take it down to 90v,is that hard on the OT? Hope this doesn't sound dumb thanks

I know here in the US most of your 220v house outlets will have two hot legs and a nuetral compared to 120v which has a single hot and a nuetral. I'm not sure you could power an amplifier from that type of arrangement at 220v but best to check with an electrician first.

If we used a variac in the UK down to 90VAC, the amp would not operate at all.

It's the 50Hz to 60Hz that is the real difference between the US and the UK.

When you change the input voltage higher or lower, you are making the amp react different. More headroom, less headroom, softer, harder.

Brian Wallace wrote:It's the 50Hz to 60Hz that is the real difference between the US and the UK.

Indeed.