Puritan PSM156

Typically tube break in can take 200 hours or more.
During that time you will have periods of good sound/better sound/back to worse/better again/back to worse and all sorts of in between until it’s finally broken in.

How many hours do you have on your rectifier?

chazzzy007

 I know tubes need a break in, I did not know they can sound better, worse then better. I thought they just get progressively where they are going. I have only 20 hours on the tube. Maybe I will leave it on during the weekend to see what happens. Thanks for the heads up.

Andy

I can't speak to the ups and downs with the Puritan, but with the Niagara 1200, the top end wasn't as resolving of the faintest swirls of air in the high end until about 4-5 days of use. After that, going directly into the wall proved no difference in that respect.

My test track for that is the Main Theme music for The Revenant, where between the mass strings, the ghost like winds that blow and swirl between them are a great test for that. 

Everything else improved as well, exposing more and more detail and nuance. I really can't detect anything else since.

All the best,
Nonoise

chazzzy007

 I know tubes need a break in, I did not know they can sound better, worse then better. I thought they just get progressively where they are going. I have only 20 hours on the tube. Maybe I will leave it on during the weekend to see what happens. Thanks for the heads up.

Andy

You have a long way till broken in completely.
When it's finally done, it will sound better than your first listen which you loved. Every tube is different and goes through different periods of worse/better.

As an example...
My Reflektors sounded great on 1st play, got better at 50 hours, again between 75-100 hours, slight improvement at 150 hours, and opened up 1 last time at about 200 hours. YMMV. :)

I bought a 156 after getting a "best bang for the buck recommendation" from an Audio shop owner. We went over Audioquest, PS Audio power plant...etc.

It was no better or at least noticeably better than my Furman 15 pfi power conditioner for both audio and video tests (plugged and unplugged equipment which is not the best way; best method is to have an a/b switch to see/hear right away.)

I provided feedback to the US Distributor, Brian Tucker/Pro Audio, who did not care. His response, "well, you have your opinion and I have mine...I’m trying to sell this...." He came off as a jerk, quite frankly.

Bottom line, despite all the positive pro reviews, I do not recommend because it was not better than something 1/3 its price.

Equipment used:
Audio - Focal 1027 Be speakers, Rotel RSX-1067 receiver, Marantz 6006 CD player, 2 Veloyne Optimum 10 subwoofers, Kimber Kable Monocle XL cables and Audioquest interconnects.
Video - Vizio P65-F1, Paradigm Soundscape sound bar

@merlin66  Thanks for your first post on this site.

I overlooked this thread when I created a similar thread about the Puritan 156, which I had found transformative.  For further opinions, I suggest you consult the Puritan 136 thread over on Audio Circle.

It's regrettable if you had a bad experience with the US distributor.  I know of one other member on Audiogon who very recently had good and very speedy service from Pro Audio.