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Battery Powered Preamps

I notice that the more expensive preamps get within a line, or in general, the more complexity and expense seems ot be applied to the power supply and regualtion; sometimes with the addition of a second box for the power supply.

I conclude power supply is important. If this is so, why not go the simpler route of battery power for pure DC? My Dodd Battery Pre works very well indeed (for context -I've owned CAT, Lamm, ARC, Joule, Placette Active, Atma-sphere (still own), Bent TAP). Am I missing something, or doesn't battery power just make the most sense for a preamp - off the grid and all that? Seem much simpler than most highend approaches, and much less expensive to implement.
pubul57

Showing 1 response by ngjockey

ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
The first battery powered preamp, the Mission 776, used two 12 volt lead-acid in series. Those type of batteries are still used in emergency lighting and are not expensive. Dynamics was not an issue. I only had to replace the batteries once in 6 years. Much of the cost is in a reliable, automatic charging system. On the other hand, the batteries in laptop computers can be very expensive to replace.

Tubes require high voltage which means many batteries, probably smaller, in series.
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