12v /24v amp??

[Butuz]

Anyone know of any hifi amps that run off 12v /24v rather than 240v??

Lookling for an amp but dont want to run it via an inverter, want to run it straight off a battery!

Done some googling but cant find much other than car amps which I assume will sound quite shat :/

Cheers

Butuz

[Rare Bird]

Anyone know of any hifi amps that run off 12v /24v rather than 240v??

Lookling for an amp but dont want to run it via an inverter, want to run it straight off a battery!

Done some googling but cant find much other than car amps which I assume will sound quite shat :/

Cheers

Butuz

Pre amps yes. you need chip amps or such like to be runnig a complete amp of battery

[aquapiranha]

MAny Tripath amps like the Trends TA10 and Hlly ones will run off that voltage. the Sure amp I use does too! There are many many variations, look on ebay.

[colorved]

Hello,

Some good 12v tripath stuff here:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Helder-HiFi
This person is sweedish QC engineer in China, helpful, reasonable prices.
Good reviews about his new MKIII TA2020 board. (in spite of being so cheap)

Vladimir

[DSJR]

Linn made "car" amp chips sound quite good as I recall........

[HighFidelityGuy]

I used to be really into the whole in car entertainment thing and the question of using in car amps in the home often came up. The advise was always that it wasn't worth the hassle or expense involved. I'll try and explain why:

There are plenty of high end in car amps available that should be just as good as many decent mains voltage amps, so there's no problem there. The main problem you will have is that they will flatten a standard car battery very quickly. In car audio systems that use separate amps and subs etc can only really be run properly when the engine is running as then the alternator is charging the battery and the amps will be getting around 13.8 volts (alternators charge at 14.4V). So you would need to charge the battery continuously. However a standard car battery charger such as those you would buy to top up your car battery cannot supply enough current to maintain a car battery that's got a large load attached to it. In car audio amps draw a lot of current because the supply voltage is so low. Also, purists would say that having the battery continuously charged from a mains charger negates the purpose of using batteries due to the interference this would introduce.

If you weren't charging the battery continuously you would flatten it very quickly which would damage a standard car battery. The best case would be that it wouldn't charge again because they don't like being deep cycled (fully discharged). The worst case is that they overheat and sometimes explode. Battery acid and home furnishings are a bad combo. You can get sealed lead acid or even gel batteries that can tolerate more abuse but they're still a pain to maintain. You simply must not charge a standard non-sealed lead acid battery in your home. They give of explosive gases and leak acid! I cannot stress this enough.

Even with a low wattage amp you will need a fairly big and expensive sealed battery and charging setup. This is the most commonly used battery for in car entertainment: LINK Some cost much more. Here's an example of a good amp: LINK You can pay a bit less but also a lot more. I've seen multi thousand pound amps with valve stages etc. Then you need a high quality charger, cables, fuses etc....

There are some in home hi-fi brands that specialise in battery powered amps. Red Wine audio is probably the most famous. Their products come with all the batteries and charging equipment built in. It's not cheap though.

I've also heard of people modifying in home amps to run off batteries but this usually involves banks of sealed batteries, complicated charging setups and completely redesigning the power supply stage. Amps usually require several different voltages that you have to try and create from multiple 12V batteries. It's not a simple job.

I hope that helps.

May I ask why you're thinking about doing this?

[Alex_UK]

I have absolutely zero interest in pursuing this but just wanted to say great post Dave (HighFidelityGuy) - and double underline on the safety advice...

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Dynaudio made some battery powered monoblocks - they were some kinda gell battery. They had a switch on them that allowed you to use them off the mains or switch them to battery for about an hour of listening ... Pretty expensive though ... With the speakers they were designed for they were about the same money as my house!
That's probably a pretty useless response?

[Techno Commander]

If you are handy with a soldering iron, the 24V Aikido preamp is rather good.