calling all audiophiles

Kelly- I think your on to something!! 220v used with 110v gear would yield twice the output power of the amp, brilliant!! So if I do that my tube amp would produce 120watts for each channel, and the tubes would double as a night light!!!

BTW I know a great dry wall guy to plug all of those '.' holes you have in your walls ;)

tim: please give me the name of your plasterer; i'll pay his airfare. :o) BTW, the amps i'm talkin' about have user-switchable 110/220v inputs. see, e.g., : http://www.boulderamp.com/bldramp.2060.html

-kelly

CFB, do you need to put on sunblock before listening to music with that amp?

Correct me if I am wrong but people seem to confuse spikes, noise and thunder. Thunder or excessive spikes are easy to control as they are usually adressed by devices in parallel with the line so they short when a high voltage hits MOV and gas tubes are usualy used. I haven't heard any comments on isolation transformers these can decouple your gear from the line which is a huge benefit (any comments?) as far as the 220V/110 comment goes this is usually a diode acting as a Voltage divider not really a benefit in my opinion.

My brother is using an isolation transformer on all of his line level components to great effect. Can't really do this with a good sized amp though, as most "reasonably priced" isolation transformers are relatively low current.

As to MOV's absorbing or shunting spikes, that is partially true. You need to keep in mind that MOV's definitely DO "burn out" or lose efficiency over time. The higher the voltage surge or spike and the more often that these devices have to deal with that type of situation, the more likely they are to fail. Just because it is plugged into a "surge protector" does NOT mean that it is "fully" protected. Sean
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