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Battery Powered amps and preamps

Something struck me recently, as I discovered this group of equipment that was supposed to be battery powered. The Final line is no longer represented in the Western Hemisphere, perhaps it was too costly for what it offered, and there were not enough takers. When I read the review, it seemed that their battery powered unit blew the Gaincard out of the water and also went head to head with the Conrad Johnson Art preamp. Does anyone have any opinions about this type of gear? I have seen people advertising a N.E.W. amp that was supposed to be battery powered. I have no idea what they sound like or anything else. Any experience would be appreciated with this latest mystery. Maybe this might be the next step for many people who are fed up of upgrading to massively and inefficient gear.

PAUL
bemopti123
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Jeff Rowland uses battery technology on several products in his line. You can visit his web site, and view the Model 8 amplifier and Coherence preamp. In addition to technical specifications and images, there are reviews from Ultimate Audio by Greg Petan and Myles B. Astor. http://www.jeffrowland.com/
jim
418 posts
 
The N.E.W. products offered good sound for the money. I have not had personal experience regarding reliability, but thought the amps and preamp sounded pretty good. I think the designer, (his name escapes me at the moment), is now working with Dennis Had at Cary.
musikdok
120 posts
 
I have been enlightened recently as to the potential use of a high-quality power inverter with a sufficient quantity of lead-acid batteries to effectively "battery power" one's system. I'm considering going forward with this to the extent of powering my front end, leaving my amps to "drink from the tap," due to the obvious constraints. Not as elegantly styled as the PS audio and others, but sounds worth a try!
peterrussell
4 posts
 
Having heard the 47 Labs and the Final products together I can say that they did not blow the 47 labs out of the water. Anyone who wants to buy 35 bateries every few months has a problem anyway. The build quality is not too good either. The Rowland battery supply? I wonder how long Roland will make it availabel?
jim
418 posts
 
I don't know about the other amps mentioned, but the N.E.W. amps had re-chargeable batteries. Plug them in after your listening session and you are ready for the next round, I agree that buying 35 batteries is a bit weird...
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