BOTW AC upgrade power supply

In January 2020 after a decade of supplying audio upgrade DC 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.

Sbooster AC power supplies
Sbooster AC power supply topplate
 

Why the BOTW AC?

A stock supplied AC/AC power supply in general is nothing more than a low cost “EL-type transformer” in a casing. The BOTW AC power supply is an upgrade AC-power supply and is designed to ensure the most stable and low noise AC current that is possible with an AC power supply.

Stability

A low cost EL transformer has not only the lowest efficiency of all available transformer types, a major drawback is the very poor load regulation of this transformer type. The load regulation is the ratio of the AC output voltage measured with no-load and full-load conditions. With the low cost EL transformer this load regulation is around 20% or worse. The poor load regulation leads to instability and degrades the performance of an audio device significantly.

With the BOTW AC our goal is to ensure the highest load regulation as possible. For this we use a highly oversized audio grade toroidal transformer. The combination of the technical design and large power reserve of this transformer ensures a very tight load-regulation with ditto stability.

Low noise

With an AC/AC power supply you would expect that the output of the adapter shows a perfect sinewave of 50 or 60Hz: Unfortunately this is not the case. All pollution, that is present on your mains grid, will be present on the output of the AC/AC adapter as well. To prevent, that this mains pollution enters your audio device, the BOTW AC starts immediately with the purification of the AC mains power. The built-in dual stage mains filter with upgraded gold plated audio purpose fuse and earth line choke removes the pollution even before it reaches the transformer.

Turntables

To make the BOTW AC power supply perfect suitable for turntable applications we have added an electrostatic and high frequent magnetic shielding to the transformer as well. An anti-oscillation circuit with Wima capacitors ensures a stable operation of the BOTW AC power supply regardless the type of AC powered audio device. Last but not least, we use our custom-made 16AWG shielded output cable with gold plated connector pins to ensure a low loss distribution of the purified AC power to your device.

 
 

Product highlights BOTW AC upgrade power supply

  • Available in a 16VAC and 24VAC output voltage

  • Oversized high efficient audio grade toroidal transformer

  • Transformer with Electrostatic and HF Magnetic shielding

  • Very tight load regulation for stable operation

  • Low noise AC output

  • IEC 14 power inlet suitable for High-end mains cables

  • High performance dual stage mains filter with Earth line choke

  • AC mains overvoltage protection circuit

  • Short-circuit protection

  • Thermal overload protection circuit

  • High quality X2 safety rated polypropylene film capacitors in the mains filter

  • High quality Wima polypropylene film capacitors in the AC PCB

  • AC output cable with:

    • additional shielding

    • braided sleeve

    • gold plated machined brass connector pins

  • High quality double sided PCBs with 2oz. copper and gold plated finish

  • Custom-made AC-plugs in most common sizes for maximum flexibility

  • Dimmable LED light

  • CE approved

  • Made in the EU

Read the review of Hifistatement, which also covers the BOTW AC upgrade power supply.

"Wird der PP1 vom SBooster versorgt, kommen zur - minimal gesteigerten - Wucht noch eine Menge Präzision im Tieftonbereich und eine Fülle an Feininformationen über den Aufnahmeraum hinzu. Und um das festzustellen, braucht man nicht mehrmals zwischen Seriennetzeil und SBooster umzustecken: Der fette Trafo hebt den PP1 ganz deutlich auf ein höheres Niveau."

Review by Dirk Sommer