“When I add up all of the piece parts of a separates system, the cost of the Humboldt isn’t far off in price. For me something like this would be a very long term purchase. Just think about how much you have spent already and forecast what you will spend over the next fifteen years.”
Vince,
I’m in my 70s, so almost any audio gear I buy now can end up being a lifetime investment. Most of my purchases in the next 15 years will likely be healthcare related - if I even live that long. I will definitely not be spending more on any single piece of audio equipment than I spent on the car I bought last year. But that’s just me, and I enjoy reading about folks who have more expansive (and expensive) audio visions
Despite my self-imposed spending limits, I may try to find a GanFET or Purifi amp that combines transparency with warmth and tonal richness. Class A sound from Pass Labs would be an option if it weren’t for the weight, the heat, and the cost of those amps. I love the sound of a preamp with tubes, so I’m hanging onto the BHK for now. Maybe I’ll be forced to consider an integrated amp if my family forces me into a nursing home at some point, but I’ll keep fighting the good fight for audio “separates” for as long as I can.
@akro thanks. @Joselo75 I’m glad to share with you my experience.
The Puritan 156 in my system is feeding just the amps, while all sources and pre are fed by a P20.
The initial purpose when I bought the Puritan was to mitigate an annoying buzz coming from a P15.
First I tried the Puritan between the wall and the P15, then I liked it so much that it replaced the P15.
Lot of reviews (search on YouTube) recommend to use the Puritan mainly and only with a DAC, as its best. I haven’t tried it yet.
Having said that, IMO and in my particular set up, the pros of the Puritan are:
it is dead silent
blacker background, at a degree that the music seems to emerge from a black hole
separation, I can hear instruments distinctly from different locations on the soundstage
details, I can hear subtle “things” both from the instruments and the room, like steps on the floor, strings, pedals or the singer breath
image, it’s more focused and sharp
the sound is unveiled, vivid, clean
It’s not too much analytical, bright or edged in a way to provide a pleasant feeling, no fatigue.
The PowerPlant on the contrary can provide a bit of magic, realism, warmth.
Hope that helps.
PS: @dchang05 the Ultimate cable is here, hope it sounds better than it appears
It’s burning in with the Puritan feeding the MSB S202, since tomorrow I’ll put back in the chain the M1200s to give you my comments as soon as possible.
I cannot test it in that way, unfortunately. Sources and pre are on the rack on the side wall. Too much far from amplification that is on the front wall. One or the other.
In my plans I would like to plug just the Premier DAC to the Puritan sooner or later, just for curiosity.
I read the reviews and the Ultimate PC is almost a must for the conditioner. The price is not bad at all comparing to Dragon Source. If you want to try DAC, you may want to try the streamer too see if the sources work well with it. Thanks! I just finished 18th and I played well today
@luca.pelliccioli thanks for answering me… did the hum that you were looking to eliminate from the P15 occur for any particular reason? I also have a P15 and after 1 year no hum has been generated.
I have a distributor in Chile, I will request a test.
You will love the combination of BHK Preamp and Purfi Amp. I used to run class A, then class AB, and now paired my DS DAC (fully modded with transformer/VOCM)/BHK Preamp with Purifi amp and couldn’t be happier. My speakers are pretty revealing with lots of details, but Purifi unlike other class D really adds thickness and warmth without mudding details. Every now and then, I think about BHK 300, but then I think about the power consumption and heat and come back to reason. Purifi has been a real breakthrough in amp technology. I used to hate anything class D.
I have a P20 and it’s pretty silent even if it is placed closer to my listening chair. The P15 was far from me, on the front wall and found it “buzzing” since day one. Same electrical power, recently built from ground up, with dedicated lines, panel and ground rod.
Excluding a dirty electrical issue, PS staff monitored via remote for a while, too, we weren’t able to find a cause.
I’m discussing with my dealer a “special offer” in order to replace the P15 with a new P20. Time will tell.
Meanwhile I felt in love with the Puritan, so I’m not in a hurry.
Luca my friend, I spent way more money than I expected (all the posts on upgrades and tweaks) from this forum. I just realized you may have “helped” me the most!
The videos are very clear, now I will be able to compare what the improvement of the Puritan is by connecting only the DAC, versus leaving it on the P15.
Verendus, I’ve read that a more powerful Purifi amp module is now available (or will be soon), and it appears that the input buffers and opamps used with the modules can significantly influence sound quality. I’m also keeping my eyes (and ears) open for any new Class D amps from PS Audio as well as the Class D GanFET amp now available from Atma-Sphere.
A really perversion, indeed. We might be considered victims of a fetish syndrome out there in the real world, so we can find a comfortable refuge in this forum, full of people affected by the same disease at a degree that we are trying to say each other that we are not insane at all. A sort of group’s therapy!
Couldn’t be proudly happier, being part of this madhouse. Never had a such enjoyment playing any other hobby and all of you, more or less, are fantastic accomplices and culprits in this exciting journey to bankruptcy.
To me the Puritan wrapped everything in a fuzzy wool blanket. It steals from the music to create that fantastic silence. The P20 does not. To my ears anyway. I love the Puritan in my home theater setup, it’s perfect there.
In Luca’s situation he really hasn’t tested it similar to how I have. He is just running his M12’s through it. I walked up to my P20, unplugged everything from it and plugged it into a very broken in Puritan connected to the wall with a Stealth power cable. Everything but the amp, it was straight into the wall. The change was very obvious. It wasn’t unpleasant, but on a cold day a wool sweater never is.
I tell you this because Luca hasn’t tried this yet. You need to know he needs to try this before he sells a few Puritans to P20 owners. Source gear prefers PS Audio, amps I don’t know about. They go into the wall directly in my world.
