Amplifier porn

[Craig Sawyers]

Apart from the fact they take the battery supply and put it through AC regenerators (the things screwed to the wall). They go to the sockets supplying power to the wall sockets, and go to the power transformers in your audio gear.

The only benefit is a pure 50/60Hz sine wave rather than the grotty looking thing that comes off the grid, with flattened tops and spikes..

The real way to do it of course is to use the batteries as the DC supply to the amp and dispense with all the AC stuff. As some serious DIY'ers have done for decades, powering their gear directly from a rack of car batteries.

[mwl168]

There is no way for me to prove this but I am willing to bet big dollars that the reason some times the same gears of mine sound much better (or worse) than other times has to do with the quality of the AC power from the grid at the time. 

Would be great if someday the battery technology is such that we can power our audio gears from DC supply that's totally isolated from the AC grid.

  

[Dusty Chalk]

A big enough lightning strike can always span an air gap.  Otherwise that technology already exists. 

Craig, yeah, that’s exactly what I meant by “something like that” — hacking the power supply chain (or designing the system) to eliminate the need for AC.

[HiWire]

I wonder if anybody has set up a Tesla Powerwall for an A/V system ("My other Tesla is my stereo") – given the price for most audiophile equipment, it's actually not that bad:

https://news.energysage.com/tesla-powerwall-battery-complete-review/

Edited May 5, 2020 by HiWire

[Craig Sawyers]

How clean and non-RFI free the mains power regenerator in the Powerwall is will be the kicker for the unit in high end audio. As far as I know, a user cannot access the 48V battery as a DC source.

It is one hell of a chunky battery though - 125kg (about 275lbs)!

[mwl168]

1 hour ago, Dusty Chalk said:

A big enough lightning strike can always span an air gap.  Otherwise that technology already exists. 

Craig, yeah, that’s exactly what I meant by “something like that” — hacking the power supply chain (or designing the system) to eliminate the need for AC.

yes, the technology has existed for some time but I am hoping for the technology to be more accessible (cost, size, etc.) and better usability.  

[ironbut]

Some recording studios used to power their consoles with a closet full of car batteries. 

But that was motivated by hum and other local circuit issues.

I experimented with powering my Metric Halo interface/ADAC with a car battery. It worked pretty well but I can't say there was any obvious advantages.

 

I sure would like to see someone design an "all house" dc supply so we could forget about all these friggin wall warts.

Buying these POS dc power supplies over and over.

What a waste!!!

 

[Knuckledragger]

(1) Sherbourn 7/2100 & (2) Sherbourn 12/900s.  Total ~200 lbs.

[Knuckledragger]

[Craig Sawyers]

Pretty good room heater too 

At points in the past I have had fan cooled Krell and Audio Research power amps. In the UK where no one has or really needs air conditioning. So in the Summer, running either of those hernia-inducing monsters needed real dedication to the audio cause.

[Dusty Chalk]

What are those bulbous things, I don’t recognize them.  13q69?

[Knuckledragger]

 

 

[mikeymad]

^^

hmmm - do I know this person?  

{and does like themselves some Mapleshade products}

 

[Knuckledragger]

[Torpedo]

I had a Marantz cassette deck which was the immediate predecessor of that in this picture. They were about the same, just slight changes in the VUmeters colors and the action buttons. More than 40 years ago. Time flies.

[Knuckledragger]

[Knuckledragger]

[mikeymad]

+1 for dbx

[guzziguy]

+3 for the Lava Lamp

[blessingx]

+6 for that phone

-3 for the Route 66 sign  

[robm321]

No love for the Titanic picture?

[Augsburger]

Three cassette decks in a row, I smell a new thread theme.

[GrindingThud]

Another vote for that phone!

[mwl168]

What? No love for the Pioneer 8 Track player? 

I grew up with those things!

[Knuckledragger]

Kenwood KA-7300 x2.