[reillyzing]

The 156 is better and your system will sound good anytime of day with these units; my system is dead quiet/zero noise with ear placed on tweeter! I have the 136 and love it but if I had to do it over, would spend the extra for the 156.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFkzZYya6Wc

Wig

What I was asking about is, are the 136 or 156 capable of producing an audible improvement, even during hours of much lower electrical interference (from neighbors,businesses and schools)?
Many people who listen very late, such as 2 a.m.-5 a.m., hear a noticeable improvement in the sound of their audio systems.

[kmmd]

Thanks for the elegant, eloquent, cohesive and pertinent post as usual.  Yes, we all believe the gentleman who needed to purchase 12 plus power cords to realize that there was no improvement.  How does the saying go...fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  Fool me 12 times, shame on ...Shunyata.  Yep that’s it. 

As for the other posters, thanks for sharing your experiences of the Puritans.  I am definitely interested in giving one a try.

Here’s the post that I’m referring to:

I’m amazed that only(audiophiles)hear a difference,special breed I guess.
I have been a musician for over 50 yrs(whatever).
I bought in the pc theory years ago Shunyata anacondas and pythons all the latest Helixes Mojo.
Over  TWELVE PCs ,and I still had stock PCs.
Did I hear a difference Naaaada nothing.
Using stock cords,the song remains the same,trouble is like the Shunyata which have 2”foam pipe insulation on them OOO is in love and hey what about the fringing regular M/F ends,must be magic there also before it goes into the NORMAL WIRING IN A preamp or amp.
What really made aMajor upgrade was installing Torus PUI x2 where before it was all shunyata(waste of money) take it or leave it as even a NON audiophile can hear the difference.
My gear 28s ,7s  five in all Vac ect
Alrighty then bring it on..................and on     And on................Its Showtime ..........

[Wig]

What I was asking about is, are the 136 or 156 capable of producing an audible improvement, even during hours of much lower electrical interference (from neighbors,businesses and schools)?
Many people who listen very late, such as 2 a.m.-5 a.m., hear a noticeable improvement in the sound of their audio systems.

Yes, you will hear an audible improvement even during peak hours of the day.

Wig

[Wig]

I too had the Inakustic 3500 conditioner along with a few Inakustic power cords and just like previously owned conditioners including an expensive Ac regeneration with a loom of expensive wires ,speaking for myself the gain VS cost ratio really wasn’t there.

Wig I’m very interested in the helix DYI power cords and that is something I will try ..Currently I use the Puritan 136 with grounding box to very good effect , I have power cords that shamefully sell for more then the cost of the Puritan and grounding box combined,.
 I was leery of the dealers claims of the Puritan brand though finally took him up on his in home trial of one of the store demos .
 Comparison between the Inakustic and Puritan 136 I couldn’t tell any difference though plugging in my digital front end directly in the wall receptacles definitely both conditioners did their job .
I bought the Puritan 136 along with the grounding box , quickly sold the Inakustic along with the power cords and put that money directly to a new server.

Definitely build yourself one of these Helix PC and hear the difference they make after 250+ hours of burn-in; just stunning...

Wig

[Cappy]

Cappy
I’m very interested to hear your impressions of the PSM156.

Will do.  I have been burning in the device since Saturday, running it with 900-1200 watts continuously.

I currently have the SR Powercell 8 UEF SE and think it’s good but how much better can it get? About the same $

A few thoughts.  First, in my opinion, with power conditioning and power cords, perfect can be the enemy of the pretty darn good.

Second, Big Red Machine said in a concurrent power conditioning thread:

"You need a device that solves your problem. Voltage fluctuations, brownouts, poor grounding, high frequency noise, motor noise, fluorescent light noise, etc."

So if you have DC on your line, for example, the PSM 156 could definitely help.  If you don't, maybe your SR conditioner is as good or better.  Another option using that example might be to try a Puritan Labs PS106-DC or PS108-DC PURIST, strip conditioners with DC blocking, in front of your Powercell. 

[Randy]

Puritan 156 received yesterday. Listening last night, I see this is one unit that actually works during the bad hours here, anytime after dark.  I've owned at least a dozen of the usual suspects in power conditioners and regenerators, and none actually did any good as far as I could tell, nada.  This one does. I used to feel like running screaming from the room after dark, since the sonics went right into the toilet, noisy, grainy, the life sucked out of it. In short, I couldn't listen at all.  During the day everything was fine.  Now this afternoon. I find improvements in the sound I didn't expect, since I didn't think there was a problem during daylight hours. Hard to describe, maybe clearer and smoother.  This is one amazing unit.  Nice power cord came with it too.

[Wig]

Puritan 156 received yesterday. Listening last night, I see this is one unit that actually works during the bad hours here, anytime after dark.  I've owned at least a dozen of the usual suspects in power conditioners and regenerators, and none actually did any good as far as I could tell, nada.  This one does. I used to feel like running screaming from the room after dark, since the sonics went right into the toilet, noisy, grainy, the life sucked out of it. In short, I couldn't listen at all.  During the day everything was fine.  Now this afternoon. I find improvements in the sound I didn't expect, since I didn't think there was a problem during daylight hours. Hard to describe, maybe clearer and smoother.  This is one amazing unit.  Nice power cord came with it too.

Randy,

Good to hear the change in sound quality is obvious and immediate! This is a product that once it enters your system, it's there to stay... 

Wig 

[Randy]

Randy,

Good to hear the change in sound quality is obvious and immediate! This is a product that once it enters your system, it's there to stay... 

Wig 

Thanks for the tip on this posted back in Dec.

Randy

[Cappy]

This is one amazing unit.  Nice power cord came with it too.

Randy, I am liking my PSM 156 a lot too.

I compared the included "Classic" power cord with a Triode Wire Labs 7+, via a Pangea 20a to 15a IEC adapter.  While I enjoyed the slightly richer bass from the higher gauge 7+, overall I much prefer the Puritan cord.  The 7+ caused a glare in the upper midrange/treble, while the "Classic" cord is smooth, and at the same time, clearer in all frequency ranges.

It is possible the IEC adapter is mucking things up.  Or, more likely, the "Classic" cord was voiced well to be compatible with the conditioner.

On the clean side of the PSM 156, the Triode Wire Labs power cords do very well.  I've got four of them in the system at the moment.  They add a bit of warmth I prefer, and are smooth yet resolving.

I'm using an Oyaide R0 duplex outlet at the wall that the "Classic" cord plugs into.  I think this is a good match with the conditioner and power cord with it's unplated copper metallurgy.  If anyone wants to try an R0, I recommend my friend Mao in Osaka who can be reached at okada7115mao@gmail.com.  Good price and quick shipping.

I'll write up another post later today with more thoughts on the PSM 156, and how it fixes my power problems.

[AndrewA]

BTW, I gather that the higher grade power cords are available from the US distributor, Pro Audio in Barrington, IL.

[Cappy]

The most noticeable power problem I have is DC on the line.  Ironically, this DC causes my UberBuss power conditioner inductors to always noticeably buzz.  Sometimes the buzz gets quite loud, so I am guessing the DC component is somewhat variable. 

Enter the PSM 156.  On my Fluke multimeter (admittedly a blunt tool for this measuring purpose) I can see the DC lower by an order of magnitude on the clean side of the Puritan conditioner.  Plugging the UberBuss into the PSM 156 stops the buzzing inductor noise.

Another power problem is weather related.  My house has a hybrid HVAC system with 1) a whole house heat pump and 2) a natural gas furnace.  Normally the system switches over to gas when it gets below 36 degrees.  When the heat pump is running I get a raspy treble thing going on with the audio system.  The heat pump has an ECM motor.  These motors can apparently throw a huge amount of harmonic distortion on the line.  The fan blower for the HVAC system also has an ECM motor, but that one I haven't really noticed to be an issue, at least when just running by itself with the furnace.  It's smaller and a lot further from the breaker panel.

I've always manually switched the heating system over to the gas furnace when I am listening to music.  But with the Puritan in the system, I can't detect a difference so far.  So it looks like I will be able to avoid messing with the HVAC system for serious listening sessions.

When I got the Puritan conditioner, as soon as I plugged it in, the first thing I noticed was more nuanced bass.  Then after some burn-in I noticed better image depth and higher resolution in midrange and treble.  Also better slam.  And instruments existing in their own space better.

The PSM 156 is called "Studio Master" for a reason.  It has a neutral sound.  I made some cabling changes from my previous setup to shift the tonal balance down a notch.  Srajan describes the tonality well in his well written 6moons review.

One thing I'm digging with the new conditioner is percussion.  "Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins" with Sam Woodyard on drums sounds excellent.  On the track "Wanderlust" I can really get a realistic aural and visual picture of Woodyard drumming away with the echo reflecting off the studio wall. 

[Early B.]

I really want to try this power conditioner, but I need 8 outlets, so I may have to opt for the much more expensive PSM1512. Sure, I can plug my amps or subs directly into the wall, but that defeats the purpose (I gotta have surge protection where I live). Another option would be to attach a power strip to the 156 (yuck) or run two components separately through another power strip. Any thoughts?

 

[Big Red Machine]

I really want to try this power conditioner, but I need 8 outlets, so I may have to opt for the much more expensive PSM1512. Sure, I can plug my amps or subs directly into the wall, but that defeats the purpose (I gotta have surge protection where I live). Another option would be to attach a power strip to the 156 (yuck) or run two components separately through another power strip. Any thoughts?

What are the components?

[Early B.]

What are the components?

Three subs, two amps, pre, DAC, and transport.

[Big Red Machine]

I'd try stringing the subs together into one outlet or see how it sounds without connecting them at all to the Puritan. Kinda crazy to spend so much more for 2 more outlets. My opinion, of course.

[Cappy]

If it were me, I'd try to find an inexpensive but good sounding power strip, plug the subs into it, and then plug the strip into the six outlet Puritan.

In my experience sub-bass is not nearly as sensitive to cabling/outlet issues.  But subs do respond well to better grounding.  Plugging the strip into the Puritan gives the advantage of lashing all the grounds in the system together with a good star ground, plus getting the ground cleansing of the Puritan conditioner to the subs. Plus getting the Puritan isolation filtering with the other outlets.  Plus getting the full Puritan filtering on the subs.

Maybe there is a decent cheap Chinese power strip available with good heavy (low gauge) copper wiring and a good IEC? 

[genjamon]

And if you’re handy and want a higher end power strip solution, you could get one with good internal wiring, but swap out the duplexes for some Furutech NCF outlets.

[AndrewA]

Puritan also make these.
http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/strip-purifiers/all/
Perhaps assemble some combo.

[Randy]

Randy, I am liking my PSM 156 a lot too.

I compared the included "Classic" power cord with a Triode Wire Labs 7+, via a Pangea 20a to 15a IEC adapter.  While I enjoyed the slightly richer bass from the higher gauge 7+, overall I much prefer the Puritan cord.  The 7+ caused a glare in the upper midrange/treble, while the "Classic" cord is smooth, and at the same time, clearer in all frequency ranges.

I have a Triode Wire "Digial American" from my CD player to the Puritan.
 My wall outlet is off to one side and ten feet from my equipment, so I use a power strip to plug in the Puritan since the Puritan cable is far too short to reach the outlet.  Very good cable to the power strip, power strip being from PS Audio of some years back, probably their first version of such a thing.  Wonder if there would be a difference having the Puritan plugged directly into the wall outlet, but suspect expensive cable would be needed. Or instead, one of Puritans conditioner strips. One reviewer goes on about the one with DC something or other that he uses with the 156.  Says it helps. No idea here.

[Randy]

Puritan also make these.
http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/strip-purifiers/all/
Perhaps assemble some combo.

Ha, just as I was posting my message a couple minutes after yours suggesting the same thing.