Optimal Linear Power Supply for B2?

[J-D]

Hi All,
What would the optimal North American electrical specifications be to run my B2 in NAS or CD Player modes on an aftermarket Linear Power Supply if I never intend to use the B2 internal amplifier and I only use the B2's digital HDMI and Optical outputs? Possibly 12v ???amps? Just asking the group as of course I use the excellent stock B2 Switch Mode Power Supply to power my unit, thanks.
Best,
J-D

[Mark Fishman]

The output of the supplied Brennan power brick is supposedly (i.e., according to the label) 24VDC, 2700mA (2.7 Amps), center pin positive. I see no rational reason that a linear power supply should have to provide anything else. 24 VDC, 2.7 Amps, center pin positive would therefore (IMHO) be the optimal spec.

[J-D]

H Mark,

Thanks, 2.7 Amps got it. Checking to see if the B2 be run on 12 VDC, 2.7 amps as I am shopping for Linear Power Supplies and don't want to under or overpower the B2, just provide power to optimally (versus less than optimally) cover my exact needs, if that makes any sense.

[Mark Fishman]

Paul (Brennan employee) has said elsewhere that a B2 *can* run on 12VDC, in cases where one might want to use it in a car or boat -- I think the only obvious impact is that the amplifier won't play as loudly as it can on 24V. You've said that you don't intend to use the internal amp, so that should not be an issue. Don't go any lower than 12V, though. (And don't go any higher than 24V.)

I know that, with AC supplies, lowering the voltage often increases the current requirement. I'm not enough of an engineer to know if that's also going to be true with a DC supply.

[JFBUK]

Hi,

it might be worth checking out the power requirements of the underlying Raspberry Pi in the B2 as well

According to a post by Peter Lowham  on here earlier this year the  models used are

The current version of Ras-Pi processor board (since early 2017 with the internal microSD card) is the Ras-Pi 1 Model B+ v1.2 (c)2014 with 512GB of memory.

The previous version (pre early 2017 and with the external access SD card) uses the Ras-Pi 1 Model B v1.2 (c)2011 with 512GB of memory.

John

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Guys,

The B2 will work fine on 12VDC.  The only side effects are (1) reduced music power output as already mentioned and (2) the front display display will be slightly dimmer as it also runs off the 24 volt line.

Regards,

Peter.

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi J-D,

I'm curious about what you're up to?  One wild guess is that you're hoping for better fidelity with a linear power supply.  I'm just looking to be educated.