Super Audiophile Phono-Stage - Battery Powered

[GlidingDutchman]

Originally posted by despotic931


Ahh, the reason I ask is that I was considering purchasing a phonobox and then building a new power supply for it, But didn't want to take the battery powered route.



Batteries are a continual cost, something that will be a continual drain of my funds. These are funds that are short already, and I know these batteries are quite costly. I don't doubt that it doesn't sound way better than the stock psu, but I also believe that you could build a custom psu that would be much better as well.

-Justin

Justin

I do suppose one can build a quite fancy PSU for these phonostages that will equal battery performance. Try it.

Like I said - I have the batteries at my disposal so that is why I used them.

D

[analog_sa]

Originally posted by tubenut
Battery drawback?

Other then "green issues", dynamics for one imo/experience.
Different batteries also sound different btw...

Greetings G

Green issues?! Getting ready to move back to Europe? The only mass recycling in SA afaik is the result of theft.

I spent about five years listening to batteries: tube MC step-up and a 3-stage split passive opamp RIAA, each stage powered by a separate set of batteries.

Indeed different batteries sound surpisingly (or not) different. I liked a particular NiCd brand of around 300mA/h. When it became obsolete i never managed to find a suitable replacement. Acid batteries sound completely different of course.

These days i use ALW superregs in almost anything i build. They sound very good but not quite as good as batteries.

If one wants to compare batteries and mains supplies there is no better place IMO than a MC step-up.

[peranders]

What about a super regulator fed from a battery? I'll belive that batteries creates some noise due to the chemistry.

[Onvinyl]

Originally posted by analog_sa




These days i use ALW superregs in almost anything i build. They sound very good but not quite as good as batteries.

Quite the opposite to my findings. To me, a supperegged PSU sounds (a lot) better then the acid batteries I had before and the NiMH I tried in my phonoclone.

regards,
Rüdiger

[GlidingDutchman]

This is what I actually did...

Beachwood face with 3mm green LED.


Rubber grommet from a Neutrik XLR plug and some Nylon braid.


DC connected!


D

[BC]

Originally posted by GlidingDutchman
This is what I actually did...

Beachwood face with 3mm green LED.


Rubber grommet from a Neutrik XLR plug and some Nylon braid.


DC connected!


D

Hello All,
I realize the main topic is battery power, however..

I might possibly suggest to also replace the JRC2068/NJM2068 OpAmp with TI, NatSemi very low noise/faster? dual OpAmps.


(If I am reading the part correctly in the bottom photo; U4)

Possibly replace some of the ceramic caps with Poly/Styrene/Silvered Mica?

[GlidingDutchman]

Originally posted by BC


Hello All,
I realize the main topic is battery power, however..

I might possibly suggest to also replace the JRC2068/NJM2068 OpAmp with TI, NatSemi very low noise/faster? dual OpAmps.

(If I am reading the part correctly in the bottom photo)

Possibly replace some of the ceramic caps with Poly/Styrene/Silvered Mica?

BC

It can surely be done... I just have to find the time and funds...

D

[analog_sa]

Originally posted by Onvinyl



Quite the opposite to my findings. To me, a supperegged PSU sounds (a lot) better then the acid batteries I had before and the NiMH I tried in my phonoclone.

regards,
Rüdiger

It's not quite the "opposite". The superregs are very nice indeed and batteries vary to a surprising extent - one of the reasons i gave up on using them. Acids sound a bit slow and lacking PRAT; NiMH i used quite recently (5 years ago - from Nokia 5110 batteries in a 2SK170 MC step-up) and they were really not bad.

[Onvinyl]

Hi analog_sa,
I second your sonic classification of lead acid batteries. NiMH are a lot better. But a superreg psu has the additional 'kick' -- and a very tiny bit of uneasiness. Mabye the open loop shunt regs I'm now using combine the best of both worlds -- but they are subjectivly so good I was too lazy to acutally check against NiMH's and superregs for now...

but to an extent it's all a matter of taste...

Rüdiger

[tubenut]

Glide, looking at the pics it seems you connected DC in the pads left by the diodes?

That means you are feeding 15V regulators 12V, this would not work properly and they would certainly be starved. It probably works though because for some bizarre reason project bypassed the regulator inputs to outputs with some resistors of a few hundred ohms though I know not why...

You may wish to remove the badly behaving starving regulators all together, or replace them with types that are at least 3V below your battery voltage, or up the battery voltage to at least 3V above the 15V regulators.

Or at least, remove the resistors and feed directly to the OP amp PSU pins through the pads left by the resistors. Leaving the regs out of circuit. This would loose the miserable small smoothing caps though.

Those teeny regulators starve the poor stage anyway, I replaced them with a little dexterity with TO220 versions and got rid of all the ceramics in the RIAA.

Rolling op amps can be fun and fustrating, like some cables and tubes.


@PK, no but since the advent of Croaky/ lill tubenutty I see a lot more batteries coming through my house before becoming landfill, there is guilt with that and our urban explosion just means that soon those dumps will be nearer some folks houses then ever, even in big old Africa!