2. tech-talk
  3. 165979-5759

Switching to battery power

Hi

Has anybody switched their audio system either wholly or partially to battery power? I've read that some folks have had good results using Goal Zero power stations for doing this, but I'm sure a couple of quality deep cycle and good full wave inverter would work no?

Please share if you have tried it and what your finding were.

Thanks
Paul
pauly

Showing 3 responses by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Pauly, Wrong. The amplifier section of every power amplifier you have ever listened to is powered by DC. The DC is supplied by it's power supply from whatever AC power you supply it. With a properly regulated power supply the quality of that AC power makes absolutely no difference. None, nada, zilch, zero.  If it does make a difference the power supply is not adequately regulated. It is pure lay instinct and totally incorrect to believe some additional power regulating device is needed. But is is a free country and you are entitled to believe all the silly mythology slathering the audio market.   
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
You do not power the amplifier with a pure sine wave. You power it with pure DC. If pure DC is coming out of your power supply using whatever comes out of your wall socket than purchasing any power source is a total and complete waste of money. If pure DC does not come out of the power supply of any electronic device than it's power supply is garbage and that piece needs to be replaced. 
If you want to know what your power supply is doing just hook up an oscilloscope to it. You should see a perfectly flat line at the voltage spec of the power supply. Now that is a static measurement. The power supply also has to meet the demands of the device. If it is a power amplifier it has to be able to supply the power necessary to support the full specified output. There should not be a voltage drop. This is not affected by the cleanliness of the AC supplied to the unit.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Running very low level devices like phono stages off batteries makes sense. Channel D does this with several of their phono stages including the $60,000 Seta L20. The AC charger is switched off during operation. 
Otherwise, there is no significant benefit worth the expense. We have excellent power supplies.
In theory since a really big battery is a really big capacitor you could build a very powerful amplifier around one. I am no expert in this but it seems that the cost and size of such an amplifier are prohibitive as nobody seems to want to make it.
More to discover