Good Power Sources for High End Audio

I am no audio freak but I enjoy listening to music if it sounds after music. And this leads to higher end systems for the reproduction of music.

A really great little amplifier is the Trends Audio 10.1 I bought roughly 5 years ago. It replaced a YAMAHA Class A amplifier just because it sounded much better: Fuller richer musicality and a much more profound bass. A funny situation: a 300 grams fully digital amplifier wins against the 5 kilograms Class A amp easily!

During the decision process I read some reviews where the Trends Audio was powerd by batteries (lead acid, 12 Volts) – and this lifted the quality of musical reproduction to higher levels. According to the authors.

Because I had not battery at hand I tried to pimp the 12 Volt / 3.5 Ampere power supply with a large electrolytic capacitor (47 milli Farad) which boosted the bass performance a little bit. Bass performance doesn’t just mean louder bass but deeper, well defined bass.

But the best choice was a 12 Volt lead acid battery I bought second hand for 10 bucks. With its 9 Ampere hours of design capacity and about 5 Ampere hours real capacity it is capable to power the little amp for approx. 40 hours without recharging. And the sound is much better again compared to the pimped power supply.

 

Bottom line: A good power source is essential for good music reproduction, just with a digital amp, which – I thought it initially – is independent from it’s source power!

WARNING: I read some posts that the Trends Audio Amplifier is NOT PROTECTED against false polarity of the supply voltage. If you try alternative power sources with this amp check twice or three times if the polarity is applied correctly!!!