Temple Audio Bantam Gold, again

[mr sneff]

I know this has been covered extensively in other threads, but I recently bought a Bantam Gold and have been comparing it to my usual Quad 303. At the moment they jury is out. No doubt the BG is good but on balance I slightly prefer the 303. The BG has no trouble driving my John Blue jb3s and has a slightly thicker, richer sound (especially in the bass region) than the 303. I’d like to give the BG a fair crack of the whip, but I don’t want to spend a fortune in the process. So can someone explain simply for an ignoramus exactly what I need in terms of (inexpensive) hardware and cabling to use either a linear PSU of a battery PSU with a Bantam Gold?

[John]

You cab start of with a cheap 12v motorcycle battery this will beat a expensive linear PSU
I just went to Maplin to get the parts if you cannot soldier than get a crimping tool set to connect
It might be worth adding a 3amp fuse into this Maplin do a version that you can use crimping
It does raise the performance quite a lot

[mr sneff]

You cab start of with a cheap 12v motorcycle battery this will beat a expensive linear PSU
I just went to Maplin to get the parts if you cannot soldier than get a crimping tool set to connect
It might be worth adding a 3amp fuse into this Maplin do a version that you can use crimping
It does raise the performance quite a lot

Yeah, I didn't really fancy going down the acid battery route, and you lost me with soldering, crimping and fuses (I said I was an ignoramus :)) What sort of improvements did you experience over the PSU supplied with the amp?

[brian2957]

You will certainly get an upgrade in SQ using the battery David . IMHO it's worth giving a go . You need a 2.1mm plug http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-MALE-AND-FEMALE-2-1MM-CONNECTORS-DVR-CCTV-Camera-Power-Jack-Plug-UK-Fast-/190802003356?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item2c6caf859c . These are solderless. Something like this to connect it all together http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3AMP-CONNECTOR-STRIP-TERMINAL-CHOC-BLOCK-12-WAY-3-AMP-/310335582185?pt=UK_BOI_Materials_Supplies_Electric al_ET&hash=item4841712fe9 if you don't want to solder.A switch like this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toggle-Flick-Switch-12V-ON-OFF-Car-Dash-Light-12-Volt-SPST-/270875773613?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f11744aad and an inliine 3A fuse like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/In-line-blade-style-fuse-holder-with-3A-fuse-/250979310828?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Terminals_C abling_ET&hash=item3a6f885cec
You then need suitable cable ( I use speaker cable ). Lastly , you need a battery and a method of connecting the cable to the battery.
However , if you buy one of the smaller Li-on batteries they're talking about on here I think it will probably be plug in and play .

[John]

In that case go for the power supply Martin T using and Stan linked too for the Bushmaster both run on 12v You get all the connections no issues with DIY and it will take things even further
What you get is a lot more detail it really is a no brainer in terms of sound quality

[brian2957]

Agreed John . TBH with you I think this is a better option in terms of user friendliness and SQ. I will probably go down this road at a later stage.

[Ali Tait]

You cab start of with a cheap 12v motorcycle battery this will beat a expensive linear PLUS
I just went to Maplin to get the parts if you cannot soldier than get a crimping tool set to connect
It might be worth adding a 3amp fuse into this Maplin do a version that you can use crimping
It does raise the performance quite a lot

Not what I've found. A linear supply running at 16v sounded better than a car battery when the lads were over recently. A battery will better the supplied wall wart though.

[John]

Different experiences then Ali Not sure why I had a MCRU supply which I sold as no need for it

[mr sneff]

In that case go for the power supply Martin T using and Stan linked too for the Bushmaster both run on 12v You get all the connections no issues with DIY and it will take things even further
What you get is a lot more detail it really is a no brainer in terms of sound quality

Sounds more my kind of thing :) you don't happen to remember which psu it was?

One other thing that puzzles me is that some users say that a PSU can be run at up to 16V whilst the battery options seem to all be 12V, why is this? Also with a PSU does it matter how may amperes the unit produces?

[brian2957]

http://www.templeaudio.net/bantamgold.html
If you follow the blurb down David , it tells you that the Bantam Gold can be used between 9V AND 15V and 3A . I power mine from a 12V car battery and I'm very happy with the results.

[John]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-20000mAh-Ultra-High-Capacity-Multi-Voltage/dp/B00BUJCMUQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386417445&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+20000+mah
Is the cheaper one a few people use
This one will also work http://www.ankaka.com/incredible-20000mah-battery-charger-universal-portable-battery_p409.html and the one Stan and Martin uses

[mr sneff]

http://www.templeaudio.net/bantamgold.html
If you follow the blurb down David , it tells you that the Bantam Gold can be used between 9V AND 15V and 3A . I power mine from a 12V car battery and I'm very happy with the results.
Thanks Brian

[mr sneff]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-20000mAh-Ultra-High-Capacity-Multi-Voltage/dp/B00BUJCMUQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386417445&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+20000+mah
Is the cheaper one a few people use
This one will also work http://www.ankaka.com/incredible-20000mah-battery-charger-universal-portable-battery_p409.html and the one Stan and Martin uses

Thanks John

[Ali Tait]

Sounds more my kind of thing :) you don't happen to remember which psu it was?

One other thing that puzzles me is that some users say that a PSU can be run at up to 16V whilst the battery options seem to all be 12V, why is this? Also with a PSU does it matter how may amperes the unit produces?

I spoke to Temple Audio when I bought my amps, and was told they can be run up to 18v. My linear supply runs at just over 16v.I've found they sound better at higher voltages, at least compared to a car battery. The Ankaka battery does sound good at 12v though.

The amps a PSU outputs do not matter, as long as it can output at least whatever is required by what you want to power with it of course. It can be better to overspec, as giving the PSU an easier time can result in a cleaner supply.