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Battery powered front end

 

Over the past week I’ve been running my entire front end on battery power: LTA MZ2 LPS, Innuos Pulse, Bryston BDA‑3, and Schiit Kara. The setup was straightforward, completely safe for the gear, and extremely convenient in day‑to‑day use.

This all started because I wanted a backup power solution for outages. While researching options, it dawned on me that a high‑quality inverter might also serve as a clean AC source for my system. I picked up the unit, added a new power strip, and set everything up in my listening room. After reading the manuals carefully, I began with the Kara — my least expensive component — just to be cautious. Everything behaved normally, so I added the streamer and DAC. Music flowed immediately.

Then came the real test: I pulled the charger’s plug from the wall. The system switched to battery power instantly, without even a hiccup. And the sound was fabulous.

I’m using the Ecoflow Delta 3 Plus, which provides 1800W continuous / 3600W peak output and has a pure sine‑wave inverter. My front end draws only about 80W total, so there’s ample headroom. It offers three IEC outlets plus four two‑prong outlets. For distribution, I’m using a Furman PL Plus‑C, mainly for convenience — its filtering is there if needed, but interestingly, my three solid‑state components are dead quiet even when plugged directly into the battery. Surge protection and voltage regulation are irrelevant here since the battery is the power source.

My routine is simple: the battery stays plugged in when I’m not listening. When I sit down for a session, I unplug the charger and the system runs purely on battery. No interruption, no drama, no shift in tonal balance. But one sonic change is unmistakable: Sibilance is gone. I’m very sensitive to it and have tried multiple approaches over the years. Battery power has produced the most dramatic reduction of all. When I shut down my tube preamp, I plug the charger back in and the cycle continues.

After five days of listening, I haven’t found a single downside. I didn’t think I had a power‑quality issue, but now I know my entire front end is isolated from the grid until the signal reaches my power amp. The reduction in sibilance suggests that some HF noise or interference may have been modulating the upper frequencies — and battery power simply removes that variable.

I’m curious whether anyone else has experimented with battery‑powered front ends and what results you heard.

 

mashif
ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,508 posts
 

Interesting experiment… but I would be a little careful with the conclusion. You are not actually running the system directly from a battery. You are running it from a battery feeding a switching inverter which regenerates AC. “Pure sine wave” is a good start, but it does not tell us much about the inverter’s RF noise, common mode behavior, output impedance, or grounding scheme.

At roughly 80 watts, the EcoFlow has abundant capacity for a streamer, DAC, and preamp, so there is no reason it could not work well. Still, others who have tried UPS and inverter power have sometimes heard the opposite… reduced dynamics, a little hardening, or generally less natural sound. It seems very dependent on the particular inverter and the particular system.

The change you hear may be quite real… but it may be less a matter of “battery power is inherently cleaner” than the charger being disconnected, or the grounding and noise paths in your system changing. The front end is not necessarily fully isolated from the house because the interconnects to the power amp, and possibly Ethernet to the router, can still provide paths back to ground.

I would also not say voltage regulation and protection are irrelevant. The grid is out of the picture while unplugged, certainly… but the inverter is now the voltage regulator, and its behavior becomes part of the system. Still, if repeated comparisons continue to show the same reduction in sibilance, then you have found a useful solution to a real problem in your particular setup.

mashif OP
485 posts
 

@ghdprentice 

Thanks for bringing my attention to possible issues. That's why I posted. 

FWIW, I have an iFi LAN filter in front of the Pulse and I'm running a fully balanced system. The LTA preamp SE output goes into the Schiit Nexus circuit and becomes a balanced signal with no additional gain. My system is very black even without the battery but the reduction in sibilance with battery power suggests HF noise was present. The Furman has a front panel LED display for voltage. I've watched it while I change from AC to battery and it doesn't even flicker. It remains stable during use. 

I have discovered a minor issue. The "pure" sine wave isn't pure enough for toroidal transformers. Under battery power, if I put my ear right up to the LTA power supply, I can hear a faint buzz. It's a purely mechanical issue that shouldn't affect audio but makes the transformer run a bit warm. Since it's plugged in when I'm not listening, the transformer only deals with it a few hours at a time. 

I'm still deciding if it's worth it. 

cdavids449
21 posts
 

I've been using battery power for my front end for several months. Everything has improved including surprisingly the bass. I'm using Exceltech xp1100 inverter which from research has the lowest THD if any inverter out there. Batteries are Lifepo4 200ah 12volts. 

noromance's avatar
noromance
10,502 posts
 

I am with @ghdprentice on this. You should get the results you want with an isolation transformer which acts (among other electrical benefits) as a high impedence to high frequency noise on the line. If you prefer battery powered units, use linear power supplies and avoid SMPS.

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