Classical Candor: On LED Flashlights…

On LED Flashlights…

By Bryan Geyer

The innate connection between a flashlight and “Audio Tech Talk” becomes apparent as soon as you try to inspect any part of your sound system that lies beyond the front panel. In recognition, here’s some personal guidance about the most vital tool you’ll ever need: A modern single-cell LED flashlight.

First, learn why the light emitting diode (LED), a semiconductor device that dates to the late 1960s, didn’t become abundant in flashlights until some 30 years later. What a curious delay! What happened? And what changed? Well, a modern “white light” LED won’t fire until it sees a threshold bias of about 3.2 volts minimum, and 4 volts or more works better. But a fresh single cell battery produces only ~ 1.2 to 1.7 volts, dependent on its chemistry (see footnote*), so multiple batteries would be needed to fire a solitary white light LED. Clearly, using more batteries than before didn’t advance the state of flashlight design, so miniature incandescent lamps endured. Then, barely before year 2k arrived, integrated circuit “boost chips” appeared. These new silicon ICs could efficiently elevate the energy from a single storage cell to the operating level needed to fire a white light LED. The basic design concept was old, but implementing it in IC form was breakthrough genius. The entire boost function, consisting of the surface-mount chip plus some tiny passive peripherals, could now be packed into a bundle smaller than the size of two stacked dimes. A practical single AA cell LED flashlight was suddenly viable, and its launch assured immense advantage over anything using an incandescent bulb. A lone LED could now provide more light (with selectable lower levels), draw less current, offer high resistance to shock and vibration, and assure decades (not hours) of maintenance-free service life—all while selling at competitive mass-market prices.

Product development was intense, with many players engaged. Some failed, some flourished, and several smart trans-Pacific sources became dominant. There’s now a wide array of LED flashlights and multi-LED lanterns on the market. Many designs serve niche applications, but my intent here is to feature a basic everyday flashlight—a modestly priced model that’s appropriate for general purpose use and practical in-pocket carry. A flashlight that…

…is short (≤ 3.1" long), skinny (≤ 0.75" diameter), and uses only a single AA size cell.

…is blindingly bright at full output, with multiple lower levels to conserve current drain.

…has long throw capability, with enough side spill to see the borders of your path at night.

…is obvious in operation, with a single butt-end control button for all switching functions.

…offers instinctive battery exchange: unscrew head and replace AA cell, button end up.

…has solid mechanical integrity; built to withstand the rigors of moderate abuse.

…if supplied with a pocket clip, such clip must be readily removable and leave no evidence.

… meets the IP68 waterproof standard (up to 30 minutes at depths of ≤ 2 meters).

…is cheap enough stash extras (toolboxes/cars/bikes/garage) and give as gifts.

There aren’t a lot of candidates that meet all of my objectives. Many come close, then fail the “side spill” criteria. That’s because flashlight marketers always hype throw (range), and inexperienced buyers focus on that feature; they haven’t yet grasped the importance of spill (beam spread). The two parameters (throw and spill) are mutually exclusive; more of one means less of the other. A very tight beam will deliver impressive reach, but hot spot fixation invites personal risk when you can’t see the edges of a narrow path from just one step away.

My pick as a good “everyday” single AA cell flashlight is the Fenix E12 Version 2.0. It meets all of my criteria, and you can buy it here: https://www.fenix-store.com, or here: https://www.batteryjunction.com The Fenix E12 V2.0 flashlight offers three selectable outputs: 5, 30, and 160 Lumens. It uses a cool white LED, and has an ultra-thin (3mm) optical front lens—all very desirable. The lowest level is appropriate for checking your watch in a darkened theater or finding a keyhole at night. The mid-level setting, 30 Lumens, assures a practical balance between output and capacity. It’s great for all of your “fix it” tasks, also for walking at night. The full 160 Lumen output provides a brilliant spotlight, but keep it brief! Apply only in 10 to 20 second transient bursts. At this level, supply current is consumed at a rapid rate, and there’s significant internal dissipation (heating). As with many LED flashlights, these output levels are all electronically regulated, so the lighting intensity stays constant; it won’t droop as the AA cell ages. Full expiration becomes suddenly apparent; it’s dependent on the drain that’s required for the level you’ve selected. When the supply current is insufficient for a given level, the output will drop to the next lower level. When it’s too low to maintain the regulated 5 Lumen minimum, the output drops to a useless glow, then goes out.

The Fenix E12 V2.0 flashlight comes with an attached (by compression) pocket clip that I dislike, so I trash it. This is easy to do with the aid of pliers—just grab the clip and pull it off. It will readily detach and leave no evidence that it was once mounted on the flashlight body. This flashlight is so small and light that a pocket clip isn’t of practical benefit; however, removing the clip will then expose a perfectly cylindrical body, and round stuff that’s not restrained can roll off flat surfaces. If this annoys you, consider mating a wrist strap to a rear lug. Straps that have a small pigtail loop at the end will pass through the lug without impeding the control button.

BATTERY OPTIONS: AA cells are readily available in the variants (3) noted below*, but you’d do well to reject the use of alkaline (manganese dioxide) LR6 cells. These conventional cells are very popular, but too risky to merit informed consideration. When an alkaline AA cell approaches expiration (output ≤ 0.7 volts), it will progressively destabilize and form a caustic compound (KOH, potassium hydroxide) that will penetrate the outer shell and attack anything that’s within reach. The consequent damage can be severe. This is an inherent flaw—all alkaline cells present this same inevitable hazard—so don’t use alkaline AA cells. Instead, select either of the other options. I use the non-rechargeable lithium-iron disulfide Class FR6 cells, e.g., Energizer’s “Ultimate”**. Others prefer the rechargeable nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) Class HR6 cells. Both options are safe, don’t leak, and work well. Non-rechargeable lithium AA cells exhibit extended operating life, perform well in cold ambients (alkaline cells don’t), weigh about 40% less than the alkaline equivalent, and can tolerate long term (10 years) passive storage with minimal (5%) net self-discharge. Buy in bulk, stow for use as needed.

* The nominal AA cell output voltage, when fresh (or freshly charged), is…

…1.5 volt for a non-rechargeable alkaline (manganese dioxide) IEC Class LR6 cell.

…1.2 volt for a rechargeable nickel metal-hydride IEC Class HR6 cell.

…1.6 to 1.7 volt for a non-rechargeable lithium-iron disulfide IEC Class FR6 cell, e.g., Energizer “Ultimate” AA cells.

IEC = International Electrotechnical Commission

** I buy on-line, from Battery Junction; refer… https://www.batteryjunction.com/energizer-aa-ln91-24pk-battery.html

BG (December 2022)

John J. Puccio, Founder and Contributor

Understand, I'm just an everyday guy reacting to something I love. And I've been doing it for a very long time, my appreciation for classical music starting with the musical excerpts on the Big Jon and Sparkie radio show in the early Fifties and the purchase of my first recording, The 101 Strings Play the Classics, around 1956. In the late Sixties I began teaching high school English and Film Studies as well as becoming interested in hi-fi, my audio ambitions graduating me from a pair of AR-3 speakers to the Fulton J's recommended by The Stereophile's J. Gordon Holt. In the early Seventies, I began writing for a number of audio magazines, including Audio Excellence, Audio Forum, The Boston Audio Society Speaker, The American Record Guide, and from 1976 until 2008, The $ensible Sound, for which I served as Classical Music Editor.

Today, I'm retired from teaching and use a pair of bi-amped VMPS RM40s loudspeakers for my listening. In addition to writing for the Classical Candor blog, I served as the Movie Review Editor for the Web site Movie Metropolis (formerly DVDTown) from 1997-2013. Music and movies. Life couldn't be better.

Karl Nehring, Editor and Contributor

For more than 20 years I was the editor of The $ensible Sound magazine and a regular contributor to both its equipment and recordings review pages. I would not presume to present myself as some sort of expert on music, but I have a deep love for and appreciation of many types of music, "classical" especially, and have listened to thousands of recordings over the years, many of which still line the walls of my listening room (and occasionally spill onto the furniture and floor, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering wife). I have always taken the approach as a reviewer that what I am trying to do is simply to point out to readers that I have come across a recording that I have found of interest, a recording that I think they might appreciate my having pointed out to them. I suppose that sounds a bit simple-minded, but I know I appreciate reading reviews by others that do the same for me — point out recordings that they think I might enjoy.

For readers who might be wondering about what kind of system I am using to do my listening, I should probably point out that I do a LOT of music listening and employ a variety of means to do so in a variety of environments, as I would imagine many music lovers also do. Starting at the more grandiose end of the scale, the system in which I do my most serious listening comprises Marantz CD 6007 and Onkyo CD 7030 CD players, NAD C 658 streaming preamp/DAC, Legacy Audio PowerBloc2 amplifier, and a pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE loudspeakers. I occasionally do some listening through pair of Sennheiser 560S headphones. I miss the excellent ELS Studio sound system in our 2016 Acura RDX (now my wife's daily driver) on which I had ripped more than a hundred favorite CDs to the hard drive, so now when driving my 2022 Accord EX-L Hybrid I stream music from my phone through its adequate but not outstanding factory system. For more casual listening at home when I am not in my listening room, I often stream music through the phone into a Vizio soundbar system that has tolerably nice sound for such a diminutive physical presence. And finally, at the least grandiose end of the scale, I have an Ultimate Ears Wonderboom II Bluetooth speaker for those occasions where I am somewhere by myself without a sound system but in desperate need of a musical fix. I just can’t imagine life without music and I am humbly grateful for the technology that enables us to enjoy it in so many wonderful ways.

William (Bill) Heck, Webmaster and Contributor

Among my early childhood memories are those of listening to my mother playing records (some even 78 rpm ones!) of both classical music and jazz tunes. I suppose that her love of music was transmitted genetically, and my interest was sustained by years of playing in rock bands – until I realized that this was no way to make a living. The interest in classical music was rekindled in grad school when the university FM station serving as background music for studying happened to play the Brahms First Symphony. As the work came to an end, it struck me forcibly that this was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and from that point on, I never looked back. This revelation was to the detriment of my studies, as I subsequently spent way too much time simply listening, but music has remained a significant part of my life. These days, although I still can tell a trumpet from a bassoon and a quarter note from a treble clef, I have to admit that I remain a nonexpert. But I do love music in general and classical music in particular, and I enjoy sharing both information and opinions about it.

The audiophile bug bit about the same time that I returned to classical music. I’ve gone through plenty of equipment, brands from Audio Research to Yamaha, and the best of it has opened new audio insights. Along the way, I reviewed components, and occasionally recordings, for The $ensible Sound magazine. Most recently I’ve moved to my “ultimate system” consisting of a BlueSound Node streamer, an ancient Toshiba multi-format disk player serving as a CD transport, Legacy Wavelet II DAC/preamp/crossover, dual Legacy PowerBloc2 amps, and Legacy Signature SE speakers (biamped), all connected with decently made, no-frills cables. With the arrival of CD and higher resolution streaming, that is now the source for most of my listening.

Ryan Ross, Contributor

I started listening to and studying classical music in earnest nearly three decades ago. This interest grew naturally out of my training as a pianist. I am now a musicologist by profession, specializing in British and other symphonic music of the 19th and 20th centuries. My scholarly work has been published in major music journals, as well as in other outlets. Current research focuses include twentieth-century symphonic historiography, and the music of Jean Sibelius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Malcolm Arnold.

I am honored to contribute writings to Classical Candor. In an age where the classical recording industry is being subjected to such profound pressures and changes, it is more important than ever for those of us steeped in this cultural tradition to continue to foster its love and exposure. I hope that my readers can find value, no matter how modest, in what I offer here.

Bryan Geyer, Technical Analyst

I initially embraced classical music in 1954 when I mistuned my car radio and heard the Heifetz recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. That inspired me to board the new "hi-fi" DIY bandwagon. In 1957 I joined one of the pioneer semiconductor makers and spent the next 32 years marketing transistors and microcircuits to military contractors. Home audio DIY projects remained a personal passion until 1989 when we created our own new photography equipment company. I later (2012) revived my interest in two channel audio when we "downsized" our life and determined that mini-monitors + paired subwoofers were a great way to mate fine music with the space constraints of condo living.

Visitors that view my technical papers on this site may wonder why they appear here, rather than on a site that features audio equipment reviews. My reason is that I tried the latter, and prefer to publish for people who actually want to listen to music; not to equipment. My focus is in describing what's technically beneficial to assure that the sound of the system will accurately replicate the source input signal (i. e. exhibit high accuracy) without inordinate cost and complexity. Conversely, most of the audiophiles of today strive to achieve sound that's euphonic, i.e. be personally satisfying. In essence, audiophiles seek sound that's consistent with their desire; the music is simply a test signal.

Mission Statement

It is the goal of Classical Candor to promote the enjoyment of classical music. Other forms of music come and go--minuets, waltzes, ragtime, blues, jazz, bebop, country-western, rock-'n'-roll, heavy metal, rap, and the rest--but classical music has been around for hundreds of years and will continue to be around for hundreds more. It's no accident that every major city in the world has one or more symphony orchestras.

When I was young, I heard it said that only intellectuals could appreciate classical music, that it required dedicated concentration to appreciate. Nonsense. I'm no intellectual, and I've always loved classical music. Anyone who's ever seen and enjoyed Disney's Fantasia or a Looney Tunes cartoon playing Rossini's William Tell Overture or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 can attest to the power and joy of classical music, and that's just about everybody.

So, if Classical Candor can expand one's awareness of classical music and bring more joy to one's life, more power to it. It's done its job. --John J. Puccio

On LED Flashlights…

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"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa