Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Yamaha CS80

Hi,

first of all: A Happy New Year to everybody!

Now I have my CS-80 standing here - undamaged - thanks to the great packing
(double boxes!) and shipping from Scott Rider.

I want to convert it to 240V now. (It's a 117V American model.)

Electrically, nothing could be easier. The wires are colour coded (except
for one discrepancy of Blue vs. Brown).
But I have my doubts about the mechanical part.

So my question is: how hard is it to do this voltage conversion?
The unused wires from the mains transformer are so short that I fear I have
to completely remove the power supply block to get access ...
How hard is that? I'm afraid with removing and re-installing that heavy
block, some wire contacts may break ...

The alternative, of course, is to simply leave it as it is and to use an
external step-down transformer.
This will cost some money, but at the point I am now (buying synth, paying
for shipping and customs and VAT), just a little more money won't make a
difference.

So, what should I do? Convert the synth or go for a step-down transformer?
What have ∗you∗ done with your imported CS-80s ?

In case of step-down: has anybody used an autotransformer? (If I'm not
mistaken, I'd get away with a 100W rated auto transformer for the CS-80's
180W of power consumption, no?)

Any advice welcome.

JH.