Adding a power output option for the Isabellina HPA

All,

I spoke with Ken about this, and I am going to be offering a 12V output jack for the Isabellina HPA. This would allow one to tap off of the internal 12V SLA battery and SMART charging circuit to power external devices that take a 12Vdc input.

For example, the Wadia iTransport could sit on top of the Isabellina HPA and the combo can be entirely off-the-grid, and you can feed the digital output of the Wadia directly into the Isabellina HPA. Sweet! Miguel is already hot on this path: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5995575-post87.html

Ken ordered an Isabellina HPA with this option, and will be taking pictures soon.

Other 12Vdc devices could be fed, just as a Trends or KingRex amp that ALO sells. All that will be required is a cable that connects between the Isabellina HPA's output jack and the product that you will be connecting to.

This will not be an expensive option - it'll probably only add around $100 to the cost of the HPA, which will include the output jack and panel-mount fuse holder. Custom-made power cable would be sold separately...

Keep in mind that powering other products will reduce the play time of the HPA. For example, running the Wadia / HPA combo will probably give you up to 10 hours of play time between charges (vs. 20 hours), but I'm sure that is a long enough listening session for almost anyone! :-)

Finally - for those who already own the Isabellina HPA and would like this option, I can install it for you.

Red Wine Audio will also soon (in the next month or so) be offering dedicated battery power supply units that can output various voltages to feed your dacs, phonostages, amps, Squeezeboxes, etc. off-the-grid. Stay tuned!

Vinnie

Hi Guys,

Thanks!

This option will be effective immediately. It will add $100 to the Isabellina HPA (this does not include the cable). Ken told me that he can make an HPA-to-Wadia cable as shown in the picture above for a very reasonable price (under $100). We made the cable together and it does take quite a bit of labor time and requires much delicacy to solder to the pins of those connectors (especially that 3-pin DIN connector that Wadia requires!).

Longer length cables (as Miguel requested above) will add a little more to the cost. Contact Ken about this.

For those who already own an Isabellina HPA and would like this option installed, it will be the same price ($100), but you will need to pay the shipping. I'll try my best to keep the turn-around time under 2 weeks.

There is no room inside the Isabellina HPA for this. However, this brings me to this:

Slightly off-topic: Red Wine Audio will soon offer SLA battery power supply units (hopefully in a month) and we can configure them with various output voltages to meet the needs of your equipment (e.g. 5V, 9V, 12V, 24V, +/-12V). Much more detail about this will be posted in the future (and will be shown on the RWA website). These will feature the new RWA SMART board as used in the Isabellina HPA. Ken at ALO is also willing to help with making custom power cables to go between these battery supplies and your existing equipment!

Ken and I were both extremely impressed - running the Wadia on the internal SLA battery of the Isabellina HPA and feeding it's coaxial output to the Isabellina HPA's digital input created sound out of his recabled HD800s that you would never believe would be possible using an iPod! It is all transportable and can run for hours - completely off-the-grid! As Ken's awesome pictures show, they stack very nicely and look great!

Best regards,

Vinnie

ALO Audio

and

ALO Audio


I found it under Home Audio > Amps & DACs

Don't worry - Ken plans to clean-up / organize his website soon enough. He's a very busy man these days (especially with getting ready to open the 32-Ohm Audio store!)

Vinnie