Just what kind of crap do you people own that needs hum and noise reduced?
Best kept secret in AC line filtering conditioning
How many of you guys truly know of Puritan Audio Labs ? Not many yet ,these are made in the U.K
I have 3 friends in Europe that own them , and found a guy at our audio club just an hour away
I will check out next week , and against the much more costly AQ niagra this removes hum,noise
like nobodies business .model 136, and better still model 156 all under $2k check out the video.
https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/puritan/
I have 3 friends in Europe that own them , and found a guy at our audio club just an hour away
I will check out next week , and against the much more costly AQ niagra this removes hum,noise
like nobodies business .model 136, and better still model 156 all under $2k check out the video.
https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/puritan/
99 responses Add your response
It manifests instead as a layer of grain or glare, a graying of the background, an indistinct quality around images. It makes the sound stage flat and narrow. When removed the background goes black, images float more distinct and dimensional, and everything sounds much more liquid and@millercarbon, You just made a good case for using Rick Schultz's High Fidelity products which use a magnetic field to eliminate noise riding on the mains and audio signal. I own several cables and devices. |
@stringreen If I may ask, what were the issues with your power conditioners. After watching a Caelin Gabriel video, I began to question having any surge suppression at the component rack. My issue with the Richard Gray’s 1200 I had was that it had sacrificial MOV’s and you would never know at what state the MOV’s were at. Also, MOV’s can limit the peak current as the MOV’s don’t know whether a peak current is for musical needs or a current spike. So I believe the MOV’s were a bit of a current limiter. So I made the decision to pull out the Gray, have an electrician install a Seimens FS140 whole house surge suppressor at the breaker box and get a power conditioner wit no surge suppression that does not limit current. The FS140 can surge suppress up to 140,000 amps. The Puritan? 9,000 amps. Plus the possible current limiting. The PI Audio UberBuss has unlimited current abilities which I read is 40+ amps. It has a power factor correction of 1 which is very good. I don’t see any other power conditioner that even mentions the power factor correction of their conditioners. The UberBuss has a non metal box to eliminate Eddy currents and has independant outlets. It is considerably less expensive, and I feel superior to, the 156 so the UB was an easy decision. |
Ok. Good to know. I am under the impression that MOV's are a net negative to the current. Maybe in a minor way, but still are. I'm not saying that Caelin Gabriel is 100% right about everything but that was part of his rationale for keeping surge suppression away from the component room. Maybe adds slight noise? But even if we get away from that, 9000A surge suppression doesn't seem like much when you can get 140,000A protection from a Seimens FS140. Direct lightning strikes are 5,000A-50,000A but can get up to 100,000A+. I live in S. Fl and have had close lightning but thankfully never a strike. |
grannyring5,590 posts08-21-2021 4:23am"The Puritan does not limit current. This has been my actual experience with large SS, pure class A amps which are very high current designs." Class A amps have a relatively constant current draw, so series-mode filters (inductors) do not pose a problem.The dynamic (changing) current demand of Class A/B amps, however, is a problem. Inductors oppose changes in current flow which results in "current-starving" of the amp. |
I don't know enough about electrical/electronic engineering to look at the inner workings of a unit and know what's going on there, but there are plenty of photos of the 156 on-line. https://theaudiophileman.com/psm-156/ All I know is this. A while ago I tried a range of power conditioning products in-home, ranging from around $500 to $3500. Ten or twelve in all. Most of them just sat there, didn't notice anything with them in or out of the system. Amps (monoblocks) were always plugged into them, when those kinds of outlets were available. A couple of them added their own physical hum to the mix. The only unit that immediately, audibly, improved the overall sonic presentation was the 156. The one other product that I would have liked to have tried, but didn't, is the Inakustik 3500. One member here (wig) had both, and kept the Puritan. It's pretty simple: find a dealer that will let you try it at home, and give it an audition. If you don't like it, or it does nothing for you, send it back. There are plenty of products promoted on this site about which I am deeply skeptical. But this one, in my own, personal, subjective experience, worked, and worked well. That is all. |
The Puritan 156 definitely gets good reviews. Mikey Powell(OCD HiFiGuy) on YouTube will send you one to try out. He offered me 1 but I went with PI Audio’s UberBuss. With upgrades still less than the Puritan. https//hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/audio-accessory/power-conditioner/p-i-audio-group-uberbuss-power-conditioner-review/ |
I have owned some good quality power conditioners over the years and none of them even comes close to the Puritan which allows you to hear much further into the recording, revealing more ambiance/spatial information, decay, note sustainment with extremely low floor noise... ZERO power restrictions and everything sounds better plugged in the Puritan unless the equipment you own has its own power filtering capabilities, recommend plugging those components directly into the wall as they can cause the transformers to buzz with additional built-in filtering. Here are the conditioners I can remember owning but know there are at least 4 more but can't remember: - Torus CS15 - Shunyata Hydra - Audience AR6 TS - Running Spring Jaco - Core Power (Highly modified with Furutech and rewired) - Core Power Deep Core - Inakustik 3500P - Puritan PSM136 - Puritan PSM156 Wig |
I recently bought a Gigawatt PowerPrime power conditioner with the upgraded power cord. I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by the results. Better and tighter bass, more extension (as in the music comes to you more than before), and better details, possibly due to the lower noise floor. I didn't have any hiss or noise issues before, but the Powerprime definitely provides a noticeable (but not day or night) difference. The Puritan looks to be another solid product providing great value for your money. I might have to try one for my system in the home office next year. |
Many users and discussions from another discussion thread and a multitude of different conditioners: Puritan Audio Laboratories PSM 136 (audiocircle.com) Wig |
The Puritan does not limit current. This has been my actual experience with large SS, pure class A amps which are very high current designs.I have a 2 x 400watt (8ohms) power amplifier with all my digital front end plugged in, with no loss of dynamics. It seems to me that both the hot (active) and neutral for each outlet are individually high pass shunt to ground of the electrical hash (noise) to ground. There is another ground connector on the chassis, which would offer a different potential for the bonded neutral, which is claimed to do more even again. Yes the Puritan is a solid performer, and represents excellent and functional value for money. I’ve been told there are better, but from the same reports, do expect to pay at the very least triple the money. **With the exception perhaps of the Niagara for less than triple the dough. And of course there are always emerging products that we here are probably not even aware of. |
About a year ago, a storm destroyed several transformers near my house. The power company replaced them and subsequently, I noticed "noise" that I believe was not present prior. I purchased a 156 and plugged everything (amps, preamps, Dac, SoundSmith strain gauge cart ) into the unit. I noticed a marked improvement in the noise level, better clarity, etc. I A/B'd the unit with plugging everything into the wall (dedicated 20A circuit, whole house surge protector) and felt that the 156 was an improvement. My preamp and amp (mono blocks) are tube based which might make a difference. |
Guys, If you want to remove more noise from your components, I recommend attaching a scrap piece of wire from a chassis screw on your components and run that wire to the star ground on your PSM136/156; I did each component separately to discern any differences and it was quite obvious on each component. Amazing results that will cost you Nothing! Wig |
Best process is enthusiastically recommending a product dozens of times in theses threads (sometimes having never heard it). Be relentless. Then, when momentum builds, and sales are boosted, reach out to your dealer (or even better, the manufacturer) to place an order. Ask if a nice discount might be possible based on increased sales you generated.Millercarbon to a tee! |
Iv tried a Ton of diffrent Power conditioner, The best iv heard comes from Ralph @ Atma-Sphere i purchased a unique that was bought up to spec, it was the Elgar 3000b Its massive and was built like a Tank this made a massive diffrence in line noise, However the voltage was not suitable to the country i moved too and had to sell it off. This was one of my biggest regrets.
No other came close to the Elgar untill now the Puritan Labs, I would still say the Elgar is a better unit but this is easier for USA buyers to use. |
I just got my PS Audio P12 regenerator setup and it has made a dramatic difference, especially to my analog setup. Whereas before the P12, I had a slight amount of audible noise when playing records (easily confirmed by just switching the input) that noise is GONE with the P12. I've not used a conditioner before as I figured I'd "go big or go home" on AC line filtering. Glad I went big. |
The PSM 156 is in my system now. I recently removed a PS Audio P20 and before that had a Niagara 1200 and then 3000. The 156 is the only one that stopped transformer buzzing from a couple of my amps. Taking it in and out is quite dramatic as our power here not only has DC on the line but also quite a bit of noise. The P20 was fantastic but my system with the P20 was warm, rich, wide and deep sounding. With no conditioner or regenerator the sound is quite bad in my system. It goes flat, hard, gets a bit harsh up top and has no emotion or anything about it that sucks you into the performance. The 156 is doing wonders for me and also keeps it sounding at its best 24/7. No more sound fluctuations, no more transformer buzz, and a complete inky black dead silent backdrop for the music to appear. The 156 is the real deal. I am using it with the Puritan Ultimate Power Cable. I really enjoyed the P20 but sold it when I had my wiring redone in my listening room. I assumed the rewire would be all I needed. I was wrong as the days that followed had the system sounding flat and quite hard sounding. No life. I installed a 156 (had it for a week to demo) and knew within an instant it would be staying. It does similar things to the P20 when it comes to noise but is a touch more lively vs the P20. I hear more inner details with the 156. Without question one of my best HiFi purchases. My wife noticed the sound was much flatter and harsher when I removed the P20 (she wasn't aware it was out yet and asked why the system sounded so harsh and flat) and we listened for four hours after we put in the 156 and were so happy that the magic was back. This will only help those with bad quality power, and the 156 made it clear that our power is awful for an audio system. My amp sounds best plugged into the Puritan. When it goes to the wall I get a transformer buzzing from my amp (Luxman 595) and into the puritan, its dead silent thanks to the DC blocking. Well worth the money the 156 even if paying full retail (if you have suspect power). |
PSM156 is very good. All my source components are plugged into it. |
I’m always very skeptical of any filter that "cleans up" power from your wall. To do this they have to use a circuit that lets the 60hz sine wave through and not the rest of it. Eventaully someone posts "I plugged my amp into the wall and the bass and dynamics came back". they tend to limt current. Sure they supply the nameplate current on the amp but not the short term bursts needed for dynamic response. I use a PS audio P10 regenerator, 80 lbs of copper etc that rectifies the current and inverts it in a circuit with the abiility to supply the short term, high current needs that an amp needs for dymamic and bass response. Instead of a focus on filtering, the focus is on supplying. If someone has one of these filters in socal and wants to bring it over to my home we can do AB tests and see what we think. We could also put the P10 downstream of the filter and see what the built in o-scope says about the power output of the filter. It says my wall current has 4-5% thd. Jerry |
That would be an interesting experiment, I hope someone takes you up on your generous offer. IME, all power conditioners while effective ‘alters’ the sound of your system. One may like the results but their impact good or bad is unmistakable. For me, I found isolation transformer based Power Conditioning to be most neutral and effective in removing the harshness and noise on AC lines. Dedicated AC lines are always a bonus! |
Another (very) happy camper here for the Puritan. I have been using the PSM 1512 and it's performance has been outstanding! I was using another (unnamed) PLC for a while and when I replaced it with the Puritan, dynamics emerged to a level I had not heard before.(I have always used some form of PLC, over the years) There is a lot of DC in my line and the Puritan removes all of it. No more buzzing transformers. My system had never sounded so quiet and when I added the "Ultimate" power cord, a new level of quiet was achieved.In addition, I also noticed a very noticeable increase in the bass response. |
