Puron AC Power Conditioner by Greg Voth

Distributed by Vera-Fi Audio LLC, the Puron Power Conditioner doesn’t require a big lift – it easily fits in the palm of one’s hand. The unit I received has a satin black cylindrical plastic body, a gold-plated plug, and little else besides its gold-lettered name. The Puron measures 4-1/4” from top to plug tip with a rough diameter of 1-1/2”. When inserted into a wall receptacle, the Puron extends out from the wall just 3-3/8”.

When plugged into a female wall socket nearest your electric panel or power source, into a wall receptacle at your rig, or in the first position as current flows in your power conditioner or power strip, the Puron begins its work, ridding your home’s power of electrical interference. When left to do its thing over 24 hours, the Puron enhances current flow, scrubbing your electricity free of unwanted grunge.

I listened as I played some of my favorites: Sera Una Noche’s Nublado, from “Sera Una Noche” (1999 MA Recordings), Rickie Lee Jones Comin’ Back to Me from “Pop Pop” (1991 Universal Music Group), Tierney Sutton’s A Timeless Place (the Peacocks), from “Unsung Heroes” (2000 Telarc International), Carsten Dahl’s Avidity, from 2016’s “Simplicity” (Storyville), Sting’s A Thousand Years, from “Brand New Day” (1999 A&M Records) and Gretchen Parlato’s No Plan, from 2021’s ‘Flor” (Edition Records). Almost immediately upon the Puron’s insertion, the soundstage widened as my system’s presentation of detail heightened, imaging tightened, and the sense of aural blackness grew darker. I only have one Puron on hand. I’ll bet multiples work even better.

With Nublado, clarity and body were shared among the instrumentation, and guitar strings rang with added realism. The bass clarinet’s deep, dark voice stung with more significant emotive impact, and percussion rode the air with a greater punch as the stage reached back deeper and expanded a touch wider with cues from the reverberant recording space. On Comin’ Back to Me, there was an increased resolution shared across the instruments. Small airy nuances gained interest, and Jones’ pensive, contemplative vocal held a touch more emotional impact. With the play of A Timeless Place (the Peacocks), Sutton’s voice possessed more flesh and breath, and the acoustic bass sang with greater body and wood. On Avidity, I fell hard for Dahl’s rich piano tone; instruments appeared more resonant, and percussive skins spoke with added liveliness. On Sting’s A Thousand Years, transients held more interest with enhanced impact, bass frequencies reached deeper, seeming even more prominent, and small intricacies glowed brighter. Lastly, on Parlato’s No Plan, there was enhanced depth and realism, and the bass held more prominence in the mix.

The following week, I had Clement and Arnie Balgavis, former Sr. Editor of the now defunct The Audiophile Voice (attributed to COVID), here for a listening session and pizza break. While we listened, I inserted and removed the Puron numerous times while playing a short set of requested songs. I was directed to plug it in or remove it at specific times. Time and again (and paraphrasing their words), the Puron “took away a veil, refining the sound. Instruments had longer decay and were presented with greater resolve.” Clement was impressed enough to ask me to contact Vera-Fi Audio for additional units.

When my wife visited a life-long friend for a few days several years back, she returned, determined to upgrade our video experience. Their new 4K TV impressed her with its detail, color density, and realism. Granted, our television, a 12-year-old Sharp Aquos 52” flat screen that we’ve put thousands of hours on over a dozen years, isn’t the newest. Still, you wouldn’t know it today, as some of my system enhancements have enhanced its picture clarity and sharpness. Adding the Puron provided even more enhancement, increasing picture sharpness, brightness, and sense of dimensionality.

Color me impressed. The Puron was developed overseas and currently has a small footprint on the internet. All I can tell you is that it works. The Puron would make an excellent stocking stuffer for audiophiles or videophiles in your life.

greg voth           

Second Opinion

When Greg finds something intriguing, he usually calls for a second opinion. I like that about GV because I’m that way too. I think it’s cool when you hear something worth further investigation outside of your thoughts and investigations. Nice to know when those thoughts coincide (or collide) with someone else whose ears you trust. It was a real treat this time, however, because I had been meeting up with my mentor and friend, Arnie Balgavis, who drives into northern NJ from Allentown, PA. For that reason alone, I wanted to make this trip more like the old pre-Covid days, when we had the luxury to sit and listen to a few different systems.

When we got to GV’s place, we were greeted by his two dogs (who are always happy to see me because I share my pizza crust with them). GV was excited to have both and Arnie there to see what impressions we might have over these new Puron AC devices in his listening room. I felt the best thing about A/B’ing them as they could be taken in and out without disrupting the music being played. I asked Arnie to get into the sweet spot so he might get more familiar with GV’s system first. The first thing I noticed, sitting off-center, was how good the system sounded. Not sure if my memory recalls such focus, image specificity, and immediacy in this vast expansive loft space. Arnie nodded his head affirmative when I asked him, “nice sound isn’t it?”

At this point, I asked GV what these Puron devices were, and he went over and just pulled it out of his AC conditioner without interrupting the music playing. Looking at this long cylinder device reminded me of the similar offerings from Nordost and High Fidelity Cable. I have never tried Nordost and found the High Fidelity Cable devices too robust and forward-sounding. This experience had me wondering if Puron had a similar personality. I then looked up some music on GV’s iPad that I knew we all loved: Mark Isham’s Blue Sun. Greg reinserted the Puron back into his Puritan AC conditioner, and he would pull it back out every few minutes.

In each case, we both agreed that something was noticeably different. Wow. With the Puron AC devices, the system grew in clarity and dimensionality. Instruments had a better outline and focused while never sounding overdone or etched. Arnie, again, nodded his head accordingly. When the Puron AC device was removed, you could hear a slight smog overtake the back of the soundstage and interrupt the space the musicians had previously occupied. After a half-dozen examples, Arnie, Greg, and I were convinced that the Puron AC devices delivered on their promise of improved clarity and focus, making a system as good as GV’s sound even better.

As GV reported, I contacted Mark Schifter and requested a chance to try these devices out in my system. Schifter obliged, and a pair of Puron AC devices arrived for my evaluation days later. I immediately plugged one Puron AC device (I received two) into the Frank Acoustics UB25000 AC line enhancer’s outlet. I would be lying if I told you I heard a difference at first. But again, the opportunity to unplug the Puron AC device is priceless when trying to grasp what they’re doing. In and out. Out, again and back in. Suddenly I started to detect something happening to the outer edge of instruments and musicians that are better delineated when these guys are inserted. Images have more excellent outlines and thus focus. Not to a large degree, but certainly noticeable and, more importantly, not in any way that I consider overdone or harmful. They work fine at bringing more of the bleeding edge to the system’s overall focus and separation. Very similar to what I found in GV’s system. So, the Puron AC Conditioners work as advertised, and I enthusiastically endorse them.


 
clement perry     

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Product reviewed:

Puron Power Conditioner $249US

World Wide Distributors: Hifi House

Website: https://hifihouse.co.uk/puron/

Email: info@hifihouse.co.uk

Contact:

Vera-Fi Audio LLC

9025 Crestview Drive

Denton, Texas 76207

Phone: (818) 584-6870

verafiaudio@gmail.com