What's a better power source, rechargeable batteries or AC adapter?

[fanta]

For an amp or in my case the JVC SU-DH1. I'm torn between keeping the one I have, with its lack of a power plug unlike the Japanese model, and just using rechargeable batteries, or importing a Japanese one. I'd like to know if sound would be different with either option, that would make the decision clearer.

I don't know a lot about audio so sorry if this is a really dumb question.

 

[vcoheda]

batteries. clean power.

 

[tennisplyr3]

yeah, rechargeable batteries are better. ac adapter will give you noise.

 

[Quaddy]

critical listening = rechargeable/sanyo eneloop batteries or similar caliber

normal listening = batteries or AC - if you are golden ears, you get a lower noise floor with battery power

practicalities may dictate you would be better off with AC depending on how you use your amp, if this is the case and you want clean power, remove it with a noise harvester or similar.

 

[recephasan]

the question could not be more relevant, you're in the right place

depends.
NiMH rechargeables deliver quick power (=their voltage does not drop with high current drain) so they have better sound than...
LiIon rechargeables which have internal circuitry built in to prevent combustion which makes them sound tinny to my ears
Alkalines sound good, too, but I haven't done extensive testing.

Now as for AC power, it all depends on what the unit is doing internally. If it's got good capacitors for power, there should be minimal hum. If it's wired directly or has crappy conditioning, you will "hear the AC"

my microDAC sounds as good with the AC adaptor as it does with NiMH rechargeables, if not better

 

[kaushama]

Batteries! New Sanyo eneloops! They have almost zero internal resistance so that it provides very little to the power supply! Hence a great sound quality!

 

[fanta]

Thanks for all the replies. This was one of the reasons I was leaning toward AC adapters:

Quote:

A rechargeable 9V battery wouldn't be that great an idea, unless you intend to use the amp a great deal and don't mind charging the battery fairly often. Rechargeable nine volters all have pretty miserable capacity (and often deliver only 7.2 volts, not nine), but a modern one ought to give you around ten hours of play, provided you don't leave your amp on the shelf a lot, whereupon the charge will leak away.

Review: Chu Moy headphone amplifier

That's for 9V batteries but it gave me a bad impression about rechargeable ones in general.

 

[IPodPJ]

Batteries are always cleaner sounding. If you are going to use a power supply, make sure it is a regulated one. ELPAC makes good ones. Even so, they still have more noise than batteries.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif batteries. clean power.

Totally conditional on the power suply.

I would rate this way:
standard wallwart (worst)
battery
uber-regulated high-current PSU (best)

 

[jamato8]

I normally would say batteries but if a power supply is done right then I would go with the ultra big reserve and power delivery of a good power supply. I use battery power from 2 Tekeon batteries for my dac and can also use it for my portable amp. When I have the Tekeon plugged in and I have the charger hooked up to it, it is usable but the best and most open sound is with the charger not in place for recharging the Tekeon paralleled batteries. I good well regulated and filtered high reserve ps can do the same, imo even though I also use batteries to bias my tubes for my preamp and home dac.

 

[Frihed89]

I just want to reinforce what others have said. You want a well regulated, linear power supply. If you then power that with batteries (usually 6 or 12 V) that is a more stable and cleaner source of AC power.

Why worry about all this crap? The power supply is the single most important part of a hifi circuit IMO because it is the dominant or a very important factor in determining how much noise, distortion, detail, and dynamics you hear.

I find it amusing that some on these boards are forever asking about output stages, what tube this or that, and hardly ever about the power supply in their headphone rigs.