Power Plant 15 and A Puritan 156 conditioner

Power Components
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Hello everyone,

Okay, my PP15 just went in for service due to a shutdown issue (and some serious clicking noise!). In its absence, I picked up a Puritan 156 and the results were amazing… I have to admit, my digital stuff (T+A DAC200, Rose HiFi rs130, Innous server, and my pass labs xp30 Preamp) sound even more coherent with even better spacing of the music. Its pretty shocking. I also plugged the Pass Labs 160.8 monoblocks in and its great. No issues.
The question is, do I keep the PP15 when it returns and plusg the amps in, leaving the digital stuff with Puritan, or do I just sell the PP15 and move everything to Puritan?

Will I realize further gains by offloading the amps to the PP? not sure if the benefits will justify me keeping the PP…

Thoughts?

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Trust your ears!

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A power filter might provide a more “hyper-detailed and improved sound” but the idea of a power plant is to have a good even foundation based on new power, an emotional experience and not a filtered tweaked one…

I’m just saying this as a reminder…

More, and more, and more tweaking might provide a VERY detailed sound that can be fantastic or go to far and lose its soul.

Only you can listen

The Puritan 156 is rather unique that it
A) Filters
B) Filters in an isolated way between sockets (prevents noice from electronics to migrate to other electronics)
C) Have DC-blocker
D) Have a cleaning function on the incoming safty ground
E) Have got an built in grounding system that can be expanded to signal ground or to chassi ground electronics

It’s the only product in the market that addresses all these power issues at the same time. D (cleaning incoming safty ground, prevent noice on safty ground to travel backwards into electronics) is rather unique.

This means that for many the Puritan 156 is the most well spent money regarding power cleaning. If it is better than a power plant? No it’s not, it’s completely different.

A better comparison would be a P15 with extra dc-blocking prior to the power plants dc-blocker, signal ground and chassi grounding of equipment and maybe even more…

That’s not a comparison of two different products but a better comparison regarding an audiophile that builds a system and takes care of many power issues and tries to build the best system…

A power plant with extra power cleaning should be better. But if you only buy one thing the Puritan 156 might be the best bang for the buck on the market.

From my perspective, do what’s best for your journey and ears and do ask others if their opinion.

I’d personally like to adress more than 10 different power issues… that’s when the music gets very deep, fluent, silent and emotional…

So my recommendation is to use both… and start working on getting low impedance power cables, still points under the P15 and get 3 versions of grounding to all your gear, including speakers…

That’s a few thoughts on a Friday :roll_eyes:

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Ron said it best trust your ears. Having both I prefer the Puritan PSM 156 for its uncomplicated approach in comparison. Both do different things IME, so it comes down to what problem you are trying to solve.

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Well, as I mentioned, I purchased the Puritan becuase I knew I was going to need to send the P15 in for service, and I saw this as a perfect opportunity to try out a Puritan 156 in my system.
Im always on the hunt for more coherance and a better listening expereince.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Puritan did just that! Everysyllable, every bass note is more precise and solid. I love what Im hearing.

My gut is telling me to sell the P15 when it returns from its check up, and apply that money toward something else. I currenlty own a pair of Wilson Audio Sasha 2’s, perhaps I could add this cash to the upgrade to the a Sasha DAW… I guess we’ll see…

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I have both P15 and PSM-156 in my system, and I have tried quite a few combinations. I got the biggest improvement from plugging in MK2 into PSM-156. I also have M1200 amps in it too. This combo gives a much quieter background with greater focus.

However, adding more gears into PSM-156 the music becomes less engaging and less lifelike. I know other members here have switched to all Puritan PSM conditioners, and some did not like them at all. So, it is system dependent.

When you get your P15 back, you should plug everything back into it, and hopefully you will find P15 has its charm too.

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Good time to purchase Sasha DAW, as the Sasha V has been released and DAWs are heavily discounted. The downside being the Sasha 2 value has dropped accordingly.

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There are so many variables the only valid comparison is in one’s own system. That said the PSM 156 can offer improvement. Better than a a P15 for every situation, hard to say.

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I’ll tell my story again, it might be helpful. I replaced my P20 with a Puritan. I owned BKH 300s at the time. I thought the Puritan was great and didn’t miss the P20 at all. I sold my BHKs and bought Pass X260.8s, the Puritan hummed like crazy under the load. My dealer told me that the Puritan wasn’t rated for that kind of load: BS per the spec sheet (the load was less than half its rating). After some very difficult negotiations, I was able to cash out of the Puritan and pick up a shunyata Denali (the Denali is awesome). Bottom line, I thought the Puritan was great until……

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Having sources and amplification on different walls, I’m using 2 Puritan PSM-156s. They replaced a P20 and a P15.
I found that the Puritan can bring best results feeding a DAC (or the digital sources in general) in my system. You might consider also using it AND the P15 as soon as it comes back. Let your ears judge.
As for my amp (MSB S202) it is fed by the Puritan without any issues but I want to try it again plugged straight into the wall, just to be sure. At the moment I’m focused on other aspects, it means that I’m happy with my 2 Puritans.

Hope that helps.

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Same story here for me. Replaced P15 with Puritan. The P15 restrict dynamics for my Amp, Mac MC462 at the time, it was pretty obvious. Trust your ears… But as you’ve seen already from the posts so far, you are not alone. Puritan being fraction of the cost of P15 is icing on the cake.

Currently using Luxman M10X with the puritan without any issue.

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Wow, you actually hit on something im dealing with! I also have the Pass Labs 260.8 Monoblocks, and yes, there is a slight buzz coming from the Puritan that I reached out to my dealer about yesterday. It got rid of the buzz in my Pass Labs XP30 Pre, but the buzz is there on the Puritan.

For the benefits im expereincing, im willing to deal with a slight buzz that can only he heard when im right up on the box.

I think Im better served using the funds from the sale of the P15 else where in the system. But Ill try reintroducing it when its returned to me.

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Yeah, im looking real hard at the upgrade to the DAW now… very tempting.

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Assuming adequate amplification is in place, it could be a brilliant move!

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I was at a similar crossroads (except for the malfunction P15)
I sold my P15 and P3
Plugged my Pass Labs INT60 into the wall and used the Puritan for my DAC and streamer
I also use their ground master with it
Happy with my choice

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I also have a Shunyata Denali 6000S v.2 with Alpha XC v.2 from Denali to the wall.

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People who have Puritan PSM without grounding devices, the GoundMaster and RouteMaster kits will bring profound improvements to the system as I’m experiencing now.

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I’m currently using the Synergistic Research grounding system with my system, so that’s already covered along with the puritan. I actually forgot to mention that in my initial post.

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I own the Puritan, it seems nice. The P20 powers everything in my system except the amplifier. At its price the Puritan is a steal! I use it in my AV setup.
At an after party last AXPONA, I was introduced and offered a new $20k Puritan device. Physically, it is a big rectangle. The outlets, generously spread out on the top, allow you to plug cables in straight down. That really appeals to me. The P20 spits out power cables whenever it feels like it. The big Puritan can also be stood on end for those who like to build elaborate sculptures they support the cables with. It looked cool but I am not in the mood for such things.

I was taken in by fuses for a short time but thankfully that is behind me now.

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From 2K to 20K is a big leap in price indeed! The current PSM-1512 (12 outlets) costs around 4-5K.
I loved my P20 (sound wise) and PS Audio has margins to improve the regens line IMO. DC Blocking (IN and OUT), grounding implementation, silent transformers solutions, overall dimensions and so on. But the sound, oh the sound is just wonderful.
What Paul can design at 20K!!!