Puritan (mains conditioners!)

[Vhond]

Has somebody compared the Puritan with a Niagara 3000 or a Lab12 Gordian?

 

[MusicMan76]

 

[terrycym]

The Nisgra made the sound sound worse, the Puritan made it sound better. At least it did toy my ears.
i didn’t understand why anybody would choose the Niagra

 

[Topkho]

The Nisgra made the sound sound worse, the Puritan made it sound better. At least it did toy my ears.
i didn’t understand why anybody would choose the Niagra

Tried Niagara 1200 and it made the sound worse: analytical, thin, metallic.

Very satisfied with Puritan 156.

 

[Patu]

Has somebody compared the Puritan with a Niagara 3000 or a Lab12 Gordian?

I've owned Puritan 136 for a while and just recently auditioned Lab12 Gordian. There's plenty of time between these two occasions so I didn't compare them head to head. Also my electronics have changed a lot since I owned Puritan 136. Back then I had Linn ADSM/3 Katalyst straight into ATC SCM50ASL active speakers. Nowadays I use Holo Red -> Holo Spring 3 -> Holo Serene -> ATC SCM50ASL. So take my comments with a grain of salt. Both times I plugged in all my electronics to the power filter. Lab12 has dedicated outlets for power amps, which I used for ATC SCM50ASL's obviously. Puritan 136 is advertised as not having any effect on dynamics, but this was not the case for me.

I still live without power conditioner since they always seem to take more than give. My experience with these two conditioners was very different though. Puritan made the sound signature smoother/relaxed/easy to listen to but at the same time it clearly took some breath out of the music and "killed" the dynamics of my active ATC's. At first I fell in love with the very easy and smooth sound signature but when I listened to it more, I missed the punch and dynamics with unfiltered power strip.

With Lab12 (it has plenty of different configurations and settings, I had them all on "auto") the effect on dynamics wasn't that big but still, my Furutech e-tp66e unfiltered power block sounded more open and music flowed and breathed better. I'd say Lab12 sounded more "hifi" if you know what I mean. Yes it was very clean sounding but maybe it was even too clean. I live in Finland and our power grid has rather clean electricity compared to many other countries... or at least I think so. I've now tested two well regarded power filters and both of them sounded inferior when compared to an unfiltered power block.

 

[terrycym]

I did find results with the 156 more musical compared to the 136.
it was quite noticeable

 

[Vhond]

I've owned Puritan 136 for a while and just recently auditioned Lab12 Gordian. There's plenty of time between these two occasions so I didn't compare them head to head. Also my electronics have changed a lot since I owned Puritan 136. Back then I had Linn ADSM/3 Katalyst straight into ATC SCM50ASL active speakers. Nowadays I use Holo Red -> Holo Spring 3 -> Holo Serene -> ATC SCM50ASL. So take my comments with a grain of salt. Both times I plugged in all my electronics to the power filter. Lab12 has dedicated outlets for power amps, which I used for ATC SCM50ASL's obviously. Puritan 136 is advertised as not having any effect on dynamics, but this was not the case for me.

I still live without power conditioner since they always seem to take more than give. My experience with these two conditioners was very different though. Puritan made the sound signature smoother/relaxed/easy to listen to but at the same time it clearly took some breath out of the music and "killed" the dynamics of my active ATC's. At first I fell in love with the very easy and smooth sound signature but when I listened to it more, I missed the punch and dynamics with unfiltered power strip.

With Lab12 (it has plenty of different configurations and settings, I had them all on "auto") the effect on dynamics wasn't that big but still, my Furutech e-tp66e unfiltered power block sounded more open and music flowed and breathed better. I'd say Lab12 sounded more "hifi" if you know what I mean. Yes it was very clean sounding but maybe it was even too clean. I live in Finland and our power grid has rather clean electricity compared to many other countries... or at least I think so. I've now tested two well regarded power filters and both of them sounded inferior when compared to an unfiltered power block.

Interesting you also auditioned the Gordian Lab12. More people who have done this?

 

[JustinTime]

I've owned Puritan 136 for a while and just recently auditioned Lab12 Gordian. There's plenty of time between these two occasions so I didn't compare them head to head. Also my electronics have changed a lot since I owned Puritan 136. Back then I had Linn ADSM/3 Katalyst straight into ATC SCM50ASL active speakers. Nowadays I use Holo Red -> Holo Spring 3 -> Holo Serene -> ATC SCM50ASL. So take my comments with a grain of salt. Both times I plugged in all my electronics to the power filter. Lab12 has dedicated outlets for power amps, which I used for ATC SCM50ASL's obviously. Puritan 136 is advertised as not having any effect on dynamics, but this was not the case for me.

I still live without power conditioner since they always seem to take more than give. My experience with these two conditioners was very different though. Puritan made the sound signature smoother/relaxed/easy to listen to but at the same time it clearly took some breath out of the music and "killed" the dynamics of my active ATC's. At first I fell in love with the very easy and smooth sound signature but when I listened to it more, I missed the punch and dynamics with unfiltered power strip.

With Lab12 (it has plenty of different configurations and settings, I had them all on "auto") the effect on dynamics wasn't that big but still, my Furutech e-tp66e unfiltered power block sounded more open and music flowed and breathed better. I'd say Lab12 sounded more "hifi" if you know what I mean. Yes it was very clean sounding but maybe it was even too clean. I live in Finland and our power grid has rather clean electricity compared to many other countries... or at least I think so. I've now tested two well regarded power filters and both of them sounded inferior when compared to an unfiltered power block.

Apologies if I've missed an earlier post but have you compared any Puritan with the Lab12 each on sources only, with the ATC's direct into the wall?

 

[Patu]

Apologies if I've missed an earlier post but have you compared any Puritan with the Lab12 each on sources only, with the ATC's direct into the wall?

No I haven't. I always had everything connected to the power filter.

 

[JustinTime]

Apologies if I've missed an earlier post but have you compared any Puritan with the Lab12 each on sources only, with the ATC's direct into the wall?

No I haven't. I always had everything connected to the power filter.

Might I suggest you do? I have tried various (mainly Isotek) mains blocks/conditioners including the MiniSub G2 and Sirius block and, even using the dedicated higher current sockets intended for amps, I’ve always found my power amps and present active speakers to sound noticeably better straight into the wall sockets. At the same time I’ve found a subtler but beneficial impact of each on sources, so I’ve settled on conditioned sources and “raw” amps. Every system/room is different of course but many others have settled on a similarly blended provision.

 

[Patu]

Might I suggest you do? I have tried various (mainly Isotek) mains blocks/conditioners including the MiniSub G2 and Sirius block and, even using the dedicated higher current sockets intended for amps, I’ve always found my power amps and present active speakers to sound noticeably better straight into the wall sockets. At the same time I’ve found a subtler but beneficial impact of each on sources, so I’ve settled on conditioned sources and “raw” amps. Every system/room is different of course but many others have settled on a similarly blended provision.

Unfortunately I have to connect everything to the power block/filter since I don't have power outlets positioned so that I could use them for my active speakers. Also if power filter manufacturer has specified two outlets for power amps, I sure expect them to perform extremely well for power amps.

I don't have either power filters at hand anymore so I couldn't test this even if I wanted to.

 

[JustinTime]

Unfortunately I have to connect everything to the power block/filter since I don't have power outlets positioned so that I could use them for my active speakers. Also if power filter manufacturer has specified two outlets for power amps, I sure expect them to perform extremely well for power amps.

I don't have either power filters at hand anymore so I couldn't test this even if I wanted to.

So did I, and I was disappointed, even on a premium product from a highly regarded manufacturer.

 

[TheGeorge]

Where I live we get lots of thunderstorms, so I bought a PS106-DC in 2019, more as a protective measure than anything else. Can't definitively say whether it's had any effect on the sound quality, but my system has certainly survived a thunderstorm or three.
My power amp (Norma PA-150) is a high current design, and I've never felt that the Puritan was holding it back.