Off the grid

[musiciseverything]

Thanks to Bottlehead for giving me the chance to experiment with music listening without AC power. The Quickie showed me it was possible. I added the Dayton Parts Express version of the Sonic Impact T amp for amplification. I then used my collection of iPod classics which hold every single CD I have in apple lossless fed out through a Fiio 20 pin adapter. This bypasses the headphone out and uses only the built in DAC without alteration. All this feeds my trusty Dynaudio 70 speakers. What a beautiful sound, and all with batteries!  So far it sounds best with classical strings, voice, piano and small quartets. It is clear articulate and lifelike. I can hear the pluck of the strings, the texture of the bow, the timbre of voices and it sounds so real. I like the T amp and especially fed by the tubes. Silent background. My next experiment is to build my own speakers (from a kit) and possibly the Quicksand. Portable, battery powered high fidelity audio, anywhere anytime. Fantastic!

 

[Bonzo]

I totally agree, musiciseverything.
The quickie is something special, and listen to music through a totally battery powered hifi system gives you a special feeling.
Total black background, musicians are like palpable guests in the same room with you...
So nice!

PS: Which speakers are you using ATM?

Ciao!

 

[musiciseverything]

Good to hear from you. My speakers now are my old Dynaudios. I will be building an entry level pair of Dayton Audio (Parts Express) bookshelf monitors as a trial. If I want to continue building I'll move up to more sophisticated speakers. I have always liked the T chip amps better than class D but power is limited to 8 useable watts into 4 Ohms. Still, the sound is very very real. How about your system?

 

[Bonzo]

My system is a complete diy system.
I have two preamps: a Nelson Pass B1 (battery powered) and the Quickie, some amps to choose from (ecl86 se triode monoblocks, Darling 1626 amp, Fenice 2024 and TPA3122 T-amps, LM3886 gainclone); my sources are Thorens td145, grado gold-denon 103-acutex 415 cartridges, utc or beyer SUTs for the denon and a battery powered phono preamp, for digital I use a ps1 or a raspberry pi for my FLAC files connected to a diy dac with output transformers (as per DiyAudio monster thread!).
Speakers are JBL L65 (now at my parents because of lack of space), Zigmahornet with a chinese 4" fullrange as main speakers, and a pair of fostex 103 in a small horn enclosure.
I'm planning to change the speaker for a 2 cu ft enclosure to fit my Altec 755e + Neodymium tweeter, with the possibility to remove the back and substitute my Saba Greencones in a sort of open baffle
....in other words: a mess!...  ;D

 

[musiciseverything]

Very nice DIY system. I've always used AC power so it is fun now to experiment both with battery power and DIY. I'll make note of your amplifiers for a time when I am brave and have the time to make one. After I made the Crack headphone amp I realized I could do it. Ciao

 

[Bonzo]

You can build whatever you want..."If there's a will there's a way!"
Keep up with the good work, this is the right place to enjoy this beautiful hobby.
And post some pics too, if you please. 

Ciao!

 

[Cary]

I am using my Quickie with a TDA7297 amp that came from China for a total of $6.44, powering a pair of ADS L470/2 speakers hooked up to a Marantz CD5004 player. It sounds pretty good after about thirty hours of burn in. I plan to change out the caps, volume control and install it in a box. I am using a SLA battery to power the amp. Cheap fun!

Cary Chin

 

[pboser]

Bonzo,
Can you please direct us to the diyaudio thread about raspberry pi with output transformers?
Thanks!

 

[Bonzo]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear in my previous post: output transformers are installed on the dac, not on the raspberry!
In any case this is the monster thread (warning: it's an old thread)
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/137976-experience-diy-dac.html

Ciao!

 

[pboser]

Sorry - that makes more sense!  Thanks for the link to the thread.

 

[musiciseverything]

I have decided that making speakers would not be fruitful because the speakers I have are so nice.  I can take some small ones with me after I build the Quicksand or I can use the T amp that I currently have.  Instead I will focus on a portable headphone rig using the Quickie and Quicksand.  Members have helpfully suggested a lower impedance set of headphones and I will see if the ones I have will work, most likely IEMs. I need to find good RCA patch cables to link the two with a minimum of slack, something like 12 inches or 1/2 meter would be ideal. Any thoughts along these lines will be appreciated.  Enjoy the music!

 

[4krow]

Ok, you guys, I somehow have missed this thread. I'm gonna say that battery power is the way for me. The Quickie started it all, and then led me to many experimental options for both pre and power amps. No regrets, that's for sure. My CD player is an Emotiva ERC3, and yes, I am tempted to pop the top, and see what I can see. Now, wouldn't THAT be something to power it by batt!