battery power a tripath amplifer

[boidos]

Hi All,
Has anyone successfully used 12v battery power with their tripath amplifier?
I tried with my trends audio tripath, but noticed a drop in dynamics and bass...maybe I am doing something wrong???
thanks!
Boyd

[Saturnus]

Uhm yeah ... tons of people have successfully used their tripath amp with 12V batteries, or just batteries of any kind. Those tripath based amps is basically the cornerstone of all serious portable equipment these days.

Tell us how you did it, then we might know what you did wrong.

[Buckapound]

Yes, the small Tripaths run great on batteries, but the AAs won't do. Most people use small sealed (gel) lead-acid batteries, or sometimes lithium packs, both of which can deliver the current needed for good sound.

--Buckapound.

[soundcheck]

Hi there.

It is not that trivial. I am running my Tripath now since almost 3 years with batteries.

The dynamic issues can have following sources:

1. Battery load
The battery should always be fully loaded. Which in turn calls for a big battery.
I am using 100Ah.
Recharging small batteries all the time ( because you run them down to 50% in a 4 hour listening session or you forget to turn them off.)
will degrade them heavily in shortest time.
Never use old batteries e.g. the ones which won't work in your car anymore
2. Battery ESR
The best batteries money can buy (e.g. Northstar NSB 90) come with 2mR ESR.
You will notice a difference in dynamics of e.g. 20mR (other quality batteries) immediately.
3. Battery aging
Batteries degrade over time. Old batteries won't deliver current fast enough if they are
getting older.
Again. You can delay the aging if you keep the load-level high and if you use big batteries.
4. Battery buffering.
It'll also be a good idea to buffer the batteries with a series of low ESR caps. If you take e.g.
10*470uf the typical cap-ESR will get close to the batteries ESR.

Above issues are the main issues why a well done SMPS sounds more dynamic then a typical battery supplies in many cases.

A battery supply is not what I call a real bargain. But it sounds great. It gives you such a black background. Really amazing.

Cheers

[boidos]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Would it be possible to run 2 of the tripath amps off one of the large 200ah 12 volt batteries?

I am keen to run the amps in biamp mode.

thanks again!
Boyd

[soundcheck]

I'd expect no problem. Though I don't have any experience with it.
I am planing to run three amps with one battery by myself. I want to build a set of full active speakers. What I'll do, I'll buffer each amp separately.

Good luck