Is supplemental battery storage the future of a Audiophile system?

Darrel

Darrel

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Auburn, Washington USA
Like most people in this hobby I have spend a lot of time thinking and trying to figure out how to get the best stable, clean and constant electrical power to my stereo system. I've spend a lot of my time and money on cables, power conditioners,external linear powers supplies, wall outlets as well as electrical sub panals to name just a few projects. A few years ago after another power outage I decided to take on the project of independant home power management, starting with at that time was my best known option, two Tesla powerwalls. Last year I added solar to work with the powerwalls. But....

The question is. Is supplimenta battery storage the future for a Audiophile system?

Battery technology is one of the fastest growing and changing technologies in the world of electric usage. You can spend hundreds of hours watching YouTube videos about the subject. I know because I have. As far as a home stereo being powered by batteries it's still a niche' and a very expensive option. Just look at Stromtank batteries that can run over $30K for a 2100 watt battery. They offer a perfect sine wave of stable power to ones system. But, at a hefty price.

But, with the advancements in battery chemistry there will be cost reductions that should make affordable battery option for powering ones stereo system at a very tempting price point. The holy grail of batteries has long been the solid state battery which has been promised for decades and is actually within reach. But, the cost and benifits for a small form factor stereo battery is still years away and may not really be needed. The newest breakthrough in batteries is the sodium ion battery which is built around...your guessed it, Salt. Salt has a lot of big advantages over other battery chemistries. One being themal runaway or fire hazards. Salt batteries can handle high and low tempatures with no know adverse effects. Salt ion batteries do need a larger container for storage. How big will depend on how much energy is in the battery. But, for running a stereo system using a 4-6 KWH battery the size and cost should be a lesser factor. The standard today is LFP or Lithium Iron Posphate for battery storage. And prices for these batteries are also coming down and are very efficient.

The big advantage I see in using a battery in a stereo system is power not being influenced by anything external. One just can plug the battery into any 110 room outlet and charge when idle or active. Cables and conditioners can be reduced or eliminated.

So, would you choose a battery to run your stereo system if its cost and size was affordable?
 
There was a recent thread here or on another forum asking much the same question - can hi-fi be powered by batteries with good results?

The guy who started the thread seemed determined to start with mains power, then to use a charger to serve his batteries, and then convert back to AC via an inverter to power his amp, etc. – that used its built-in power supply to convert back to DC!

My response was that this is bonkers, as the amplifier requires DC to power its components and batteries deliver DC. Going AC to DC to AC and then (via the amp's power supply) back to DC to power the amp's guts was crazy!

I supported this by saying that I used to own a Red Wine Signature amplifier that had its own internal batteries that supplied the amp’s circuits directly - no conversions whatsoever - DC all along. Although this particular amp was not to my liking (it used an Evaluation board of early Tripath Class D design), it seemed to me the obvious way to provide power to an amp (or other kit), if it is thought that mains AC is as dirty as some believe. I'm not in that camp and am happy to send my 240 volts to my amp’s power supply and expect it to do its job of converting to DC without problem.

So, my suggestion - start with batteries of whatever voltage your amp's circuit requires and bypass the amp's power supply altogether. You’ll then be avoiding AC altogether and no conversions required. You'll forfeit your amp's warranty of course by doing this, but you'll get as pure a voltage as you can ever get by powering the amp with just the DC voltage it needs. And of course the cost is not prohibitive. A good battery of sufficient kWh to keep your kit supplied with juice for 12 hours or so (so not very large), and a simple soldering job to bypass the amp's power supply. Best to introduce a suitable DC socket into the amp's back panel too.

You'll have to do your own research on the best battery chemistry you need to get the DC such that your amp will be happy (delighted I expect), but don't consider the roundabout route of multi-AC to DC conversions. Good luck.

Others may disagree, but let's argue the point logically.
 
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I get your points. But, currently I'm running my house 24/7 with solar and powerwalls that is converted to my main electrical panel to AC. If I run off the grid while listening to my stereo and then switch to my solar or batteries the switch is instant and there is nothing negative in the listening. If like the Stromtank that converts DC to AC internally to a stereo system then I don't think there is a negative result. I have heard from a dealer systems running just using Stromtank as its power source. The system included Magico, CH Precision and Wadax. A few years ago there was a Tidal amplified speaker with the Tidal preamp/Dac/streamer running off of a 5000 watt Stromtank. I think it was at the Munich audio show. Even on YouTube it sounded amazing.

So, batteries can power a system. If cost was reasonable. Will batteries be the power source in the future? I think its a question that should be considered.
 
I have a 80 kWh battery array between the grid and my house including stereo system. The grid and/or my solar panels charge the batteries and my house (and audio system) draw power from those batteries exclusively. If the grid is down and the batteries are discharged, the propane generator will kick on and charge up the batteries. I have dedicated 20 amp circuits feeding my gear and Shunyata Everest X conditioners on each module. I could not discern a change in my sound quality after I made the change to batteries. I was hoping that the batteries would at least prevent equipment resets when the famously unreliable grid went down, but alas, the power supplies on all my gear sense even the miniscule voltage change and still shut down. The sole benefit from my power architecture was a drop in my utility bill.- something that will never pay for the change in my lifetime. If the search for sound quality is your objective, my experience is that you are much better off with Shunyata Everest X conditioners and Omega X power cords. These DID make a huge difference in my SQ.
 
Cincy2 said:
I have a 80 kWh battery array between the grid and my house including stereo system. The grid and/or my solar panels charge the batteries and my house (and audio system) draw power from those batteries exclusively. If the grid is down and the batteries are discharged, the propane generator will kick on and charge up the batteries. I have dedicated 20 amp circuits feeding my gear and Shunyata Everest X conditioners on each module. I could not discern a change in my sound quality after I made the change to batteries. I was hoping that the batteries would at least prevent equipment resets when the famously unreliable grid went down, but alas, the power supplies on all my gear sense even the miniscule voltage change and still shut down. The sole benefit from my power architecture was a drop in my utility bill.- something that will never pay for the change in my lifetime. If the search for sound quality is your objective, my experience is that you are much better off with Shunyata Everest X conditioners and Omega X power cords. These DID make a huge difference in my SQ.
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But do you have an inverter between your battery and your equiment? If so, you are starting with DC, then converting it to AC, and your kit's power supplies are converting back to DC. That doesn't seem to offer much advantage over your house AC being converted to DC via the kit's power supplies. If your house supply has spikes or other nasties (clicks from fridge starting, etc) then a mains conditioner may offer a slight improvement.
 
Hear Here said:
But do you have an inverter between your battery and your equiment? If so, you are starting with DC, then converting it to AC, and your kit's power supplies are converting back to DC. That doesn't seem to offer much advantage over your house AC being converted to DC via the kit's power supplies. If your house supply has spikes or other nasties (clicks from fridge starting, etc) then a mains conditioner may offer a slight improvement.
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Yes. The battery banks all have built in inverters. The utility here is notorious for spikes and brown outs. My gear never sees those so there is some benefit of a DC/AC source.
 
Cincy2 said:
I have a 80 kWh battery array between the grid and my house including stereo system. The grid and/or my solar panels charge the batteries and my house (and audio system) draw power from those batteries exclusively. If the grid is down and the batteries are discharged, the propane generator will kick on and charge up the batteries. I have dedicated 20 amp circuits feeding my gear and Shunyata Everest X conditioners on each module. I could not discern a change in my sound quality after I made the change to batteries. I was hoping that the batteries would at least prevent equipment resets when the famously unreliable grid went down, but alas, the power supplies on all my gear sense even the miniscule voltage change and still shut down. The sole benefit from my power architecture was a drop in my utility bill.- something that will never pay for the change in my lifetime. If the search for sound quality is your objective, my experience is that you are much better off with Shunyata Everest X conditioners and Omega X power cords. These DID make a huge difference in my SQ.
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This is one of the reasons for my post. If the battery was in the room running your system there would be no interruptions of power to the system. There may no need for expensive power conditioners to stabilize power to each component. And the battery may not even have to be in the room. Just wall outlets to send the current.

Here is the Tidal/Stromtank system from another show I found on YouTube. The music isn't all that impressive to me. But, the simplicity of the system is.

 
It's ridiculous Hearhear to advocate DC.

Lets talk about reality. Inverters create a 20,000 cycle noise as well as a 100,000 cycle noise as they turn DC to AC and boost the signal to usable power. That noise appears to be very effectivly filtered by a isolation transformer. There are 3 out there that can do the job effectivly. I rep Torus and believe its the best for a number of reasons. I believe you could get one through Mike also.

Inverters have fans and the fans are noisy. If you size the load properly, as in less than 40% of what the inverter can put out, the fan rarely turns on and distortion is kept below 3%.

Exeltech inverters are below 1%distortion.

Batteries cost money. Even Sodium. But you can put together a 2000 to 3000 watt power supply, including the Torus, with a 100AH battery for $11,000.

That will run an entire system with a 100 watt or so amp. All the digital and all the front end. And it will have the same dynamics as if I sold you a panel and consulted on how to set it all up. And it will be more quiet.

I have consulted with member on WBF on how to do it and its superior to the utility. Even when using my panel and the room is powered correctly and the house is grounded properly. A battery/inverter is superior to the wall. Done right. Try and put your Puritan after the inverter to save a buck and you will be disappointed.

The connection stap between the inverter and battery is one of the hardest parts to produce. I am close. There is fusing, disconnect switches as well as quick connects that need to be made from premium parts and are large. Were talking 2/0 size cabling and 100A fuses. And it has to be consumer ready, stupid easy to put together.

If I put it all in a fancy box, I would need to add another $10,000. And then its big and bulky and very heavy. I like separates as I can have the battery/inverter over there behind a sound barrier and the Torus behind the rack where needed.

By the way. Torus RM20 now come with Furutech Rhodium or Gold outlets. And they come with 4 additional 500 watt cores for isolation from the main 2400 watt core. They have not released pricing on that yet.

The problem with separates is its not audio bling. Its highly functional. But audiophiles with money would give up quality and performance for WOW PRETTY.
 
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