[oicdn]

Sitting here listening to my baby Stax and my batteries died. I had picked up some Sony batteries that were on sale at the local gas station for $1 and some change. They're good batteries too, Sony AM3pt's.

I can't find the mAh anywhere, but I'm assuming the Sony nature of their "extended" batteries, they're anywhere between 2500mAh and 3000mAh. There was only 4 packs of AA's (the rest being C, AAA, and 9v), marked down 50% or so from $2.39 IIRC. So I snagged them all up. Can't beat $4 and some change for 8 good quality Sony high life alkalines.

In anycase, the batteries I had to tide me over until I find a suitable lithium solution were NiMh 2500mah Rayovac and Rat Shack batteries. I remember when I was running photo lithiums, I would hear the normal "power up tones" that the SRM-001 has. Sounds kinda like a toy space ship taking off, lol.

When I switched to the lower voltage 1.2v NiMh (vs. the 1.5v alkalines have, which I may add I didn't think would make one difference what so ever), I noticed the noise wasn't really there, if it was, it was SUPER SUPER faint unlike before was it was a nice greeting. Also, I thought it was maybe psycho acoustic, but it sounded a little thinner and not as full bodied. Never really experienced a change like this in batteries on my other "dynamic portables" I've owned and listened to.

When I switched to the Sony's, the amp was alive again, and made the power up noise. Everything was back to like when I first heard this beast and brought another smile on my face. Full bodied, didn't sound as light, and just overall a much better sound. And not some "it's like the difference in cables" difference. This was definitely a large and noticeable change, about as dramatic as going from amp to amp with the same headphones.

So, this kinda explains how this amp is so finicky about the 4.5v wallwarts plugged into it (which I haven't found yet). If something as noticeable as .3v made that much a difference, I can only imagine the dramatic differences between wallwarts. Also, this may attribute to how well the amp itself responds to mods.

So this begs me to ask, are all stat amps/transformers this way (really sensitive to incoming power), or is this a characteristic of this amp only?

 

[BigEat]

Finally. Finally. Someone who doesn't think I'm a nut. (Well at least not about this). I've been saying this for years. I think batteries affect sonic quality. I agree with everything you said. And, I generally think disposable batts are better than rechargeable. Thus, I've held on to my RS XP-7 and use the iQube. X2

 

[synaesthetic]

I think this instance has more to do with the power requirements of the SRM-001. The thing can barely run off the power provided to it by batteries, so small differences can be very noticeable.

 

[LnxPrgr3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oicdn /img/forum/go_quote.gif If something as noticeable as .6v made that much a difference...

FTFY

 

[oicdn]

^ Ah yes...thanks for that.

In anycase, the batteries small variances in voltage made a difference, a VERY noticeable difference at that. But you are right, it prolly has to do with the power reqs of the SRM-001...but bottom line is, the SLIGHT difference in voltage change A LOT.

 

[tnmike1]

could battery differences be why so many people love the Eneloop brand???

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif could battery differences be why so many people love the Eneloop brand???

Eneloop have very low internal resistance and makes amps like those made by Xin come alive.

 

[synaesthetic]

Mostly I think people dig Eneloop and similar low-self-discharge NiMH batteries because they tend to last a lot longer and maintain a steadier output voltage.