The Puritan Audio PSM 156 is getting a lot of love lately, but what about old stalwarts such as the beautifully constructed made in Japan Furutech e-TP80S NCF AC power filter & distributor for 2 channel audio?
I’m looking for a modest but effective power filter in a second system, more modest than the Accuphase PS-530 in my main system that replaced a PS Audio PP12 power regenerator.
Hence why the passive Furutech and Puritan Audio products come to mind for both power filtration and surge protection.
What makes the Puritan special is that it is filtering the mains safety ground.
A lot of noice is dumped by 10 000s of switch mode power supplies to earth, that then have a free high way straight into a Hifi system regardless of DC-blocking, filtering of common mode, filtering of differential mode, sine wave rebalancer, voltage regulation, signal ground, chassi ground etc…
I’m saying that most people have completely missed out on that their safty ground is not only a place where your power cleaning and cable shielding dumps its noice…. It’s also the most noice place almost never dealt with…
That’s likely why Puritan gets its praise, my guess, my 2 cents… it does something the rest do not do
Being subtle the price difference I strongly recommend the Puritan, while the sound difference is not subtle at all. I mean the Puritan in my system bettered hands down the e-TP609 NCF, by far!
You won’t be disappointed. I sold my PS Audio Power Plant soon after trying the PSM156. I added the ground master with a separate ground rod outside. Not sure how much improvement I noticed, but have been very happy with the change.
I finally had a chance to test out my new Puritan Audio PSM 156 in two of my systems.
The effect of the PSM 156 was very apparent - a silent black background with clearer ambient sounds from the room acoustics in the recording, improved clarity, detail and soundstaging. It felt like a veil had been lifted between me and the musicians. I heard new subtleties in very familiar recordings and greater detail with less smearing of the edges of the high notes of the piano and soprano sax. Certainly a big improvement over no power conditioning or filtration.
I then compared it the PSM 156 to my PS Audio PP3 and PP12. The PSM 156 clearly bested the PP3, but with the PP12 it was much closer. The PSM 156 was a little smoother sounding than the PP12 with slightly cleaner articulation of the high notes of the piano. I would give the PSM 156 a slight edge over the PP12. They both sound good, but the PSM 156 sounds a little better. It is not really a fair comparison because my PSM 156 is not broken in, and the PP12 is. The PSM 156 is bound to improve.
I use both Puritan PSM-156 and PSA P15 in my system. PSM-156 gives a quieter background where P15 gives a more musical presentation. It took many tries to reach the sound I prefer the most.
Now I have settled with Lumin U2 streamer, BHK pre and M1200 plug into P15, and DS MK2, PST, two LHY switches, and Orbi sat. plug into PSM-156.
To achieve the best improvement from PSM-156, I suggest adding a Puritan GroundMaster (or /city) and Routemaster later. If you think your system has a black background, you really do not know how much noise is there until you add these grounding devices.
You got me thinking hard and I know what you are thinking!
I will try MU2 with both P15 and PSM-156. The DAC seems to like Puritan more so there is a strong possibility it will stay with Puritan. In that case P15 will only have M1200. The question is of course do I even need it anymore.
Maybe I will need another PSM-156 like you for the amps. Then I do not need P15, the Dragon HC (or source), SFDB, and the fancy pigtail I just paid $800 for the plugs alone! The sale of these will be enough for a 1’ Stealth Sakra, maybe.
Grimm MU2 does not consume much power, so more than likely I will use a Dragon Source to power it. Or, a Stealth in future?
The rack will look empty for sure. A set of shinny Jeff R. will look great (Class D ). But I still have a big chunk of trade-in credit with PSA, so it makes more sense that I wait for a sale on the silver BHK 600s. I heard they do not run hot like Class A so that’s good news.
Wait! I supposedly be done with upgrades like I promised so many times to my wife. I am sure my wife will not like any of the ideas.
Time to watch US Open, the golf course looks crazy hard!
Look at the Coda amps built just down the road from you. As there factory is less than 2 hours from you might be able to arrange a factory visit and listen. Good possibility they are using Legacy speakers in house also with ribbon drivers.
My Gryphon PowerZone power conditioner is on its way to me. Should I plug it into my dedicated 20 amp circuits? Or should I feed it from my P20? And what about my Puritan PSM-156? Should it go in the mix somewhere? Good golly.
I am hoping the P20 remains my fave. Or the PowerZone crushes it. If it does the P20 goes to my theater system and the PSM-156 will move to my computer desk system.
When I swapped the PSM-156 into my main audio system, replacing the P20 it didn’t take long before I put the P20 back. It wasn’t subtle. It will be interesting to see what the Gryphon offers. It lists for nearly double what the P20 lists for. And I didn’t pay anywhere near list for my P20. So this is a very expensive experiment. If it turns out really well I’ll keep quiet about it. If it sucks I will say even less. Moohaha!
). But I still have a big chunk of trade-in credit with PSA, so it makes more sense that I wait for a sale on the silver BHK 600s. I heard they do not run hot like Class A so that’s good news.