I can share my experience with battery powering gear. With my CD player, a battery certainly lowered the noise floor but at the cost of decreased dynamics. This is most likely attributed to the battery being too small, not enough capacitance. A linear power supply works better here, at least until I get a larger, better battery. With my tube preamp buffer, it sounds much better on the same battery that wasn’t “good enough” for my CD player. It sounds better on that battery than the same linear power supply that makes my CD player sound best. Trying to relate this to your situation, the tube buffer is closer in function to the phono preamp than the phono preamp is to the CD player. The phono preamp isn’t the source, it’s a type of signal amplification just like my tube buffer (which by the way applies 9 dB of gain). I say give it a shot, if you know what you’re doing so you don’t accidentally fry a component, and see how it sounds. From experience and from what others have said, bigger batteries sound better in terms of dynamics. We’re talking 70 Ah or more. Yes, that’s like a car battery in size. Your mileage may vary and you may not need that much. I’m using 35 Ah for my tube preamp and it sounds great. The CD player obviously needs more.
Battery Power Supply Yes_ or No_
It seems to me that a phono stage is at a greater risk to noise than any other gismo in a system. Mine makes a slight hum, and I am considering saying "la byby" to it. Some years ago Sutherland sold a phono stage that was battery powered. The theory being that this arrangement would substantially lower the noise floor. I am considering a Project phono stage that uses a 18 volt wall wort for a power supply. It is a metaphysical certainty that some noise will creep up that power cable. So my concept is to wire 3 small industrial 6 volt batteries together, such that they produce 18 volts, and chuck the wall wort.. I think most people who post here are further down the knowledge trail than I am. I hope some of you will share your wisdom regarding the above. Gratzi, in advance for your thoughts.
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- 7 posts total
- 7 posts total