Using battery power to go off the City's power grid

My friend with the Giandel 5000 watt system is running Apogee speakers and JC-1+ amps. When he had an amp that did ONLY 400 watts into 4 ohms the amp would clip when he would play Live At Leeds real loud......not now with the JC-1+s....he plays as loud as he wants. The Giandel says it is drawing around 650 watts with his whole system playing music......probably two to three times on peaks when rocking out. No problem with two 200 amp hour batteries.....gives him hours of play time without charging.......and if you have a very large charger you can charge Lifepo4 batteries up to 200 AMPS.....He hs a 40 amp (500 watt hours) charger and is fine. He plays for 3 hours and hooks the charger back up and in 4 hours is back to full charge....pretty fricking simple.

Yes, there are a few insane amps that idle at 1000 watts....but these are rare. Even the biggest monster D’Agostino amps idle at 480 watts each. 4000 watts class A?....who has that?

Most people could get away with a single 200 amp hour battery (2500 watt hours)......that is $800 and the Inverter is $900....a 40 amp charger is $250.........My system only draws 50 watts (class D amp)......and I am running a single 33 amp hour battery and am fine. A single 100 amp hour battery is $400.....half that much for an AGM/lead acid battery. But why would you want an AGM/lead acid battery that costs hafl as much as a Lifepo4 but only lasts half as long, is more dangerous, and weighs more than twice as much? The only thing you get is less cost outlay in the beginning. Just get a Lifepo4 and be done......and what is nice about a separate inverter is that you can add as many batteries as you like......and the Giandel sounds better than Ecoflo Pro and Goal Zero Yeti 3000 and PROBABLY Bluetti, etc. etc.

I have the Bluetti AC300 with two B300 batteries.  For my system, I'll echo what others have said here:  a noticeable step up in sonic quality, most notably a blacker background.

I connected the Bluetti stack to 6 of my home circuits using a transfer switch (30amp connection from AC300 to transfer switch).  The transfer switch is wired to 6 individual 20 amp circuits in my main panel.  

I have one of those GreenWave EMI mains noise analyzers. A few measurements:

• grid AC:  350mV  (in the winter it's around 225).   
• 120v outlet on AC300 - fan off:  "--" 
• 120v outlet on AC300 - fan on:  "--"
• wall outlet that powers my system (powered by Bluetti):  "--"

I'm guessing that "--" on the noise analyzer means less than 1.  This Greenwave tool makes noise when you plug them in, and while measuring Bluetti power it's almost inaudible.

 I realize these cheap "noise" tools only measure a certain spectrum, but there is something measurably different with the Bluetti.  Subjectively, I hear a difference - especially now in the summertime.

I can run the stereo for about 4 hours before the fan comes on, but even with it on, I hear no difference in sound.  The bluetti is in the garage near the panel, so I don't hear the fan itself while in my house.

FWIW, I use Puritan PSM156 power conditioner as well.  I live in Florida, so power outages are common.  I'm really happy with the multi use of this house battery backup solution.  I'm putting a few solar panels on the roof this weekend.

@veroguy - Great post. I certainly agree with your findings regarding sound quality. Both you and Ric use the Puritan conditioner so I’ll probably check that out in my system at some point. Good to see you can go 4 hours without the fan kicking on. How much power does your system use? Grannyring said he was looking at the AC300/B300 combo so I assume he would be interested too. Thanks

@viber6 Thanks for telling me about the Tweak Audio Inverter Power article. That was a huge help, now I have some idea of what people are talking about. First however, I need a new tonearm for a Thorens that I’ve been modifying into a dedicated mono table that will out perform a Linn LP12. After that project, an entry level battery system will be the newest priority. As you know with this hobby, it never ends.

As for my ASR Emitter II Exclusive, it is a beautiful sounding amp. The battery has six lead acid gel batteries that need replacing about every ten years. I’ve replaced mine once so far. The two power supplies charge the battery and the amplifier has a particular setting for the charge while the amp is turned off. No special power cables for the power supplies and battery are needed, just those that came with the amp. It’s recommended to charge the battery about every three days if listening every day.

As for the ASR’s sound, it has a fully fleshed out presentation with a full dynamic range. It’s clear and musical with a black noise floor and a very wide soundstage. A harpsichord might sound as if it’s nine feet long however that’s the only time I might question the representation. It’s never taxing but it’s never artificial sounding.

My digital and analogue rigs are simply plugged into a passive PS Audio line conditioner while implementing Akiko Audio tuning sticks. There’s nothing objectionable about the sound. There’s always room for improvement but I’m in pretty good shape. I also need a better power cable for my DAC and on the note, upgrades happen rather slowly.