Puritan PSM156

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.

@twoleftears 

I forgot to put in my post how indifferent Brian Tucker was to my feedback as he told me I was welcomed to post my opinion on Audiogon's forum which I did today. 

Thanks for the Audio Circle suggestion.

Receivers aren’t exactly known for being audiophile level cleanness of signal, no matter what the brand. What’s your amp @merlin66? Your systems components, as good as they are in their lane, just arent inherently clean enough to show the difference, as there are many users with much more $$/cleaner-signaled systems that are very happy with this product..
You’re probably audio and video in one system, and video is another big source of noise for clean and quiet hifi. Try separating a pathway for stereo music listening only with a good quality, quiet 2ch preamp (tubed if your so inclined) with HT bypass function and a separate stereo amp for front L & R... But the Puritan 156 is fitting into 50k+ systems.