Best battery or PSU for Caiman mk2 (that is available to buy)

[mrboonmee]

The iFi iPower is 12v, would that not be recommended for the Caiman II? the stock power supply says 15V on it.

http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-ipower/

[StanleyB]

It will work.

[Theadmans]

Got this Chinese 2 way Power Supply to power my new SEG (15v) and Squeezebox Touch (5v) the other day :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-way-line...cAAOxy4YdTT-fq

...had the seller fit an earth and fair play to him he did this. The UK mains cable supplied was of poor quality though and appeared to have no fuse. So I changed the mains cable for a more substantial item with fuse. The voltages were a little out 15.4v and 5.16v so I whipped the lid off but for the life of me couldn't see the adjustment screws. I rang the ever helpful Stan and he suggested sending him photos. The problem was revealed as my ageing eyes. Once I took a high definition photo with flash - even I could see the adjustment screws lit up brilliantly by the flash. I am 50 next birthday and trying to avoid Bi-Focals !

Once adjusted to the correct 15v and 5v ....annoyingly it started to drift out again. I whipped the lid off and readjusted several times but it kept drifting upwards slightly (the OCD in me finds this more of an issue than it probably is). Ended up with 15.1v and 5.04v.

Stan had mentioned that people had fried their Squeezebox Touch with 5v. As the Squeezebox has now foolishly been discontinued and is something of an appreciating classic I decided not to risk mine. I swopped in the Raspberry Pi with Wolfson Audio Card I built for my second system. The Pi seems quite happy with 5.04v and 2 amps. OK I lose the screen of the Touch but with my cr*ppy eyesight I tend to look at the display on my Hudl 2 Android Tesco Tablet using the excellent Squeeze Commander App anyway. At least the Pi is only about £50 in parts and readily replaceable if it goes pop (unlike the Touch).

Certainly my SEG really sings on 15v (I previously used a 3 year old Anker Astro Pro 2 battery that need a grain of wheat bulb to stay up giving 12v). The difference is really appreciable on Sennheiser HD650s - they now seem to be held in a vice like grip by the SEG - bass is deep and controlled.

The difference on the Raspberry Pi between the supplied 5v 1 amp wallwart and the Chinese Linear 5v 2 amp is huge. Before the Pi sound insubstantial and grainy but now is up with my Squeezebox Touch.

The power supply gives a huge leap forward in convenience compared to the Anker battery. Now I can switch my system on an hour before listening to warm up (without worrying about depleting the battery). Also no recharging and I get to get rid of the pesky grain of wheat bulb at last - Hallelujah !


Overall very happy with the £50 investment in this unit - good communication from the seller too (only 15 days delivery time from China).

[mrboonmee]

I just received the 15v version of this power supply from same seller. quick shipping.

solved my problems with Caiman II. I was using an 12v wall wort from iFi.

only thing not working is the Async-1 for some reason.

I think 15v is ok for Caiman II, the small power supply that came with it was 15v.

mine has the gator mod.

I have been happy with it, just a few technical issues, has been a very nice sounding piece.

i have my eyes on the SEG at the moment.