Lithium battery for stereo system

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mr_bill

Lithium battery for stereo system
« on: 23 Nov 2024, 07:59 pm »
Anyone ever thought of using one of these to power your system via battery instead of using power conditioner or regenerator? (Off the grid)

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=44691

HAL

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Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #1 on: 24 Nov 2024, 03:06 am »
Went bigger with a solar roof and have two Powerwall 2's running the house. 

Works well with low distortion pure sinewave inverters.  Works well for my system.

richidoo

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #2 on: 24 Nov 2024, 03:07 am »
The problem most of these have is the quality of AC they produce is not really good enough for our needs. With poor AC quality it is easy to hear power supply distortion in the audio signal.

In the questions section of the sales page it is asked about the AC power quality, "Does it make pure sine wave AC?"  There are 39 other people who have agreed with the question, but there is still no answer. Pure sine means the waveform is a smooth sine wave, instead of  very rough square wave typical of normal low cost AC inverters, which will make your stereo sound horrible, and if you use any kind of computerized device as a music source it could actually break it. My guess is due to the low price it is not pure sine output. Unless you can get an answer I would not buy it.
It has 1000W maximum output which should be enough for most small medium systems. I think 1000W is the smallest size regenerator offered by PS Audio, iirc?? 


EDIT: this is my 5000th post on AC!  wooohoo!  :bounce: :dance:
« Last Edit: 25 Nov 2024, 03:22 am by richidoo »

Rusty Jefferson

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Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #3 on: 24 Nov 2024, 02:23 pm »
I only recently heard my first all battery powered system a friend in Berkeley Springs WV custom built for himself. I was familiar with his system when it was on the grid and it was really good. I was completely stunned at how much more transparency and ease the same components had running on battery power. Goosebumps.  The closest to realness I've experienced.

While working on it he experimented with a lot of battery types and did not like lithium. I can't remember if he settled on glass-mat or Gel cell but definitely not lithium, and definitely not any type of inverter. He charges each component independently and has 8-10 hours running time.

Speedskater

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Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #4 on: 24 Nov 2024, 02:44 pm »
A solar powered system is one thing and a battery powered system is another very different thing.

But with batteries you need to bypass the input AC supply of each component, or you're back to square one with inverters.

S Clark

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Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #5 on: 24 Nov 2024, 03:51 pm »
Call and talk to Danny Richie of GR-Research.  I doubt if anyone has more experience with battery operated gear than him.   
IIRC, he was not a fan of Lithium vs lead.   

mix4fix

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Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #6 on: 24 Nov 2024, 04:51 pm »
Those "solar generator" (Jackery, etc...) options are the Tesla of power backup: battery storage instead of a fuel burning engine. Just like a Tesla, the demand is your weak link. You have only so much battery power and battery life. It's used to be a backup plan during a power outage or comfort during camping, not as an audiophile "clean power" option.

I remember Red Wine Audio. They had built in battery modules and fully ran off of DC. They were at an audio festival at a hotel/town where they had utility issues. They ran fine and clean.

Stercom

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #7 on: 25 Nov 2024, 02:43 pm »
Yes they work well for audio. They produce an excellent pure sine wave. Just make sure to buy one with a quality converter that is large enough for your system. I have a Bluetti AC500.

Early B.

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #8 on: 25 Nov 2024, 03:07 pm »
I have an Ecoflow with 720Wh that claims to have pure sine wave AC outlets. Out of curiosity, can I hook this up to my system for a few minutes to see how it sounds? If it sounds just as good or better, I'd consider investing in a larger unit and run my system off of it.   

Stercom

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #9 on: 25 Nov 2024, 03:22 pm »
Here is a short video I made a few years ago for another audio group I'm in which might be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ckFzEaSzg

toocool4

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #10 on: 25 Nov 2024, 03:59 pm »
You need to look for a good double conversion UPS regenerator meaning it turns the incoming AC to DC and then recreates a perfect sinewave AC so your equipment never see the wall AC, I have been using mine for years now. Make sure you calculate something that is bigger than what you need, to give you headroom. Mine is a 3KW unit, bigger than what I need. I would say stay away from the cheap one’s like you linked to above. Mine is an Emerson Liebert GXT4. They are now called Vertiv.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=152774.msg1677560#msg1677560

Early B.

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #11 on: 25 Nov 2024, 06:36 pm »
You can buy a 1,000W double conversion UPS for as low as $400. There must be a reason why audiophiles haven't flocked to buy them. My understanding is the size, type, and brand of batteries significantly affect the sound. Many years ago, I ran a preamp off a 12V battery. At the time, there were guys "rolling batteries" like tubes to determine the best-sounding brands. 

To my knowledge, the only "audiophile quality" battery systems are Stromtank and they're ridiculously expensive partly because they run on LFP batteries. There's a used one (S-2500 MKII) on audiogon for $23,000 and it weighs 134 pounds. Their smallest one (S1000) is a mere $11,500 used and a paltry 90 pounds, also on audiogon.

 

Speedskater

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Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #12 on: 26 Nov 2024, 12:59 pm »
There must be a reason why audiophiles haven't flocked to buy them.

Because they have well designed  audio components, that don't need special AC power to operate correctly.

Jon L

Re: Lithium battery for stereo system
« Reply #13 on: 26 Nov 2024, 11:07 pm »
You can buy a 1,000W double conversion UPS for as low as $400. There must be a reason why audiophiles haven't flocked to buy them.

Quality double-conversion on-line UPS like the Liebert mentioned have msrp $1000 and up.  Audiophiles haven't flocked to them because they have not tried them or want to only try 5-figures "audiophile" conditioners.  Most units like Liebert do need the internal fans switched with quiet fans to sit in listening room, though. 

I power everything that requires DC power with non-regulated battery or Supercap power supply, and anything else that is too power-hungry or require AC on the modified Liebert, which has lasted for many years strong (batteries do need to be changed at intervals).