[wushuliu]

I will be selling my modded TBI to pursue a more diy approach based on the same chip as the TBI...

[genjamon]

Where does one go to buy these, anyway?  Results from my very brief internet searching did not yield very confidence-inspiring vendors.

[Gopher]

Comments from my short time spent with TBI. My speakers are Zu Definition MK4's, 101db sensitivity with on board powered sub. Amp is a Melody I2A3. The first night I listened on ac power, the sound was decent but not very engaging, thin sounding. The second night although I knew I was not going to be able to sit and listen I hooked up the batteries and turned it on. Working in the adjacent room it kept grabbing my attention. I had to keep running in to sit and listen for a few minutes. I could tell right away it was a much different amp on battery power. Unfortunately the batteries did not last very long. I charged them overnight with the thought of spending most of the weekend doing some serious listening. I began listening again on Sat. playing select cuts from different discs. I was really surprised on how much better the bass was on battery power and as Tom has been saying sound staging and imaging is just crazy good. I was listening fairly loud most of the time and the amp seemed to be coasting along unfortunately the batteries died again after about 2 hours. The Melody being a quality amp although not up to the level of the Zu's does an admiral job with them. As short as my time was with the TBI I'd say it trumps the Melody in every aspect. I must say the Melody is the only amp I have heard with Def 4's so I have no other comparison's. It would be nice to try it with a pre amp to gain at least another input. No doubt it will get better with the coming tweaks.

Quite interesting.  I'm looking forward to trying Def 2s (with Def 4 drivers) with this TBI and use a Melody AN211.  Its a few steps up from the i2a3, but its interesting to hear this thing outdoing any Melody as I feel they're great performers.

2 hours battery time though?  Yeesh.   My rig is on for about 6 hours a day.

[Freo-1]

Tom was getting over twenty hours with the batteries.  I think they are worn out.  If you get one of these and keep it long term, a Lithium battery would be in order.

[gilesw]

Okay so my amp arrived here in the UK today. It does sound totally different on the internal batteries. I'm curious to know though, did you guys compare internal to your battery pack? And why would the battery pack sound different? I've not had any issues with how loud it goes.

I am a bit concerned about this talk about the batteries draining.. I was going to buy one of these:-

http://www.razorbase.co.uk/Razor_Spare_Parts/Razor_MX350_Dirt_Bike_Spare_Parts/Razor_RAZ143_Battery

but should I just buy a AA battery pack?

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-rechargeable-battery-packs/5440239/

[Rclark]

 Something to note, I have my Virtue on a set of batteries permanently connected to a high quality charger... There is no fear of running out and my amp is always warmed up.

 - kinda the whole point. The idea of batteries is not to be panicky and looking over your shoulder with a multimeter, it's to have them always on charge.

[wushuliu]

Something to note, I have my Virtue on a set of batteries permanently connected to a high quality charger... There is no fear of running out and my amp is always warmed up.

 - kinda the whole point. The idea of batteries is not to be panicky and looking over your shoulder with a multimeter, it's to have them always on charge.

As I believe Tom has mentioned, this is viable for the 12v but not for 24v as a 24v charger outputs at higher voltage and would blow the amp fuse. The Virtue's TK2050
can take higher voltages (up to 36? or 32 don't remember), the TBI shuts down >26v.

[Ispec2]

Quite interesting.  I'm looking forward to trying Def 2s (with Def 4 drivers) with this TBI and use a Melody AN211.  Its a few steps up from the i2a3, but its interesting to hear this thing outdoing any Melody as I feel they're great performers.

2 hours battery time though?  Yeesh.   My rig is on for about 6 hours a day.

Gopher,

I'll retract a little from my comment about bettering the Melody in all aspects. I really did not log enough time with it to come to that conclusion, but wanted to make a point how good this amp sounded. It is definitely on par with it. I also think the battery issue can be resolved. anxious to hear your thoughts on it. 

[Freo-1]

Okay so my amp arrived here in the UK today. It does sound totally different on the internal batteries. I'm curious to know though, did you guys compare internal to your battery pack? And why would the battery pack sound different? I've not had any issues with how loud it goes.

I am a bit concerned about this talk about the batteries draining.. I was going to buy one of these:-

http://www.razorbase.co.uk/Razor_Spare_Parts/Razor_MX350_Dirt_Bike_Spare_Parts/Razor_RAZ143_Battery

but should I just buy a AA battery pack?

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aa-rechargeable-battery-packs/5440239/

 
I'm using a very similar setup to the Razor setup you listed.  It works fine, and should last a sufficient amount of hours between charges. 
 
One item worth noting:  When recharging the batteries, make SURE the power plug is not connected to the TBI, else you will blow the fuse.

[bendude888]

Greetings to everyone here...long time lurker and first post  .
Just wondering, has anyone tried using lifepo4 batteries?
Reason I'm asking is because I would like to use a lifepo4 battery pack
but the nominal voltage is 25.6v and a little higher hot off the charger.

[Rclark]

 Might be worth it. Seems like this amp is privy to the slightest change. Even the paint scheme can add or subtract... 10% performance  kidding fellas.

[wushuliu]

Greetings to everyone here...long time lurker and first post  .
Just wondering, has anyone tried using lifepo4 batteries?
Reason I'm asking is because I would like to use a lifepo4 battery pack
but the nominal voltage is 25.6v and a little higher hot off the charger.

Per the TBI specs page. 26v is the max from an external power supply, so possibly. However
as mentioned the battery must be unplugged from the amp while charging.

[Rclark]

Whatever. I'll be testing this thing 8om, 4ohm battery, no battery, we'll see.

[wushuliu]

Whatever. I'll be testing this thing 8om, 4ohm battery, no battery, we'll see.

Just don't expect much with the Maggies, which for the record I think is a really not so great idea for that amp.

[OzarkTom]

For those of you that is worried about discharge of the battery, you can always go with the 12v battery and smart charger. The 12v battery will allow the TBI to double the power to 33 wpc into a 4 ohm load, and if you have 8 ohm speakers that is 95db efficieny, the 16 wpc will be more than enough to blow your ears off. The advantage of the 12v, you can always leave the smart charger on if you don't hear the AC line from the charger.

Here are some 12v batteries that will also give you a slower discharge if you don't want the smart charger to stay hooked up.

http://www.batteryspace.com/sealedleadacidbattery12v26ahforwheelchairla-12v26ahs.aspx - 26AH
http://www.batteryspace.com/sealedleadacidbattery12v20ah240whs.aspx - 20AH
http://www.batteryspace.com/sealedleadacidbattery12v17ah204whs.aspx -17AH

Here is the 12v smart charger.

http://www.batteryspace.com/leadacidsmartcharger30afor6vand12vleadacidbatterywith3stagesfloatingforworldwide.aspx

And here is the hook-up wire between the battery and the amp.


http://www.batteryspace.com/connectoradaptor55mmx25mmbarrelmaleconnector.aspx

[OzarkTom]

Greetings to everyone here...long time lurker and first post  .
Just wondering, has anyone tried using lifepo4 batteries?
Reason I'm asking is because I would like to use a lifepo4 battery pack
but the nominal voltage is 25.6v and a little higher hot off the charger.

I would worry about blowing out the fuse. But so far, the SLA bettery has sounded a little better than lifepo4 battery.

[gilesw]

I'm running on 8AA batteries at the moment and the amp easily goes loud enough. I'd be worried about cranking the volume to max and using my digital source to control the volume incase something played at full volume. So why does the amp sound better when putting the battery power into the main socket rather than using the internal battery compartment? Is it just for convenience. I've had my amp on for 5+ hours and it still hasn't run out of juice.

[gilesw]

Oh do you think these speakers would be a good match for the amp?

http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-3408-epos-epic-5-floorstanding-speakers-pair.aspx

[OzarkTom]

Oh do you think these speakers would be a good match for the amp?

http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-3408-epos-epic-5-floorstanding-speakers-pair.aspx

At 92 db efficiency, you should have no worries. I tried the Anthony Gallo Classico 4's with the same specs and it would get much louder than what I want to listen to it.

[gilesw]

Cool thanks Tom. Still trying to decide on what battery pack to build. Presumably with 24v batteries rather than 12 the amp doesn't have to work as hard and therefore there's less distortion introduced?