S-Booster

[furonfour]

Through a tweet last weekend by one of the Squeezebox suppliers here in the Netherlands, a new product was brought to my attention. I am by no means an audiophile, nor an expert in electronics, so I am not sure what to think of this exactly.

Forum searches did not turn up any hits, but my apologies if this has been discussed before.

The "SBooster" - http://www.squeeze-upgrade.com/

The product line seems to be split in two main parts, a module or SBooster that can be fitted between the default Squeezebox power supply and the Squeezebox itself, and a combination of a (higher end?) power supply with an SBooster unit. The products are being offered here for about 40 and 135 Euros respectively. Both units seem to be available for the Classic, Duet and Touch, as well as a few popular DACs.

Most of the site is in English. There is one review on the product in Dutch which can be found here, translated to English by Google here.

If they work as advertised, I guess they would provide a plug-and-play way to enhance a Squeezebox setup. The review does not provide any measurements or details on the workings of the devices, which leaves me kind of skeptical.

Any thoughts?

[garym]

run don't walk from this....

[snarlydwarf]

If they work as advertised, I guess they would provide a plug-and-play way to enhance a Squeezebox setup. The review does not provide any measurements or details on the workings of the devices, which leaves me kind of skeptical.

Any thoughts?

snake oil, especially with the touch.

[iPhone]

This stuff is great! NOT! It is only good at separating you from your hard earned cash that is if you believe or are fooled by some slick web pages and the out right fairly tales they are telling/claiming.

As Gary said, stay as far away as you can as quickly as you can.

Only one thing makes a Major worth paying for upgrade to the Touch, replacing it with a Transporter or buying an expensive external DAC.

They use the word "Magical" in their BS ads, hide your cash, checks, and credit cards. With the Sbooster switch-mode upgrade one still needs to use the OEM switching PS yet somehow "the sound is deeper, the stress disappears, the emotion comes back and the digital edge will be a thing of the past forever." What a load of crap. The only thing they are good at changing is the amount in ones checking account!

Buyer beware, the only change to your system will be the lightness in ones wallet and a little less treble from your lowered seating position.

[slate]

Clearly someone has taken notes... They have seen Steve Jobs pendle his merchandise using the "magical" word and thought that if he can sell snakeoil at those prices... why cant we?!

[ralphpnj]

Clearly someone has taken notes... They have seen Steve Jobs pendle his merchandise using the "magical" word and thought that if he can sell snakeoil at those prices... why cant we?!

But but but Steve Jobs is magical: he turns investors money into much more money and all without flac or flash support!

Just what does Jobs have against things beginning with the letters "fla"?

Sorry but there can never, under any circumstances, be enough Steve Jobs bashing.

[iPhone]

But but but Steve Jobs is magical: he turns investors money into much more money and all without flac or flash support!

Just what does Jobs have against things beginning with the letters "fla"?

Sorry but there can never, under any circumstances, be enough Steve Jobs bashing.

As there is an exception to every rule, unless one is busy bashing Bill Gates or Al Gore!

[RonM]

It's so good to be in the company of others who consider Apple to be the ultimate Evil Empire. . .

[ralphpnj]

As there is an exception to every rule, unless one is busy bashing Bill Gates or Al Gore!

Al Gore - yes (but I would guess for quite different reasons than you bash him for.)

Bill Gates - yes but it's not nearly as much fun as it used to be since he's no longer in charge at Microsoft.

It's so good to be in the company of others who consider Apple to be the ultimate Evil Empire. . .

I'm not sure that Apple is "the ultimate Evil Empire" but it's most certainly way, way up in the Evil Empire rankings. However Steve Jobs, while not really evil, is still quite the manipulator since he usually presents the world some neat little toy (iPod, iPhone, iTunes, iPad, iGet-it-already) which in the long and short run winds up costing people much more than they had originally thought it would. The best apart Jobs methods is that just about everyone thinks he some semi-god when he's really doing is what any very good businessman would do.

And the remember the best businessmen are the ones who can hose you and still have you smile about it!

[michael123]

If people are buying copper high-end (or "high-end") power cords for 5000$, what would you expect?....