AC power challenges and options for making Hi-Fi sound it’s best: a multi-part video series.

The next series of videos will help define our strategy to get the best in sound, beginning with battery power.

StromTank is designed as its own little power station, using a lithium-iron-phosphate battery and a dual inverter taking AC to DC and DC back to AC. In battery mode, the audio equipment is detached from the electrical grid and its inherent, dirty power. StromTank is an alternative to traditional AC power for the HIFI enthusiast, providing clean power so the music sounds crystal clear without losing any energy or dynamics.

Dirty power is a broad term that describes various problems with electrical systems that can cause issues. It usually shows up as a distorted sine wave with more than 10% total harmonic distortion. Sine waves are like the smooth, predictable way electrical power changes over time. They go up and down in height and speed, moving quickly to their peaks and troughs before coming back to zero. Harmonic distortion happens when the pure sine wave of a signal gets mixed up by extra waves or “harmonics” that are multiples of the original frequency. These extra waves aren’t part of the perfect, smooth sine wave and will corrupt music playback. It is always best to address power at the main panel since what goes in certainly will come out, unless it is filtered or manipulated, and at that, there will probably be a trade-off in dynamics.

Power is what you hear!