Prodigy advice needed please?

[Bruce Weiland]

This threat started with a price of $9,300 USD for USED Prodigy.

I don't know what shipping costs would be, so that is something you can research. However, a good pair for Prodigy, here in the US can be obtained for $3,500 to $4,500 USD.

I am looking for a less expensive item to convert 240v 50Hz to 120v 60Hz, but here is an item that can be shipped NEW from California. Not used as a UPS (batteries weigh about 18 pounds and add $75 to the cost) this unit has a 14lb shipping weight.

It is plug and play. Plug it into your AC in Australia and it will output 120v 60Hz at up to 4.4 amps. Retail is $1,099 USD.

http://www.deployabletechnologies.com/uploads/SSG500A_FREQ_CONV.pdf

So;
Speakers $4,000
Converter $1,099
Total $5,099

If shipping is about $4,201, except for the extra trouble, it is a wash. But if shipping is under $2K or maybe even under $1K, then it seems this might be a viable alternative to the high prices spread of a 50Hz power supply board.

Additionally, if there were a preamp (CD player, whatever) you really liked, that needed 120v 60Hz and would be a bargain if bought in that AC configuration, say on the used market, it is likely there would be enough current capacity left to run that too.

I still have some feelers out to find a less expensive alternative to the $1,100 converter. I will report back once I know more with that.

Can someone find out what shipping for 3 boxes @ about 300 lbs, and a single box at 14lbs, would be to the land of Oz?

Bruce

 

[amey01]

Can someone find out what shipping for 3 boxes @ about 300 lbs, and a single box at 14lbs, would be to the land of Oz?

Bruce

The OP is in New Zealand, not Australia. That said - I think shipping would be much the same. Prodigies come in four boxes though, not two, right?

It also might be worth finding out what ML's policy is on shipping new power boards as to both cost and feasibility. I know they won't do it for new/warranty speakers, but the Prodigy might be okay.

Still - we get shafted no matter what way you look at it.

 

[Bruce Weiland]

Prodigy boxes.

I bought a demo pair a few years back. The dealer had discarded the woofer section boxes.

The two panels/stats, come in one box, so three total. The "unpacked" weight of a Prodigy is 133 lbs, thus my 300 lb estimate.

I did see that the NZ reference, I think it was the conversion to Oz $$ that confused me.

 

[Pcar928fan]

The OP is in New Zealand, not Australia. That said - I think shipping would be much the same. Prodigies come in four boxes though, not two, right?

Prodigy come in THREE boxes, not 4.

 

[audioxcel]

The AC mains is only used to charge the panels in older ML speakers without active crossovers and other electronics. It seems to me that the 60Hz vs 50Hz issue would only matter to the speaker's transformer load. Why can't the speaker's transformer be changed to be compatible?

 

[planckscale]

Let me share my experience...

Here in Tanzania, it is 240V 50Hz. I have been living with my USA Martin Logan SL3 since 2005, which now have new panels (bought in 2021).
Initially, I used a voltage stepdown and the speakers will only turn on for 10 seconds. That is, 240v to 120v without changing the frequency from local 50Hz to 60Hz will only make them sing for about 10 seconds before they shut-off.

Solution: Power Plant P300-Power Conditioner.
This is a well-built power conditioner/stabilizer from PS Audio. Got it used on eBay for about 500 USD (They are a little less now). Actually, bought two!
Eventually, I went and bought the 240v/50Hz power modules from Martin Logan, which at the time cost me 100 USD each.

So you have two choices here; either to use a Voltage/Frequency converter or buy the power module from ML (if they have them for your model).

Asante!