[Vinnie R.]

All,

I want to give everyone a heads-up on a new Red Wine Audio product (Black Lightning high-current Battery Power Supplies) that we are getting ready to release next month.  My post below provides some preliminary information that my marketing guy has been working on, but a formal press release and web page with much more detail will follow in the next few weeks. 

As mentioned in the post below, prototype units are being featured this weekend at the Virtue Audio room at RMAF (Marriott Tower 2032) - please be sure the check them out! 

As always, thank you for all your interest and support!

Vinnie

[Vinnie R.]

Black Lightning Strikes!

Red Wine Audio brings the advantages of high-current Battery Power Supplies to non-Red Wine hi-fi components


Pictured above: Black Lightning "Series 10" High-current Battery Power Supply

AC Power Adaptors degrade sound quality...

Getting the best sound possible from audio components requires feeding them a clean and robust supply of electrical current. Yet to reduce costs, many hi-fi components ship with the bare minimum: Cheap-n'-dirty AC Power Adaptors -- sometimes called Wall-Worts.

To the manufacture, these AC adaptors are "throw-ins." To you as a music lover, these Power Adaptors are degrading your listening experience -- probably more than you could imagine!

So if you want your system to sound its very best, wouldn't it be nice to improve on -- or better yet -- completely eliminate these sound-degrading power adapters?

Introducing Black Lightning high-current Battery Power Supplies from Red Wine Audio...

Black Lightning is a plug-n'-play replacement for the inferior stock AC adaptors currently used to power your DACs, phonostages, preamplifers, amplifiers, and other audio components.

Each Black Lightning is hand-built and preconfigured to meet your specific power and connectivity requirements. Black Lightning takes audio components off-the-grid, completely eliminating the noise and grunge found on all AC power lines. This bypasses the shortcomings related to the AC-to-DC conversion process: http://www.redwineaudio.com/about/why-sla. With Black Lightning powering your audio components, you become more emotionally involved with your music -- which is what Red Wine Audio is all about!

Availability and Pricing

Prototype Black Lightning units are being demonstrated this week at Rocky Mountain Audio Festival (RMAF 2009) at the Virtue Audio room (Marriott Tower -- Room 2032). Please be sure to check them out!  Here is a link to the Virtue Audio forum here on Audiocircle: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=152.0

Virtue Audio will have both a Black Lightning "Series 10" (configured for 24V output) and the larger Black Lightning "Series 12" (configured for 36V output) units feeding their amplifiers.

** Full production is scheduled to begin in November 2009 **

** Additional information and pricing will be released soon. Feel free to post here if you have questions, or call me / send me an e-mail if you have questions or want to discuss pre-ordering **

All the best,

Vinnie

[TRADERXFAN]

Sounds great.

Any even ballpark prices? 

-Tony

[Hebrew Hammer]

This would also be a great ancillary piece to the Wadia 170i.. supper hot Vinnie..


Hope all is well sir!!!!!

[Vinnie R.]

This would also be a great ancillary piece to the Wadia 170i.. supper hot Vinnie..

Hope all is well sir!!!!

Hi Hebrew Hammer,

Thanks.

Yes, we'll be able to configure these for many different output voltages such as: 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 18V, 24V, +/- 12V (split supply applications) - and even cases where two voltages are needed (e.g. 5V and 12V).

So the Wadia iTransport is covered, as well as Squeezeboxes, so many dacs, phonostages, preamps, headphone amps, power amps (e.g. various T-amps such as the Virtue), and so much more!

The Black Lightning "Series 10" is a smaller unit (10" wide x 6" deep) that can run one 12V, 10Ah battery (or two 12V, 5Ah batteries). 

The Black Lightning "Series 12" is a larger unit (12" wide x 12" deep) that can handle up to four batteries, so we can offer 36V, 48V, +/- 24V (split supply) - or two larger batteries which can even be paralleled for super-long capacity, if needed for your application. 

The new charging circuitry is amazing and there is so much more to be posted about this - we are working on all the details, formal press release, web page, and...

Any even ballpark prices? 

We are still working out the pricing on these... should be announced within a few weeks.

Thanks again for all your interest and support.  I'll be looking forward to working with many of you to meet your power needs.

Best regards,

Vinnie

[Mariusz]

                                    Looking good Vinnie.
I am sure we can cover some details about "Black Lightning" later this afternoon during my visit.

 For curious minds - I am having my HPA Isabellina DAC modified by Vinnie to share its battery power supply with another component (EA Offramp Turbo). I'll also bring Audiovista's AC edition phonostage so Vinnie can look at it and see if it is possible to get it off the grid.

 Another application which I am interested in is Dayens Ampino amp from Serbia and new, not yet released Squeezebox Touch (no specifications concerning DC voltage).

 I have only one question or suggestion:
It would be great to see "Black Lightning" with power option for two components in the single box - neat solution IMHO.
 Say Ampino amp and Sq. Touch. Even at premium cost, it would reduce the number of boxes and rack space.......... just a thought.

Best
Mariusz

[tenantman]

Vinnie,

I am also looking forward to including the "Black Lightning" so I can completely take my home audio and Home theatre systems off the Grid.  Fine innovation that makes upgrading power supplies inconsequential. By the way Vinnie, if there is a mailing list for these please add my name. I am in the neighborhood as you know.

Regards,

Luis

[jkelly]

I'm kind of thinking Virtue One/Two with this.

Jeff

[knut_the_viking]

Would this be a good fit for a Logitech Squeezebox?
I'm thinking that it would be.
(One glance at the supplied wall-wart should be enough to convince anybody)

[BobC]

So with the multiple batteries, can this thing power 2 devices at the same time, e.g. battery power to a Logitech Duet and a Cambridge DACMagic at the same time?  (they both have wall worts)

[Alwayswantmore]

                                    Looking good Vinnie.

It would be great to see "Black Lightning" with power option for two components in the single box - neat solution IMHO.
 Say Ampino amp and Sq. Touch. Even at premium cost, it would reduce the number of boxes and rack space.......... just a thought.

Best
Mariusz

Depending on current and voltage this is possible. We're going to keep Vinnie busy matching plugs and voltage requirements. Kent

[Mariusz]

Just came back from RWA factory - as always it was pleasure to talk to Vinnie and pick his brain a little. New battery power supplies will be an awesome audition for those looking to upgrade or take their (at least some) components off the grid. I had a chance to listen to iTransporter Wadia (powered by Isabellina's battery PS) via two sets of cans ( Sennheiser's 650 & AKG 701s ). It sounded glorious on both cans.
I can see "Black Lightning" in my rig powering future Squeezebox Touch, Wadia itransporter or one of my flea amps or phonostages.
Build quality and versatility will be second to non.
My question from the earlier post was answered and now, me think I've an idea what I want for Christmas. aa


Mariusz

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your posts and interest in Black Lightning. 

I'll also bring Audiovista's AC edition phonostage so Vinnie can look at it and see if it is possible to get it off the grid.

Hi Mariusz,

Looks like it has an AC input, but internally, it runs on +/- 12Vdc.  So it can be easily modded to accept a "DC Direct" input from a "Series 10" Black Lightning running two batteries for +/- 12Vdc, and I bet it will play for well over 24 hours on a full charge     

I used to do a similar mod a while back for the popular Lehmann Audio Black Cube phonostages.  Running them on +/- 12dc SLA battery power completely transformed their sound - pretty amazing results and I'm sure your phonostage would also benefit in the same way.  Like DACs, Phonostages are dealing with very delicate, low-voltage signals.  Very clean power makes a huge improvement (especially with a phonostage that has like 60dB of gain - you don't want to boost dirty ac power noise and hash by 60dB!    So the power supply rails are so critical to the sound...

I have only one question or suggestion:
It would be great to see "Black Lightning" with power option for two components in the single box - neat solution IMHO.

Sure - another output jack could be added, and even at a different voltage.  For example, you might have a SB3 that runs on 5V, and a dac for it that runs on 12V.  They can both be powered from the same Black Lightning and will share the same battery and SMART board, etc.  Of course the 12V gets linear-regulated down to 5V for the SB3 (or 9V for the Squeezebox Duet), and the 12V can power your EA Offramp, dac, etc...

Another application which I am interested in is Dayens Ampino amp from Serbia

That amp runs Class AB on internal +/- 24V rails - so the Black Lightning "Series 12" configured for the +/- 24V option would do the trick.  If you even get an Ampino, get very familiar with its sound, and then bring it over and I'll show you what happens when you feed it "DC Direct" from a high current SLA power supply - again, expect a BIG transformation (throughout the entire audio spectrum) when you bypass the stock internal power supply,(ac/dc conversion process) and give it some clean, high current JUICE! 

Someone called me and asked about the Pass FirstWatt amps.  They supposedly run on low voltage rails (they are low power) - perhaps +/- 24Vdc.  However, they are Class A and make a lot of heat (the nature of pure class A), so something larger than a Series 12 (perhaps later on, an 18" wide and taller "Series 18" could be done to allow for larger batteries for longer play time).  I would need to find out what the current draw is on these amps to determine what will work and for how long between charges 

I am also looking forward to including the "Black Lightning" so I can completely take my home audio and Home theatre systems off the Grid.  Fine innovation that makes upgrading power supplies inconsequential. By the way Vinnie, if there is a mailing list for these please add my name. I am in the neighborhood as you know.

Hi Luis,

Please check back on this forum.  In approx. 3 weeks, we will be posting the official press release, links to the Black Lightning web page that still needs to be made, etc.  And you have my email and phone number, so you know you can contact me at any time...

I'm kind of thinking Virtue One/Two with this.

Hi jkelly,

Virtue is using both the "Series 10" prototype running 24V, and the larger "Series 12" running 36V this weekend at RMAF.  I'm sure he (and Michael) are very busy running their room, but hopefully they'll post about it soon enough.

Would this be a good fit for a Logitech Squeezebox?
I'm thinking that it would be.
(One glance at the supplied wall-wart should be enough to convince anybody)

Hi Knut,

Sure - the SB2 and SB3 models run on 5V, and the Squeezebox Duet runs on 9V.  We have those covered with our Black Lightning "Series 10", or if you want really long play time, we can make it happen with a "Series 12" holding larger SLA batteries...

So with the multiple batteries, can this thing power 2 devices at the same time, e.g. battery power to a Logitech Duet and a Cambridge DACMagic at the same time?  (they both have wall worts)

Hi BobC,

See my comments above about adding anther output jack.  We can work with you on powering more than one device. 

The information that is most helpful to know about your component(s):


- What DC input voltage does your product use? (e.g. Logitech Duet uses 9Vdc)

- How much power does your product consume at that voltage (either let me know the listed current draw, or the wattage it is rated to consume).  So if it runs on 12V and they say it consumes 6 watts, then we know it draws 0.5 amps -- Power = Voltage x Current, or Current = Power / Voltage

- What type in input jack does the product use? (e.g. a 2.1mm barrel plug for an EA Off-ramp, as Mariusz brought to me yesterday.  Example 2 - the Wadia iTransport uese a 3-pin "mini-DIN"). So the custom cable needs to be made with the mating plug...

Over time, I'll form a matrix of popular products, their voltage and power requirements, and the input plugs they use.  This will help us all (including me!  ).

I had a chance to listen to iTransporter Wadia (powered by Isabellina's battery PS) via two sets of cans ( Sennheiser's 650 & AKG 701s ). It sounded glorious on both cans.

...me think I've an idea what I want for Christmas.

Hi again, Mariusz,

Thanks for visiting and your feedback.

Christmas will be here before you know it 


Have a great weekend, everyone!

Vinnie

[JDUBS]

A battery-powered First Watt amp would be cool but they can use a lot of power!  The F5 for instance consumes 180 watts but does have +/- 24volt rails.  The input fuse is rated at 2.5amps.

-Jim

[BobC]

So, I like to leave my Duet Receiver and DAC powered on all of the time.  A battery power source wouldn't allow me to do this, correct?

Curious about the price and how it compares to other after-market power supplies.

[jopagi]

This is an excellent idea Vinnie, and I look forward to hearing more about it.  I saw the Black Lightning at RMAF (too bad the sign next to it misspelled it as Lightening) and wondered what it was but didn't get a chance to ask about it.

I'm curious to know how many wall-warts people are currently using.  I'm expecting that the multi-output version will be the most popular, so my questions are focused on that version.

How are you planning on supporting the different types of plugs?  Will the plug be hardwired, or will there be a stock connector with plug adapters for the different devices?  Will the wire into the Lightning be pluggable or hardwired?

Is there a possibility of user-configuration capability in the future?  E.g. changing some jumpers to reconfigure it from 5V to 9V (along with a corresponding plug change if necessary).  Fickleness drives the industry after all, and if we switch to a different device it would be nice not to have to send the Lightning back to you to adjust it.

This might be a silly question, but if one has a Lightning with support for multiple devices, will there be any kind of protection circuitry for goober-headed mistakes like plugging in the wrong type of power?   I don't know how standard the DC input connectors are, but I seem to recall that some devices have identical-looking connectors but expect the +/- voltages differently -- i.e. one expecting + on the outer lead, the other expecting + on the inner.

I have 4 different audio wall-warts currently (SB3, phono pre, turntable, and headphone amp), plus some other random wall-warts for who knows what, and when they get mixed up I have to think very carefully to make sure I plug them in to the right component.  Now that I think about it, I should just label each one to identify the appropriate piece of equipment to which they belong.   Are you planning some kind of labelling for the different plugs?

Will you have separate on/off switches for each output?  I'd rather not run my tubed phonostage when I'm listening to the music server.  I could just unplug it, though.  The same question would probably also apply to those people like Mariusz who get a piece of equipment modified to bypass the internal transformer... their on/off switch would be bypassed as well, right?

Is the charger able to charge a single battery at a time?  If one piece draws more current than another, I could imagine one battery getting charged while the other (powering a lower-power device) stays on battery power.   Would this require multiple smartboards?

I didn't mean to play 20 questions... but I'm curious

[panomaniac]

A big thanks to Vinnie for sending us the battery supplies to RMAF.

We ran them on our T-amps at the show and liked them a lot.  But it was not until Saturday night that we got to do very critical A/B comparisons.  We hauled a couple of our amps down to the GR Research room and compared our amps to Gary Dodd's nice EL84 battery powered amp.  We were just running the top and of the GR speaker - a 12" P.Audio coax. (bottom end servo driven)

Well of course the Dodd amp was superb, as it should be.  With our amps and our 130W switching supplies our amps sounded "OK", but a little rough thru the mids, and not as dynamic.  And this is our best power supply*.  Switched the Vinnie's batteries - voila!  Magic.  Rough edges all gone, more dynamic and even seemed to play lower.  A very nice change for the better.  It was easy to hear, we all did.

So I have to say Bravo and  to Vinnie's battery supplies.  They do sound good.


*caveat:  The supplies were fresh and not broken in.  They do mellow with time as the electrolytic caps burn in.  But they may never be as clean and smooth as the batteries - that would be hard to do.

[Telstar]

Subscribed. Waiting on the pricing.

[Vinnie R.]

All,

Thanks for all your interest in the upcoming Black Lightning battery power supplies.  I apologize for the delayed response - it has been CRAZY BUSY over here and I just have a lot of my plate right now...

A battery-powered First Watt amp would be cool but they can use a lot of power!  The F5 for instance consumes 180 watts but does have +/- 24volt rails.  The input fuse is rated at 2.5amps.

Hi Jim,

The larger Black Lightning "Series 12" can certainly output +/-24V, but the size of this enclosure limits us to use four 12V, 5Ah batteries.  My guess is that you'll want at least 10Ah batteries because I'm sure First Watt consumes a lot of current running in Class A.  You mention the input fuse is rated at 2.5amps, but that is at the AC input (running on 120Vac) and does not tell us how much current the internal +/-24V dc rails draw.  I've heard that Pass is active with the DIY community, so I bet he can provide this info.  Perhaps in the future, we can offer a "Series 18" enclosure (18" wide) to house the 10Ah batteries, but I still think you might need larger to get good play time (i.e. longer than 4 hours).  Just a guess based on the Class A operation and how much heat the FirstWatt puts out! 

So, I like to leave my Duet Receiver and DAC powered on all of the time.  A battery power source wouldn't allow me to do this, correct?

Curious about the price and how it compares to other after-market power supplies.

Hi BobC,

Correct - If you require to leave your components left ON all the time, the Black Lightning is not going to meet your needs.  When Black Lightning is ON, it is only running from the internal battery (or batteries), and the battery charger (both the + and - leads are internally disconnected via the SMART board, so there is absolutely no pollution from the AC mains on the pure battery power supply) and when OFF, the batteries are charging...

How are you planning on supporting the different types of plugs?  Will the plug be hardwired, or will there be a stock connector with plug adapters for the different devices?  Will the wire into the Lightning be pluggable or hardwired?

Hi jopagi,

The Black Lightning will feature a DC output jack (we are using a Switchcraft output power jack and plug, featuring ultra-low contact resistance, twist-locking mechanism and a sealed connection for superior moisture resistance).  Based on the product that the Black Lightning will be powering, we'll need to know the plug that your product needs and make the cable to connects between the Black Lightning and your product. 

Is there a possibility of user-configuration capability in the future?  E.g. changing some jumpers to reconfigure it from 5V to 9V (along with a corresponding plug change if necessary).  Fickleness drives the industry after all, and if we switch to a different device it would be nice not to have to send the Lightning back to you to adjust it.

No - these will not be user-configurable.  For each product, we need to know the specific voltage and current needs.  If in the future you wanted to change the output voltage, you would have to send it to us to change the configuration, but we would want to know about the new product you want to power so we know the voltage / current requirements and make sure we can meet those demands. 

This might be a silly question, but if one has a Lightning with support for multiple devices, will there be any kind of protection circuitry for goober-headed mistakes like plugging in the wrong type of power?

The output of the Black Lightning will be fused (we will determine the fuse rating based on your product), but the fuse alone will not guarantee that you will not damage equipment if you plug into the wrong device.  For example, if you order a 24V Black Lightning and plug it into a product that runs on 5V (assuming they share the same plug), you still run the risk of damaging the product. 

The user must pay attention and take responsibility for what they are plugging in. 

Now that I think about it, I should just label each one to identify the appropriate piece of equipment to which they belong.   Are you planning some kind of labelling for the different plugs?

If you have a lot of devices as you mention, it is a good idea to label the plugs so you don't get them confused.  We will not be custom labeling plugs on the cables.  We'll be very busy getting the information and having the custom cables made for your product, so we kindly ask that the customer takes note of the cable and the product it is going to feed (and you can install some kind of label if it will help you remember.)

Will you have separate on/off switches for each output?

No.  There will only be one power switch and one SMART board for each Black Lightning unit. The products that you feed will most likely already have a power switch, so if you are running two outputs (e.g. a dac and a phonostage) but only want to play one of those devices, you should be able to turn off the power switch to the other device.

In some cases, it might be necessary to buy two Black Lightnings (one for each product) depending on how much power your product consumes.  Running two ouputs to feed two products might draw a lot of power, and your play time between charges will be reduced.  So each situation is different, and every customer has different needs and play time requirements...

The same question would probably also apply to those people like Mariusz who get a piece of equipment modified to bypass the internal transformer... their on/off switch would be bypassed as well, right?

In this case, we would have to modify the product with a DC input jack and hard wire to the DC input section of the product (completely skipping the internal AC/DC power supply board) - and yes, we can bypass the the stock switch...

Is the charger able to charge a single battery at a time?  If one piece draws more current than another, I could imagine one battery getting charged while the other (powering a lower-power device) stays on battery power.   Would this require multiple smartboards?

The charger will charge all the batteries together in parallel.  So if your BL has two 12V SLA batteries (e.g for a 24V or +/-12V application), they will be connected in parallel and charged by one 12V SLA charger.  There will not be multiple chargers, smart boards, on/off switches, etc. for a Black Lightning unit.  This would become very large, complicated and EXPENSIVE.  Again, if some cases, it will make much more sense to use one Black Lightning per product instead of trying to power two products from one Black Lightning. 

I didn't mean to play 20 questions... but I'm curious

No problem - I'm sure many others have similar questions, so hopefully my response has been helpful.

With our amps and our 130W switching supplies our amps sounded "OK", but a little rough thru the mids, and not as dynamic.  And this is our best power supply*.  Switched the Vinnie's batteries - voila!  Magic.  Rough edges all gone, more dynamic and even seemed to play lower.  A very nice change for the better.  It was easy to hear, we all did.

So I have to say Bravo and  to Vinnie's battery supplies.  They do sound good.

Hi panomaniac,

Thank you for sharing your feedback!  I'm glad I was able to have those Black Lightning prototype units ready in time for RMAF to feed your Virtue Amps, and I'm glad you were able to enjoy them!  Thanks again for showing them in your room. 

I heard there a power outage Saturday at the show - hopefully the music was still playing (even if you had to use an iPod as a source).  "The show must go on!" 

Subscribed. Waiting on the pricing.

We should have this info and the website (along with official press release) ready hopefully at the end of this month, or early next month at the latest.  Then it'll be production time! 

Thanks for all your interest and patience.  We are still working out details, getting enclosures made, designing the packaging, and so much more.  On top of that, we've been extremely busy with so many other things, so we have a serious balancing act over here - so there may very well be some delays to get this to the market, but I still think November is still a realistic time for release...

Best regards,

Vinnie

[Telstar]

The same question would probably also apply to those people like Mariusz who get a piece of equipment modified to bypass the internal transformer... their on/off switch would be bypassed as well, right?

In this case, we would have to modify the product with a DC input jack and hard wire to the DC input section of the product (completely skipping the internal AC/DC power supply board) - and yes, we can bypass the the stock switch...

Nice, this is what I was thinking to do.