Going Battery Powered

It’s been awhile so I feel like I should chime in with my findings. What I’ve found is that I get better sound with the following setup rather than going direct to a 12V battery with my equipment that can take 12V DC. It seems counterintuitive because it’s adding so many extra components compared to just a battery but I swear it sounds better. 

For example, here is how I have powered my preamp which needs 12V DC to run:

12V DC 75 Ah sealed AGM battery -> 600 watt, 120V AC, pure sine wave power inverter -> 12V DC extra low noise power supply -> preamp.

It know it seems funny to start with 12V DC and end up with 12V DC but it just sounds better than plugging the 12V DC battery directly into the preamp. If you think about it, it’s not all that different than a PS Audio Power Plant, and it seems to avoid many of the problems with direct battery powered systems. 

I called Giandel.  Someone said their inverter was light years ahead of other.  They told me their inverter was not the best for audio.  2nd inverter manufacturer that told me as much.   They do get feedback from people trying this stuff. 

I talked with a guy who supplies Equitech with inverters for homes with power sags.  They use a large UPS.  About a $30k unit.  I don't get it.  Its full of deep cycle battery.

Every direct to the wall vs a battery system such as I noted above, the wall is always better on amps.  If you add a Torus, the wall is way better.

The front end is the hmmm, well, maybe part.  But then again, a AQ5000 gives a black background if thats what you want.

  A Denali is also quiet with some snap.  

A Torus is quiet with more life and air.  Pretty similar to a Denali.  Just the transformer does amps very well. 

I want to try an inverter and battery.  But I want the unit capable of powering a class A 150 watt amp.  Or tube amp with a ststic draw of say 6 amps with peakes.  As well as a preamp, phono pre, DAC, server, switch, TT motors.  It has to power a stereo.  Not a walkman or headphone rig.  And it should be compared against wall power that is 4 didicated 10 awg circuits not longer than 40 feet.   The electrical panel should be refurbished with new breakers and the grounding polished and reading 5 ohms or less.

Yesterday I was assessing a home.  The wall had 3.2%thd on the 3,5,7.  When the Denali was plugged in, rhe wall jumped to above 13.5% thd on the 3rd and up quite a way.  Massive backfeed noise into the main line.  The load side of the Denali had the exact same 3.2 or so thd in the 3rd and 5th.  More on the 5th.  

I bet you would get very similar readings on the load of an inverter.  A true isolated battery system would not pollute the mains.  That is a benefit.  

What are "...many of the problems with direct battery powered systems."? I’ll reveal my thinking by typing this: you’re making this up try to rationalize your irrational actions.

Hesitant to reply to such a negative comment, but I will in the off chance you’re actually here to learn something. There are many threads on this forum that discuss the technical aspects of battery powered audio gear, both pros and cons. I recommend using the search function. I’ll leave a quote by Erik Squires that sums up one of the major issues quite succinctly:

"The negative side of battery power supplies is the supplies themselves have inherently high output impedance compared to their AC counterparts, leading to higher cross-talk, and potentially weak bass and dynamic range."

Thanks mkgus.  And I apologize for my assertion; clearly I was wrong to think that I could have any insight into your psychology, let alone to then assert such.

As self reported in the other thread that I'm posting in today, the 'system details' thread, I'm lazy, so pretty much no chance I'll go searching for info related to my question...which makes me all the more grateful for your answer, thanks again.

Gotta say though, Mr. Squires remark makes no sense to me; to wit: Dodd Battery Powered Preamp has an output impedance of 200 Ohms...this is lower than most 120 volt powered preamps.

I noted georgehifi stated earlier in this thread:

"And a battery is not current limited..."

So, apparently, at a minimum, there's a range of thinking on the subject.

Glad you're finding the setup you're using is providing a sonic benefit.