Puritan 156 review

Hi everyone,

While recovering from a liver resection operation I was spending aot ofl my time at home during the day mainly watching TV and listening to music.

I started noticing at certain times of day quite loud transformer hum from my 552DR and 500DRPSs.

The system power is on the mains board with a separate 4mm 20mm slow trip type C MCB Radial circuit.

So, I monitored it for a few days and at certain times the hum of the transformers is more of a buzz.

So I ordered a Puritan 156 as quite a few on here have got them and rate them.

It’s been in place now for about 4 days. It is meant to take 100 hours to burn in. It’s about that now. Transformer hum has greatly improved, no buzz, just a very low hum.

The Puritan 156 is very well made and is very neat for cable management. The standard cable that comes with it is meant to be used between the main unit and the socket. I have just ordered an upgraded the cable to the ultimate version and have bought a vertical mounting base for it.

I have it in the vertical position as it is but th mount kit just secures it and take it off the floor.

The sound is very good. Is is better? I wouldn’t say so. The block I was using before is excellent. Is the sound different? Yes. Slightly clearer.

The Puritan 156 takes all the DC and cleans up the power coming in so it should sound clearer.

The block I had before is excellent being Musicworks Ultra G3 with peek base. I think this gives tone controls as you have a plugging order.

The Puritan 156 has no plugging order. Each plug is meant to be identical. So far I think it’s very good. I would only buy one if you are getting DC problems.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences, especially if you have bought one or are considering one.

Cheers,

Dan


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Clearer not being better? Can you elaborate?

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The way to explain it is the previous block was really good and was really happy with it. I changed to Puritan 156 as I have a DC problem. It has resolved that problem.

I don’t now listen to the system and think it sounds better. It is a different slightly clearer sound.

Naim have also done firmware updates so the ND555 sounds different now. So with new block and firmware I feel I am listening to new sound. My ears have not adjusted.

The cable I have ordered is also meant to make quite a large improvement.

It’s early days yet. I will see if the new cable makes a difference as well. I think the Puritan 156 was the right decision in my case.

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Adding two chemicals to a test tube simultaneously makes it very difficult to know what caused the colour change or made it go fizz. Just recalling my Chemistry lessons at school!

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Very similar experience here with the 156, I also tried at home the 136. More studio-like sound, less alive but cleaner. I would try plugging the amps directly to the wall but then you are looking to eliminate hum, I understand.

I also had the Musicworks G3 (also the sparkly base) and it sounded more relaxed…

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Thanks for your feedback @garcon. The sound like you say is very different.

I liked the Musicworks sound but I think that the Puritan could be less tone controls and more about clarity.

Let’s see what that new cable adds.

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Yes, and the firmware feedback for ND555 users with 2 PSs hasn’t been great. I don’t want to jump on that as I am undecided.

For me I am finding it difficult to know just how much the firmware has affected things.

Listening to the LP12 the sound is different from what it was.

These aren’t massive sound changes but noticeable.

I had a 156 once and absolutely loved it. It looked fantastic. It was the same colour as this one, but had roof rails.

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Lovely motors but not meant to be very reliable. Glad you enjoyed it though!

Reliable. That’s a laugh. The ECU went in the first few months. In fact other stuff went wrong when it was only two weeks old and I was given a courtesy car. It was a hoot to drive though, and had the most amazing steering. We had a towbar put on, to pull our folding camper, which I’m sure wasn’t what Alfa intended! It was a company car and went back after the three years were up. We had fun with it in those three years.

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My first Alfa was between 136 and 156 - in dark green, loved it too.

Did not break, not once. Next 3 alfas were excellent too. Then at some point a strange thing came along called the Giulietta … omg, it was awful, we only had it for a few hours at a time between warranty repairs. On the plus side, I got to drive practically every Alfa and Fiat the dealer had as courtesy cars.

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At least the Puritan should be reliable with 5 year warranty! Glad you guys have enjoyed your Alfas. Never had one but did look at a 156. Bought Saab 93 instead at the time :wink: Wanted something a bit different.

Ah, the Saab 93 - a dream car I never had! Don’t tell me it was also a black convertible!

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Now that would have been amazing. Was 5 door hatchback in silver. It had wooden dash and was pretty though. Enjoyed that motor !

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Observations like the above would bother me Dan. Do you still have the Musicworks block and can revert? Are you still enjoying your music as much as before the Puritan?
I know buzz/hum can be a real PITA, but babies and bath water and all that.

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I’ve kept the Musicworks block. The Puritan is barely run in! Need to give things time.

This firmware update has affected the sound. And there’s alot of negativity about it. Might be an idea to just switch off from it all. I need to work it for myself.

I am enjoying the system but am analyzing it which isn’t a good thing sometimes.

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Hi Dan. I use a Shunyata Research Denali its much more expensive than the Puritan. In my system it’s extremely effective. It lowers the noise floor and the system is deathly quiet, but Zero loss of dynamics or slam and a definite increase in transparency and imaging and soundstage .

I’m pretty sure if you contacted the UK importer they would loan you something good!
Boyer Audio Limited, is the UK distributer… Tell then your friend Erik on the Naim Forum is a good friend of Richard Rodgers… He’s the US Sales Manger.

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Maybe play lp records for a few days.

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I have one too and also have the PS108DC strip. Both are very good where the 156 goes a bit further in cleaning things up making it more airy and giving the stage more space. The 108DC has very very slightly better bass slam.

I do sometimes feel things can sound slightly artificial on some instruments. One review online described it as a bit “glassy” which I think is what I am hearing on occasion. It is not on every instrument but on piano it is most obvious. I also had the Plixir BAC 1500 MKII on demo and it does sound a bit more organic. For the rest very similar, though it costs €2000 more than the Puritan which is not worth it in my opinion.

On my 108DC I changed 2 outlets to Furutech R NCF schuko which is an improvement over the standard outlets. I might do the same for my 156 as it takes away some harshness and makes the sound more fluid with better PRaT. The standard ones can sometimes sound a bit too relax.

All of the above are findings BEFORE the new firmware update. It all went sour after that.

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Like you, I had a Musicworks G3 Ultra, but now have the Puritan PSM 156 with all standard cables, for nearly a year. Absolutely no regrets. I had all Naim Powerlines before that. What a pain in the ass trying to connect Powerlines on a Naim Fraim. So much so, that I recently sold my Fraim rack for a Isoblue rack. Did I notice any sound quality difference, none whatsoever. What I did notice is that it is a lot more easy to disconnect, clean and reconnect HiFi, without glass and ball bearings going everywhere.
The 156 does clean all the mains crap up and so possibly makes the sound clearer, just by removal of the crap. However, what it does do, is stops the Naim transformers from bloody buzzing away.
So, do I notice a real reduction in sound quality by not having the Powerlines and Fraim and instead the Puritan and Isoblue. If I told you so, we’ll I would be having a tin bath. :blush:

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