Puritan PSM156

@willywonka I don’t doubt your experience and I definitely don’t doubt them stating the 156 isn’t current limiting and that you should buy one more. 
 

My experience with it, and I bought the PSM156 new from the dealer, that it mellowed the dynamics. Components I had plugged into it were Pass XA30.8 amp, Pass XP-22 preamp, Bricasti M3 DAC. 
Removing these components one by one from the puritan and plugging them directly into wall outlet restored the dynamics, with each step. 
 

When I upgraded from XA30.8 to X260.8 monos and decided to try these amps in a puritan 156, the unit started ringing and buzzing like crazy. I actually thought it was going to fall apart. It could not handle the 260w/ch mono amps, even at turn on. 
 

I didn’t like it’s impact in my system even though initially it appeared it reduced noise…it just rounded things off and reduced dynamics. I sold it and never looked back. 
 

If it works for you with your gear, great! Power conditioners are something that you need to really try to see if you like the effect. 
 

In addition, the outlets on the 156 over time lose grip and the power cords end up sagging off. You need to prop them with some sort of support. 
My favorite was the true non current limiting Shunyata Hydra 4. 
 

Here’s a picture of 156. I just can’t see how it possibly would not limit current. 

 

grk

268 posts

04-12-2026 at 11:30pm 

@audphile1

You don’t know what you are talking about! The Puritan 156 does NOT have transformers and does not emit EMF or  RFI.
 

@grk cool. See the picture above. Also, any component that has current flowing thru it will emit EMI/RFI. Unless it’s enclosed in a faraday cage.

pick up this tool and measure EMI near your components. https://a.co/d/05qmWo1d

 

Also, why would they put transformers in a device that is designed to remove transformer hum caused by DC?

good question. 156 removes the DC offset by means of filtering out the DC component and blocking it from reaching the outlets on the 156. That’s done with capacitors and active circuitry. Hence, once again, the components you see in the picture, including caps and coils. Your class D amps don’t draw much from the wall. Probably about the same as a a streamer or a cd player or a dac. No issues for your system. 

Correct me if I’m wrong…there are transformers directly in front of iec. The toroidal inductors and a bank of caps on the circuit board. That’s not current limiting? 
Claim is it will handle 15a. I know the pass mono blocks don’t draw that much at idle or during play. 

@audphile1 I've read MANY reviews and user experiences of the 156 and you seem to be the unicorn here. Maybe yours was defective or maybe your configuration was unique and caused problems! I've used 2 high quality and high current amps plugged directly in to the PSM-156 and noticed ZERO noise issues or current restrictions. I tend to trust the manufacturer over a random single person on the internet. Also if Puritan cared more about making money they would have just suggested to me to buy a 1512 that was well over $4000 instead of just  buying another 156.

@willywonka 

I am sharing my experience with you all. 

My unit was not defective. It worked fine but as stated I noticed reduced dynamics  Yes the noise floor was reduced. But it’s a cost I wasn’t willing to pay.
The icing on the cake / final nail in the puritan coffin, was when the 156 couldn’t handle the pass labs mono blocks that are way under the claimed current handling specs while in idle. It was tested without the amps in it, photographed and listed. 
I understand I’m some random guy and I get it that you have more trust in the manufacturer than you do in my experience.

I’m happy to hear it works for you.