[KCinSeattle]

The Denali was worthless. Sold it right away. YMMV

Good feedback. Was it the v1 or v2 of the Denali?

[watts]

Quite a testimonial comparing Niagara equipment to the PSM156: I've read enough, bought one.


https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/power-conditioners-niagara-and-psm.263519/#post-4577307

Hi all,

Just thought I would post my experience with these as a data point or two for the community. I have been steadily adding bits and pieces to my system over the last few years, and at some point, I had read about power conditioning. I had a few chats with people and the message I was getting was it made a positive difference.

I decided to have a go and took the plunge with a secondhand Audioquest Niagara 1000. My thinking was if I didnt like it, I could fairly easily sell it on without too much of a hit. One Ebay transaction later a good condition 1000 turns up on my doorstep and I duly plug it in. The one other advantage of secondhand kit is generally it has already been run in and you are hearing it as it will continue to sound.

So what was the result of the experiment? I liked it! I felt I could hear more detail, and the sound overall had improved.

(OPTIONAL READING PART: At this point, an important administrative note. This is what happened in my system in my house. Changing power stuff could well be different in your set up because the quality of the power in your house is probably different to that in mine and also different to other people who have opinions on the subject. If you have brilliant power quality supply and recently installed ring mains, chances are you will have a different experience to someone in a Victorian house at the furthest point from the substation. People need to remember these other variables! Secondly, I reject around 50% of new hifi kit I try out. Didnt like the Audioquest Coffee USB, didnt like the Innuos Zenith Mk2 etc etc. I post this because people often claim confirmation bias, personally I just ask myself do I like this more? If its the same, maybe slightly different, I dont bother, if its better, I buy it.)

With that out the way, back to the hifi! I was very happy with the 1000 and ran it for a good 6 months or so. Until the upgrade bug attacked me! I happened to see a Niagara 3000 come up second hand. Reading reviews it seemed it was a better product. There were technical differences, a power reservoir type system that supposedly can deliver high current almost instantaneously to help deliver powerful punchy transients that the 1000 lacked. What to do? Silly question, I bought it!

Was it better than the 1000? Yes it was! Better clarity and detail most noticeable to me, maybe slightly better bass, but not really stand out. Anyway, it was a step up, and happy once again as my system matured with better power. Fast forward about another 9 months. Whats this itchy scratchy nagging feeling I have? Oh, its upgraditis again!

The trouble was, I still noticed differences in sound quality from day time to evening, and from week day to weekend, in my mind, this is a classic symptom of power quality variation still getting through my system. Others might disagree but that was my thought process any way. I saw a Niagara 5000 secondhand, but now we are talking £3600+ even used. This is getting serious, Im not going to take a punt on that without a demo first!

Except its hard to find one to get a demo of. Reading around how other people had tackled the problem, I starting reading about another product, the PSM 136/156 family from Puritan audio. Didn't know much about them, although seeing lots great reviews on their cheap but effective power cables (whole other story right there - staying on topic!). Anyway, I saw a 156 second hand one again for £1000 which was actually less than what I paid for the Niagara 3000. One reviewer rated the 156 as better than the 5000. Well if it was equivalent, it still would have been a step up and at a £2.5K saving.

So today I picked it up and and have just plugged it in (A job in itself with all the cable dressing!). Although second hand, it had not really been used at all, and hence still is burning in. However, I can tell straight away the difference compared to the 3000. ITS A BIG LEAP FORWARD!!!!! This thing is brilliant! A true hifi bargain. The music is just popping out of the speakers and jumping around the room, there is so much life. Bass is punchier and taughter. Detail and clarity are improved without harshness or loss of tonal balance. This thing is GREAT!!! Cant believe it. Only downside is it has 6 sockets rather than 7, but stuff it, I'll get another one and plug in the TV to it as well.

Do yourself a favour and audition one. You may not like it, but I bet you will. (I have no affiliation with any manufacturer or retailer - its just a great product) The Stereo Times rated it a most wanted product of the decade, I can see why.

[watts]

Over the past 7 years I have owned at least 8 power conditioners and all of them made improvements in my system but NO where near the performance of Puritan Audio Laboratories PSM 136!

For the first time I’m hearing so much more information that has been buried by the barrage of ground noise; detail, ambiance, sound stage width/depth and note sustainment is remarkable by just adding this Puritan.

I have also bought their ground master device that is said to remove the noise from your audio system ground to the supplemental rod that has to be installed. This modification has been completed and I’m waiting on the device to arrive to discern any notable improvement but I’m quite happy with the results of this unit!

After listening to the youtube video, go to the 15:30 minute mark and see how much noise is removed even on dedicated lines...

Wig 

http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/master-purifiers/psm136/
http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/ground-master/
https://theaudiophileman.com/ground-master-puritan-review/
https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/puritan/
https://www.11stereo.com/

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

Thanks for starting this thread over 2 years ago. This and many other reviews enticed my to give this Puritan conditioner a try, and I'm glad I did. (the PSM 156, not the 136)
If this thing makes the system sound better after 200 hours than it sounds upon plugging it in I'll be even more floored than I am now! Money well spent.
 

[Kray]

I agree.. I went from a Niagara 1200 to a PSM156 and could tell it was an upgrade. noise floor lower and details seem to pop out more out of nowhere.

I'm a fan. I bought 4 Classic Plus PC's and upgraded the 20a main cable to an Ultimate XX. Love the super flexible design, no stiff snakes

[Wig]

Thanks guys!

After hearing what the Puritan does, just had to share with my audiophile community...😁

Wig 👍

[newzooreview]

Posted in the Spatial Audio board, but I thought it might be helpful here, too:

The Puritan 156 arrived a few hours ago and is already doing good things.

It is up and running with both amps, preamp, and DAC plugged into it. It is heavier than I expected, even after seeing the interior photos.

Even in the first few hours, the upper midrange is cleaner and less congested, and I hear better bass timbre and definition. Decay and room echo in recordings are more precise and fade out over a longer time. Everything sounds more natural. There was a veneer of grunge before the 156 that I now understand by its absence. The background is blacker.

Horns and shrill flutes have realistic bite and energy without being grating. Nothing seems slowed or smoothed over.

I expect that there will be some improvements as the bank of capacitors and other parts settle in, as well as the new Puritan Ultimate cord breaking in and everything settling into new receptacles.

[newzooreview]

This thread is inactive, but if anyone reads through it in the future, I will update my experience.

The Puritan 156 is the most significant upgrade I've made to my system apart from getting the Spatial Audio Labs M3 Sapphire speakers.

Perhaps the shift from the Benchmark DAC3 to the Holo May KTE DAC was 90% as significant, but the Puritan has transformed the system comprehensively.

There is break-in. After about 150 hours, things started to sing, so maybe 200 hours is a good target. Based on the improvements I heard, I went ahead and got the Groundmaster since I am able to install a grounding rod outside of the wall behind the system.

I got the full 8-foot-long, copper-clad grounding rod that would be used to meet code in the US. The Puritan product literature references using two 1.2-meter grounding rods for even better performance. Apparently, 1.2 meters (4 feet in American) is a common length in the UK. It would certainly be easier to install, but it is half the conducting surface area. Equally importantly, it is not extending as far down into the permanently damp (and therefore conductive) soil. Because my soil is very clay rich (and hence retains more water), I decided on one 8-foot grounding rod instead of two Euro-rods.

I got a 25-foot length of 10 AWG THHN (Southwire brand) cable from Amazon. Home Depot will also sell you a project length of Southwire—good stuff, pure copper, made in America. I only used about four feet to run down the outside wall and out 16" to the ground rod, but it was very comforting to have enough to redo the job once or twice depending on stupidity issues arising.

I buried it about 8" down. THHN wire has a nylon coating on top of the PVC jacketing. This should protect it well from rotting in the ground. Maybe not enough for future archeologists to unearth it intact, but my plans to route it via conduit ran into issues that would have taken time to resolve (and to explain).

10 AWG will fit nicely in the hole in the binding post of the outbound (black) terminal of the Groundmaster. It might be possible to fit 8 or 6 AWG, but with only 4 feet of cable going to the grounding rod, I went with 10 AWG since that was readily available on Amazon.

The Groundmaster has been settling in for 24 hours, providing more of the same improvements I got with the 156—open, natural, detailed sound with much more articulated bass. Voices have become very natural. The crud on the A/C was the most significant limit to system performance.

Things are sounding like they were with my battery-powered Vinnie Rossi tube hybrid monoblock amps and preamp, but with even more natural detail and better bass. Dynamics are better as well. I've seen several comments about this being a bog-standard balanced power setup with a filter that will subdue dynamics. I feel a punch in the bass and swings from soft to loud, which I did not previously. The sound is more, not less, alive while being less fatiguing and purer.

Everyone's AC is different, but I can't say enough about the pleasure this upgrade is bringing. To be trite, it has unlocked the potential of my system.

[Speedskater]

The US grounding requirements are that all ground rods are only connected to the AC power system at the main breaker panel. Do not disconnect the Safety Ground wire to any equipment or run a wire to any ground rod (especially one that is not part of the main ground rod setup).

[newzooreview]

Yes, the engineer who created the Puritan Groundmaster designed electrical systems on nuclear submarines, and in the product description, he admonishes against installing a bare connection to a secondary grounding rod:

…[doing this] risks the potentially massive current from any fault between your HiFi and your local substation finding the easiest path to Earth through your HiFi with expensive, and possibly tragic, results! This is why the practice of introducing directly connected supplementary or dedicated HiFi Ground Rods is specifically prohibited

Knowing the law and the danger, he designed the Groundmaster to safely introduce a dedicated grounding rod into the Puritan 156 filter.

By utilising the Puritan Ground Master the hazards (and illegality) associated with the use of additional HiFi Ground Rods are totally avoided. …

With the Puritan Ground Master used in conjunction with an additional Ground Rod the potentially dangerous route to Earth of mains frequency currents is safely isolated whilst offending noise and disturbance frequencies are permitted a highly efficient, extremely low impedance route to ground ensuring their elimination.

Also, there is no disconnection of the existing ground for the house. The Puritan uses a 20-amp to standard three-prong grounded connector to the wall plate. It's a bit of overkill since the house circuit is only 15 amps.

[rollo]

   Got it now. Very interesting. Got me thinking about using the ground box to rod combo to ground individual components similar to Nordost.

charles

[newzooreview]

The technical information on the Puritan site is paradoxical. There is clear consideration and discussion of some technical issues and no information on others. They do not discuss the potential use of the Groundmaster with other power filters. However, one of the reviews of the Groundmaster linked on the Puritan site does discuss connecting a Groundmaster, with good results, to the ground terminal of a pre-amp. https://theaudiophileman.com/ground-master-puritan-review/

It is a regrettable review. It shows two photos of wrongly screwing the bolt of the ground rod clamp into the ground wire. The ground wire goes on the v-shaped side.

I expect the challenge for Puritan is making any comment about using the Groundmaster with other components that they have not evaluated. There are certainly a lot of audio components that do odd things with grounding, given the absence of standards in the industry.

[newzooreview]

The Groundmaster has been installed for almost three days now, and the sound has relaxed, keeping the detail, openness, and black background but moderating some stridency in the treble region.

I suspect this is a combination of the Puritan 156 needing to warm up (it has a bank of capacitors among other parts), the Holo May DAC needing to warm up (typical for R2R DACs), and the ground wire, Groundmaster box, and 8' ground rod needing to settle in. Whatever the reasons, there is a break-in time with the Groundmaster and new grounding wire and rod.

[Jerryb]

My upgrades have been major over the past 18 months (commensurate with my wage).
All that have remained the same are my amp, speakers, RCA and power cables.

In the last three months:
2 x Plixir Elite linear power supplies for 2 x modded network switches, and router.
3 x Plixir Statement DC cables to match.
Teddy Pardo linear power supply for streamer.
1 x RTZ1 grounding box.
4 x Black Ravioli Big Pads.
Upgrades to my DDC; Audio GD DI20HE by Coherent Systems UK.
Sound Anchors speaker stands.

Next on the list is a Puritan PSM156.
Is upgrading the supplied Classic cable to their Ultimate worthwhile (for power to the 156)?

Has anyone tried the GroundMaster City?

[Labpro]

Can someone explain how the "non-sacrificial gas surge protection" works on the Puritan PSM 156?

If there is a surge, does it shut your components down. Then what happens?

Also, what is the small black button located near the power cord inlet used for.

Thanks for the information.

[toocool4]

Has anyone tried the GroundMaster City?

A friend gave me the Ground Master City as a present, I use it plugged into a spare input on my pre-amp. It made a noticeable difference to my system, everything was so much quieter that I did not even have to go back and forth doing A – B. So worth the money if you can afford one.

[newzooreview]

Can someone explain how the "non-sacrificial gas surge protection" works on the Puritan PSM 156?

If there is a surge, does it shut your components down. Then what happens?

Also, what is the small black button located near the power cord inlet used for.

Thanks for the information.

Just quoting online sources here:

"Non-sacrificial gas surge protection refers to a type of surge protection that uses gas discharge tubes (GDTs) as the main component to protect electronic devices from voltage spikes and surges. GDTs are traditionally the strongest surge protection component and are ideal for protecting externally mounted devices that require lightning surge protection or other installations where massive surges are a possibility[1].

Gas discharge tubes function by providing a connection between the power line and a ground line, with an inert gas as the conductor between the two lines. When the line voltage is below a certain level, the gas does not conduct electricity. However, when there is a power surge or spike, the gas molecules break into positive and negative ions, creating a conductive path that diverts the surge away from the protected device. After the surge passes, the ions recombine to become inert gas molecules, resetting the device[4].

Unlike sacrificial surge protection components, such as metal oxide varistors (MOVs), which are designed to fail when exposed to excess voltage, non-sacrificial gas surge protection does not wear out or degrade over time due to its ability to reset after a surge event[5]. This makes GDT-based surge protectors more durable and long-lasting compared to sacrificial surge protectors.

Citations:
[1] https://www.diteksurgeprotection.com/blog/mov-vs-sad-vs-gdt
[2] https://www.acdc-electric.com/what-is-a-surge-arrester-and-how-does-it-work
[3] https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/90138-the-benefits-of-smart-surge-protection
[4] https://www.securityinfowatch.com/access-identity/access-control/access-control-power-units-controls/article/21209429/how-to-choose-the-best-technology-for-surge-protective-devices
[5] https://www.safetyfrenzy.com/appliance-damage-on-surge-protectors/
[6] https://storables.com/articles/what-is-a-surge-suppressor-vs-surge-protector/
[7] https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/surge-suppressor-surge-protector
[8] https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/least-expensive-power-conditioner-surge-protector-that-won-t-worsen-sou
[9] https://prosurge.com/surge-protection-device/
[10] https://www.diteksurgeprotection.com/solutions/the-best-surge-protection-technology-for-your-application
[11] https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-surge-protector/
[12] https://allthumbsdiy.com/electrical/everything-you-need-to-know-about-type-3-spd-surge-protection-devices
[13] https://iaeimagazine.org/issue/july-august-2020/surge-protection-for-smart-homes-and-smart-homeowners/
[14] https://www.picknrg.com/en/resource-center/what-are-power-surges/
"

[Labpro]

Thank you for the detail information @newzooreview.

If I understand the articles, if a surge happens, the gas somehow converts to protect the audio gear.

Once the surge threat is over, the gas reverts back to a "normal" gas therefore not needing to "sacrifice" itself.

I wonder what role the little black button on the Puritan PSM 156 plays........perhaps you press that button to "re-set" the PSM 156 after a surge?

Glad I studied Marketing......I never would have made it as an electrical engineer!

[EkW]

From the manual: “The input is protected against over current use by means of a resettable trip located just below the mains input socket. if the protector trips, check all connected equipment before pressing to reset.”

[watts]

Might as well post the whole page- some other good stuff here too sorry that it came out sideways

[Labpro]

Thank you....this is helpful.

I suppose if the surge protection tripped, I'd unplug all my components from the PSM 156, reset the unit using the black button, then plug in the components and PRAY that everything works.