[Big Red Machine]

I had both the Don Sachs Valhalla and the LTA UL with the X5's, both very good for my tastes, but I chose to keep the LTA. I was driving the UL directly from my DAC, though now I have the upgraded LTA Level 2 preamp back in the chain. I hope to try some other solid state amps besides the Nord as well.

The zotl Preamp and UL amp are quite magical. The UL just can't push my Wilsons. So I don't want to lose the magic but the amp has to go. Which is giving me the magic - amp or preamp?  My guess is the preamp based on previous preamp journeys.

[Big Red Machine]

Desk Top Maraschino (Cherry Amp)

Ah! Not enamored with having a power supply hanging out the back and managing that.

I've had Tommy's heavy iron amps before and they were kick-ass. He's come a long way.

[genjamon]

His newest Megaschino line is supposedly next level of refinement of circuits beyond the little Maraschinos, and also supplied by big iron power supply all in a conventional chassis. More costly, though.

[TomS]

The zotl Preamp and UL amp are quite magical. The UL just can't push my Wilsons. So I don't want to lose the magic but the amp has to go. Which is giving me the magic - amp or preamp?  My guess is the preamp based on previous preamp journeys.

I truly believe it's much more the amp, which is contrary to my thinking too. I have been running direct from the Bricasti single ended and like it more than with the preamp in at the moment. However, it just came back from a total overhaul/upgrade yesterday, including new output coupling caps, so it has zero hours on it. Time will tell. I have a PSM156 conditioner which is also new, right out of the box, so a lot of change at once. I really should have traded you for that lovely XP12 

[Wig]

I truly believe it's much more the amp, which is contrary to my thinking too. I have been running direct from the Bricasti single ended and like it more than with the preamp in at the moment. However, it just came back from a total overhaul/upgrade yesterday, including new output coupling caps, so it has zero hours on it. Time will tell. I have a PSM156 conditioner which is also new, right out of the box, so a lot of change at once. I really should have traded you for that lovely XP12 

@ TomS

I can tell you from first hand knowledge that your Puritan is making a significant improvement to your system! I have owned 9+ big name  conditioners with the latest being a Inakustik 3500P which was phenomenal until the Puritan arrived; If you want to hear decay, ambiance, note sustainment and zero noise, this unit will amaze you on all the undiscovered music you have been missing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VX4buciMLM

Wig
 

[TomS]

@ TomS

I can tell you from first hand knowledge that your Puritan is making a significant improvement to your system! I have owned 9+ big name  conditioners with the latest being a Inakustik 3500P which was phenomenal until the Puritan arrived; If you want to hear decay, ambiance, note sustainment and zero noise, this unit will amaze you on all the undiscovered music you have been missing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VX4buciMLM

Wig
 

Indeed. Yes I did watch that video as well as Puritan's before deciding. Mike Lester's videos were very straight up, no arm waiving nonsense, which I appreciated.

Perhaps a new thread but have you also tried their Ground Master? The packaging and vids have zero instructions on how to actually hook it up in a real system with their own conditioner. Also wondering if you could just run that into one of those magic dilithium crystal ground boxes instead of driving yet another copper rod into the earth. Inspectors here do tend to notice stray rods that aren't bonded. Feel free to PM me rather than derail here, thx.

[Ric Schultz]

You really want to run your whole system off a battery powered large low distortion sine wave inverter and THEN run its output to the Puritan.....my friend has that combo and it is killer.  The inverter alone will get you better sound than almost any line conditioner (and the same sound day and night as you are off the grid)......but all sine wave inverters still produce noise so adding the Puritan gets you the purest sound and picture possible.  Cool stuff.

[Wig]

@ TomS

I have not done this yet but it's my next project! It is said to improve our conditioner even further by removing the noise on the ground totally...
I am amazed already with my floor noise 

Wig

[bbybaudio]

Ric, is this, or something similar, what you are describing to use prior to going into the Puritan? Thanks.
https://www.amazon.com/WZRELB-3000watt-Inverter-Generator-RBP300012B1/dp/B0792LW2H7/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=GCFlV8UQFYOlDGXkwtLV3A&hsa_cr_id=1763126810901&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0

[jtwrace]

Ric, is this, or something similar, what you are describing to use prior to going into the Puritan? Thanks.
https://www.amazon.com/WZRELB-3000watt-Inverter-Generator-RBP300012B1/dp/B0792LW2H7/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=GCFlV8UQFYOlDGXkwtLV3A&hsa_cr_id=1763126810901&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0

Probably more likely this silliness.   

[jtwrace]

oops

[Wig]

Here ya go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8-Z3BMDcw

http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/ground-master/

Wig

[sfox7076]

I just went with solar panels.  It solved all the issues.

[debjit.g]

@ TomS

I can tell you from first hand knowledge that your Puritan is making a significant improvement to your system! I have owned 9+ big name  conditioners with the latest being a Inakustik 3500P which was phenomenal until the Puritan arrived; If you want to hear decay, ambiance, note sustainment and zero noise, this unit will amaze you on all the undiscovered music you have been missing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VX4buciMLM

Wig
 

@wig, which model do you own ? I am also looking at Puritan for sometime now and looks very interesting.

[TomS]

Here ya go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8-Z3BMDcw

http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/ground-master/

Wig

Yes, I watched all those. Doesn't answer my question though.There are always safety grounds, typically tied at least to chassis unless class II, "signal" grounds, "power supply" grounds, among other descriptors. These may or may not reference each other, depending on the piece of equipment. Even my Puritan PSM156 has a green post just like the Ground Master does. Do you need just that one or is it necessary to tie it to each component? Is it tied to safety ground/chassis? Or the ground side of an RCA jack? XLR? What if the components use different grounding schemes? It's typically not all a star either, so there are resistance/impedance differences, does it matter? I'm being a bit ridiculous on purpose, but my point is they need to help us dopes out at least a little bit here.

Probably more likely this silliness.   

So, during a listening session tonight the power dropped cold for ~1-2 seconds (AGAIN!), then right back on. Had to re-cycle the LTA pre, DAC, both Spatial amps, etc. Happens all the time here, like it or not. Not good with tube gear.

Hey JTW, this sucker is looking pretty good right now, and I could take it to keep a charge on the house and A/C batteries in the boat, rock the JL's all day, ya ya, sign me up 
https://www.bluetti.com/products/bluetti-ac200p-2000wh-2000w-portable-power-station

On a Spatial X5 note, actually on topic, the LTA microZTOL Level 2 mod has ~30 hours now, really starting to open up and smooth out. Much better than my initial impression, I guess no surprise there. Just finished ~2 hours of Steve Hackett's "Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith" on Qobuz, really sweetAll good now 

[VistaBlue]

Just finished ~2 hours of Steve Hackett's "Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith" on Qobuz, really sweetAll good now 

Fantastic performance and recording! By far my favorite live solo Hackett release.

[Wig]

Yes, I watched all those. Doesn't answer my question though.There are always safety grounds, typically tied at least to chassis unless class II, "signal" grounds, "power supply" grounds, among other descriptors. These may or may not reference each other, depending on the piece of equipment. Even my Puritan PSM156 has a green post just like the Ground Master does. Do you need just that one or is it necessary to tie it to each component? Is it tied to safety ground/chassis? Or the ground side of an RCA jack? XLR? What if the components use different grounding schemes? It's typically not all a star either, so there are resistance/impedance differences, does it matter? I'm being a bit ridiculous on purpose, but my point is they need to help us dopes out at least a little bit here.
 So, during a listening session tonight the power dropped cold for ~1-2 seconds (AGAIN!), then right back on. Had to re-cycle the LTA pre, DAC, both Spatial amps, etc. Happens all the time here, like it or not. Not good with tube gear.

Hey JTW, this sucker is looking pretty good right now, and I could take it to keep a charge on the house and A/C batteries in the boat, rock the JL's all day, ya ya, sign me up 
https://www.bluetti.com/products/bluetti-ac200p-2000wh-2000w-portable-power-station

On a Spatial X5 note, actually on topic, the LTA microZTOL Level 2 mod has ~30 hours now, really starting to open up and smooth out. Much better than my initial impression, I guess no surprise there. Just finished ~2 hours of Steve Hackett's "Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith" on Qobuz, really sweetAll good now 

@ TomS

You will have to add a supplemental grounding rod that is independent from your house grounding scheme; this supplemental grounding rod will be connected to the additional ground master (GM) and the ground master will be connected to the green grounding chassis on the back of your PSM. Also, depending on where your supplemental grounding rod is located, you may need up to 100 feet of cabling to run from the rod to the GM.

I'm using a PSM 136

Wig 

[TomS]

@ TomS

You will have to add a supplemental grounding rod that is independent from your house grounding scheme; this supplemental grounding rod will be connected to the additional ground master (GM) and the ground master will be connected to the green grounding chassis on the back of your PSM. Also, depending on where your supplemental grounding rod is located, you may need up to 100 feet of cabling to run from the rod to the GM.

I'm using a PSM 136

Wig 

Thanks, yes, I know about the rod side, cable, rod, etc. My question is where to connect the green post side. Is the green post on the PSM enough? He shows connecting it to the chassis of a preamp or somewhere else? Just 1 connection and done? So essentially it sits between the entire system's safety/chassis ground (green post) and the independent ground rod side (black post).

[jtwrace]

Should start a Puritan thread in the Power Conditioner section.  I'm intrigued enough to read more about it.