Vinnie's new Battery Power - Black Lightning

[cfmsp]

 

 

http://www.redwineaudio.com/products/black-lightning

 

For those interested in battery power for your system (or parts thereof), wait no longer.

 

enjoy,

clay

 

 

[Thomas J]

One paper I read on battery noise correlated lower noise with lower internal resistance, internal resistance being the measure of current capability. Vinnie says his SLAs are the highest current batteries available. That claim is decidedly untrue. Lithium nano phosphate batteries, developed for hybrid automobiles, are the rulers supreme in current delivery (and by implication for internal resistance and very probably noise). For instance, one 3.7V cell I know of can deliver 3,000+A on a 200ms peak, 1900A on a 2s pulse, and 500+A continuous. I don't think an SLA can come anywhere near those figures.

 

[CG]

I never tried any lithium nano phosphate batteries - does DigiKey even stock them? - but I have tried SLA batteries in the past. The external DAC I was using had a separate non-switched DC supply that was really high performance, even by today's standards. The regulation was incorporated in the DAC itself, so it easy to just change the raw DC supply.

 

Without sounding too hyperbolic, I was really surprised at the degree of improvement over the AC mains based supply. My wife heard the same thing. Believe me, she was not predisposed to liking the pile of SLA batteries in the living room, either.

 

Part of the performance gain may have been due to the noise on the raw DC being random (chemical) in nature, as opposed to the various not-so-random stuff found on the rectified AC mains that might have made its way past the filter and regulation system. But I attributed as much or more of the improvement to eliminating an undesirable common mode coupling mechanism through the wall connection. I tend to think this is an often ignored aspect of audio system performance. (For some explanation, check out http://www.hottconsultants.com/ - read the book; Henry Ott is hardly some quack...)

 

You can read on the web where some people shred battery power for audio, saying that it does something to dynamics or something like that. My experience is that battery power can remove some of the impression of compression that the side effects of AC power can cause. Many people interpret this as loss of dynamics, or loudness. I preferred losing the extra layer of grunge that masked some details. But, to each their own.

 

Using batteries can be inconvenient, but at least in my opinion, they really have their merits. Maybe Red Wine has gotten rid of most of the hassle.

 

[Thomas J]

CG, type 26650 into eBay. This will bring up an A123 3.7V battery which can be purchased for $6-8 each. Just solder them end to end for required total voltage (be quick and use safety glasses case they 'splode).

 

A cheaper 3.7V battery is the 18650 .... $1 each! I used four of these lightweight current-monsters to replace my dead Dewalt 14.4V NIMH, and the cordless drill, now considerably lighter, now almost jumps out of my hand.

 

[CG]

"type 26650 into eBay."

 

I didn't know a Kidcraft Avalon Table was a recommended power source.

 

Kidding...

 

Thanks. I'll give them a try.

 

[Debora Brodner]

You wrote quite a short presentation about batteries. I think the best long lasting batteries, however are Procell because they are even rechargeable and never fail, no matter how powerful the tools you are using them for is.

 

 

[icebreaker]

"Lithium nano phosphate batteries, developed for hybrid automobiles, are the rulers supreme in current delivery"

 

Great news! I can plug the stereo into my Prius when I get home at night. ;^))

 

It would be interesting to read a comparison of the merits of 1) SLA batteries, 2) Power Regenerators (eg. PS Audio PPP) and 3) Power Isolation Units (eg. Torus).

 

(Perhaps an enterprising individual with more knowledge than moi could write a few CA Wiki entries?)

 

From Torus site: "A typical 200 watt audio power amplifier demands 10 amps RMS current from a 120 volt line (1200VA) but may demand up to 50 amp instantaneous peaks. "