Black Lightning
High-current Battery Power Supplies
AC Power Adaptors degrade sound quality
Getting the best sound possible from audio components requires feeding them a clean and robust supply of electrical current. Yet to reduce costs, many hi-fi components ship with the bare minimum: Cheap and dirty AC Power Adaptors – sometimes called Wall-Worts.
To the manufacture, these AC adaptors are "throw-ins.” To you as a music lover, Power Adaptors degrade your listening experience – probably more than you realize!
So if you want your system to sound its very best, wouldn’t it be nice to improve on – or better yet – completely eliminate these sound-degrading power adapters?
Take your components off the grid!
Black Lightning is a plug-and-play replacement for the inferior stock AC adaptors currently used to power your DACs, phonostages, preamplifers, amplifiers and other audio components.
Each Black Lightning is hand-built and preconfigured to meet your specific power and connectivity requirements. Black Lightning takes audio components off-the-grid, completely eliminating the noise and grunge found on all AC power lines. Feeding your components “DC-Direct” with Black Lightning bypasses the shortcomings related to the AC-to-DC conversion process. With Black Lightning powering your audio components, you hear:
- More accurate tone
- Blacker backgrounds
- Improved dynamics
- Better defined bass
- A larger soundstage
- More holographic imaging
- Less listening fatigue
And best of all – you become more emotionally involved with your music, which is what Red Wine Audio is all about!
We’re so confident in the sonic benefits you’ll experience using Black Lightning Battery Power Supplies that we offer our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Features
Black Lightning fully automates all battery-related processes
In concept Black Lighting sounds simple: A battery in a box, right? And truth be told, there are competitors who market products that are just that. But designing a reliable battery power supply requires overcoming some interesting engineering challenges, which Red Wine Audio has mastered over the past five years with innovation and refinements. For example:
SLA (sealed lead-acid) batteries are unrivaled for delivering high-current, very low impedance, and flat discharge characteristics – but they do not like to be brought to a low state of charge (deep cycling). In fact, without proper protection, if you fall asleep or forget to turn your unit off, the batteries will run down and be permanently damaged. And you’re stuck ordering replacement batteries.
This is not the case with Red Wine Audio’s custom-designed SMART (SLA battery Monitoring and Auto Recharge circuiT). SMART automatically manages all battery-related process. So now you can enjoy the music, and let SMART do the rest!
Other features include:
Design
- Factory configurable output voltage, meeting the needs of your specific audio component(s) (e.g. 5Vdc output for Logitech Squeezebox)
- Uses an external charger to physically separate the clean battery power from the battery charger, isolating mains (AC) noise
- Premium, solid-core UP-OCC copper wiring throughout
- Switchcraft output power jack and plug, featuring ultra-low contact resistance, twist-locking mechanism and a sealed connection for superior moisture resistance
- Fused output (panel-mount fuse holder for easy replacement if needed)
- 0.5 second in-rush current limiting to provide your gear with “soft starting” – prolonging the life of internal components
- Built by hand in the United States of America
Enclosure
- Black-anodized and laser-etched faceplate
- Rigid aluminum construction
- Batteries secured to chassis via custom made, aluminum hold-down brackets – allowing for easy battery removal, if needed
SMART Recharging
- SMART (SLA battery Monitoring and Auto Recharge circuiT) fully automates all battery related processes
- When Black Lightning is ON, your component is only running on clean, high-current SLA Battery Power Supply (both the positive and negative leads of the charger are internally disconnected)
- When you turn Black Lightning OFF, the external auto-charger is automatically connected to the battery and charging is automatic
- If batteries reach a low state of charge, SMART automatically turns Black Lightning OFF and begins the charging process
- When charging is complete, the external battery charger automatically keeps the batteries “topped-off,” ready for your next listening session, maximizing battery life
Power Switch
- Smooth “touch-sensing” power ON / power OFF
- Only serves to turn the SMART module ON / OFF – power to your component does NOT pass through the switch, keeping the power path as clean and direct as possible
- Rated at 50 million presses, the power switch is designed to last a lifetime
- Built-in LED emits a soft, red glow
- LED slowly blinks when battery voltage is low and unit is getting close to auto shut-off
- Flush mounted with the black-anodized aluminum front panel, for a clean appearance
Options
Configurable to support a wide variety of audio components
Your Black Lightning is configured at Red Wine Audio’s factory to meet the voltage, connectivity and current needs of your specific component(s).
You can power more than one component from a single Black Lightning
Every Black Lightning is custom configured to meet your specific needs. So depending on your gears’ voltage and current requirements, it is possible that your Black Lightning can be configured to power more than one audio component. Just let us know what you want to power, and we will do what we can to help move your entire listening experience off-the-grid!
What about components with internal power supplies?
Even if you plug an audio component directly into the wall (i.e. a component that does not use an external AC Power Adaptor), the component still runs on DC voltage. The AC-to-DC conversion process takes place inside your component (internal power supply). In certain cases we can modify your component to bypass its internal power supply, feeding Black Lightning directly into your product. Please contact us to discuss your specific requirements.
Reviews
“The big surprise was when I set the stylus down on the first record, Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall… If you have this record, you know how big the soundstage is, but adding the Black Lightning just blew the boundaries out of my room.”
“I am a big believer in clean power, and the validity of good power cords, but I’ve never had this much improvement from any power cord or line conditioner.”
“I’ve run Black Lightning on a number of amplifiers and DACs in our store. In all cases the sound quality improved across the board: Markedly less grainy, better imaging and bigger soundstage, cleaner tighter bass and improved dynamics. I highly recommend Black Lightning as a cost-effective way to get the full musical potential out of your components.”
“When we auditioned the Virtue TWO.2 at RMAF with a pair of critically acclaimed 97db speakers, artifacts from the switching supply were immediately audible. Going ‘off-the-grid’ with Black Lightning took our amplifier to a new level entirely - smoother, more dynamic and clear as a bell. It made me a believer.”
Specifications
Black Lightning is offered in two models, supporting a broad range of components. Each Black Lightning model is offered in both standard and custom output voltages.
Depending on your requirements, both models can be customized to power more than one component and / or configured to support more than one output voltage
Series 10 |
Series 12 |
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Rear PanelClick to enlarge |
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 |
Batteries |
One 12V, 10Ah SLA battery, |
Two 12V, 10AH SLA batteries, |
Standard output voltages |
12V or 24V |
12V, 24V, 36V or 48V |
Custom output voltages |
5V, 6V, 8V, 9V, 15V, 18V, 20V, or +/- 12V |
5V, 6V, 8V, 9V, 15V, 18V, 20V, +/- 12V, or +/- 24V |
Charger |
12V, 1,000mA SLA “auto-charger” |
12V, 2,000mA SLA “auto-charger” |
Size |
10" wide x 6.5" deep x 3.5" tall |
12" wide x 12.5" deep x 3.5" tall |
Weight |
Approximately 10lbs |
Approximately 20lbs |
Proudly manufactured in the State of Connecticut, United States of America
Product design and specification subject to change or modification without notice.
Purchase
Black Lightning Series 10
Standard output voltage (12V or 24V)*
Price: $625
Custom output voltage (e.g. 5V, 6V, 8V, 9V, 15V, 18V, 20V, or +/- 12V)*
Price: $675
Black Lightning Series 12
Standard output voltage (12V, 24V, 36V, 48V)*
Price: $825
Custom output voltage (e.g. 5V, 9V, 15V, 18V or split supply +/- 12V, or +/- 24V)*
Price: $875
Options
Customizing for more than one output
Price: $100
12V, 2,000mA SLA “auto-charger” for Series 10
Price: $50
* Audio components use various DC input plugs. Each DC power cable is hand-build to meet your specific connectivity requirements. DC power cables sold separately. Contact Red Wine Audio for additional details.
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