SBooster Plixir Power Supplies
Sbooster is an award-winning company powered by Wiebren Draaijer and Karin Hoks, a Dutch duo that focuses on making audio and video equipment perform at their best. Ever since they started Sbooster back in 2010 their smart designed products have been receiving excellent reviews from all over the world. At the beginning it was just the two of them working on their own designs in the Netherlands, yet now they empower a large team in their Sbooster factory in Bulgaria. Due to this upscale they are able to deliver high-end quality for a fair price. As more and more clients discover the power in silence, Sbooster continuously focuses on silently upgrading the chain of music.
In 2008, Wiebren Draaijer, founder of Sbooster / Squeeze-upgrade, received a Logitech Squeezebox as a gift. Soon he noticed the convenience of streaming audio, but as an audiophile he was totally dissatisfied with the sound quality of the Squeezebox compared to his high-end CD-player. With his background in electronics he tried to find a solution, that would improve the performance of the Squeezebox. It became clear that the standard supplied switch-mode adapter was the one that had a negative impact on the performance of the Squeezebox. The question was how to solve this problem? The Sbooster Single Unit was born. The “current improver” for almost all standard switch-mode adapters of small devices.
In 2009 Sbooster Single Unit is further developed and made production ready. Meanwhile, the Sbooster-technique was combined with the best elements of a linear power supply. The result: the Best of Two Worlds Solution audio upgrade power supply (BOTWS).
At the beginning of the product development some audio enthusiasts were asked to listen to the sound quality improvements. They listened to our products over and over again and provided us with information to improve our prototypes. We are very grateful to them!
Due to the many requests outside Europe for our products and because of new high-res audio devices, like DSD-DACs, we started to develop the successor of the BOTWS audio upgrade at the end of 2013. This became the "Best of Two Worlds Power & Precision ECO" (BOTW P&P ECO) audio upgrade. At the development of this product we had the following goals in mind:
-
Worldwide use with an equal performance at every mains voltage;
-
Energy savings, higher efficiency and more power;
· Achieve an even greater improvement in sound by getting the most out of an audio device.
These goals are achieved! The BOTW P&P ECO audio upgrade power supply combines power, precision and efficiency in an innovative manner. Through smart design this upgrade product performs the same at any mains voltage.
In 2018 we launched the BOTW P&P ECO MKII. We improved the power flow, reduced the mechanical stress and lowered the internal impedance & resistance
In January 2020 after a decade of supplying DC audio upgrade power supplies for countless audio and video related equipment, we introduced our first BOTW AC audio upgrade power supply. The BOTW AC is designed as an upgrade for AC powered audio devices such as phono stages like the Benz Micro PP1 and as a 1 on 1 replacement for stock supplied basic AC/AC power supplies, which are supplied with turntables from brands like Rega and Thorens. The design is based on our successful BOTW P&P ECO MKII model with all the necessary features to make the difference.
Plixir/Sound Affairs was founded by James Soh.
James is an avid music lover, and an accomplished tuba player, a difficult instrument which he started learning at the age of nine. He has represented Singapore in many overseas wind band competitions and was a founding member of The Philharmonic Winds, the premier Wind Band in Singapore.
James’ real interest lies in the realm of digital audio systems, where he marvels at how digital systems translate digital signals into sound. He started dabbling in DIY audio electronics in his teens, and throughout his university days. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a bachelor degree (2nd Upper Honors) in Electronics.
James has a privileged career in audio digital electronics design in Singapore.
Working at Philips SG, he was part of the design team for the first SACD player to be fully designed in Singapore, the 963SA, and lead the design team for its successor, the DVP9000SA. He was part of the sound tuning team for these landmark players.
Prior to joining Cirrus Logic, the premier Audio Semiconductor, he was at Behringer, where he designed and developed a series of guitar amplifiers.
At Cirrus Logic, he focused on the application design and support of cutting edge audio codec technology and complex digital audio DSP systems. Supporting and winning over many multinational corporations, he is involved in many different types of digital audio product developments, including high end hi-fi, AVR, sound bar, MP4 player, soundcard, tablet and smartphone application. Rising through the ranks, he became the audio specialist for the Asia Pacific Region.
James started in 2003 as a hobbyist’s pursuit to express his love of DIY audio. He is very intrigued by the process of getting the best performance from fundamentally well-designed equipment. He firmly believes that modifications of sounds and well-designed equipment, is the way to get the best value and performance out of astronomically priced hi-fi equipment that has limited engineering content but a huge marketing budget.
Over the years we have grown steadily to become the premier digital audio modification place in Singapore.
In 2013, James decided to pursue his passion full-time and set up Sound Affairs Pte Ltd, concentrating on original and modified HIFI equipment and accessories sales as well as home active speaker sales (www.mysoundaffairs.com).
In 2014, James designed and created the PLiXiR brand of AC and DC power products and accessories. The purpose is to provide unique, timeless, high performance and cost effective power products for hifi use. It has since become a popular brand in Singapore and is now distributed overseas, a first for Hifi power products in Singapore.
PLiXiR power products are James’s take on effective power solutions. Power’s (AC and DC) influences to hifi equipment’s performance are extremely profound and cannot be understated. Your hifi system cannot function without power; it is the blood of your hifi anatomy. Needless to say, variations in the quality of power delivered to your equipment affects them greatly. In many cases, users of simple systems with attention to correct AC power treatment derive musical and enjoyable performances than high end systems that neglected this aspect. It is to address this that James decide to fully focus our efforts to design PLiXiR power products.
PLiXiR power products have to satisfy set targets:
- Real, fundamental improvement based on sound engineering principles.
- Strictly neutral, natural and pure in tone. The right foundation for your equipment to perform to their potential.
- Timeless and reliable long term usage.
From James’s experience, the best engineering solutions to problems are often the simplest. He discover from research that balanced power delivery fulfills the criteria elegantly on many levels. The trade-off is that good balanced power solutions are heavy and bulky. There are also solutions out there that are quasi-balanced but masquerading as true balanced products. It is thus PLiXiR’s mission to promote the effective use of true balance power into home hifi use.
To our end PLiXiR focuses on designing the best balanced power products in the world, using the best commercially available components. In particular the PLiXiR Elite range of balanced AC Power products are truly cost no object creations. PLiXiR is also the first company in the world to offer a complete balanced power delivery system including Balanced AC power conditioner, with Balanced Power cables (for end to end balanced power) and Balanced DC power supplies for equipment that needs DC power.