Am about to spend a lot upgrading my system to 552/PS DR, Rossini/clock, Dynaudio Confidence 20’s.
I have been offered a lightly used 500DR at about £5k over the 300DR that is currently specified. Is there any reason not to go for it? Room is 6m x 5m, vaulted ceiling, ⅔ down it is listening position. Will it be too much?
Better quality at lower volume levels would be good for nighttime listening, as would more musicians in the room with me…
If you can afford it, then go for it.
I had the 300 DR and have now the 500 DR. The 300 DR is a great amp, and an excellent value. But the 500 DR, well… it is, in my opinion, undoubtedly much better.
The 552DR/500DR is marvellous combo that will control your speakers with great precision, whatever the volume level.
If you are sure of the 500DR provinence then its a must have. When my 500 went away for DRing I had a loan 300DR for a few weeks. A 500 full service is circa £5K. Another factor to consider? A word with Salisbury on serial numbers might be worthwhile.
Its very non hi-fi. A big plus in my book.
The 300 is a fantastic amp and IMO is the best value for money power amp in the range. The 500 is a big step forward and the 500DR is just astounding. No more HiFi, just music.
Would I buy one without a home audition? No.
Your life, your money, your choice. You’ll probably be delighted, but there are no guarantees. Rooms can be funny things.
Wait for the new Dynaudio 20i
Full endorsement of the 500DR. My 15 year old 552/500 recently came back from recap and DR service. WOW
As for the dCS Rossini/Master Clock you are in store for the biggest source upgrade you have ever had. I have been using a Linn Klimax DS in my system since 2011 fully updated each time along the way. In April I purchased a Bartok for use in my headphone system and was so impressed that I moved up to the Rossini/Master Clock. The Linn now resides in the headphone system and the dCS now fronts the 552/500. I simply cannot imagine any other digital player besting the Rossini (well maybe the Vivaldi).
Double WOW!
Best
Gregg
As gregg above has said.
500/552 great partnership
Rossini/clock fantastic
Put them together and its just lush
I upgraded from a 300 (non DR) to 500 (non DR) and the improvement was quite obvious. Since then I upgraded the 500 to the DR version, and it was an improvement but less than from 300 to 500. Go for it, I would say, if you can afford it.
And at low volumes it still sounds superb.
As others have said the 300 dr is great, but the 500 dr is more confident and poised, grace under pressure, go for it.
Hi Gregg, great to hear your servicing has worked out for you. Like me now it sounds as if you ain’t going nowhere 
ATB Peter
My feelings exactly. I too had the 552/300DR for a while, then to 500DR.
Nothing to really add beyond Thomas!
After the expenditure of a full recap and dr - AND - a new dCS Rossini and Clock - I can say I am definitely not going anywhere for the next 15 years (life expectancy of this most recent service).
By that time at the “ripe” old age of 75 I think I it will be time to contemplate downsizing 
Best
Gregg
PS send my regards to JN
All good, nothing wrong with ageing with grace, eh?! I will send your regards to JN, who shall be coming to visit here early September for a couple of days. 
Keep well and enjoy Peter
Yes the 500dr is excellent … when I compared the 250dr with the 500dr … it made the 250dr sound less detailed slightly confused… the 500dr sounds very refined. I heard it against statement at the Naim factory and it compares very well to the Statement amps…the Statement is better but the 500dr is seriously good.
You might be right, but I intend not to 
Was referring to Greggs now 500 DR system 
If your current room is fairing well with the gear you have got I can’t see, why it shouldn’t carry on doing so. The 552/500DR is a wicked combo as people have said. Enjoy Peter
I never had the opportunity to listen to a Statement based system but heard similar comments.
It seems that the 500 DR is pretty close to the Statement mono blocs, all things being equal. The Statement is, of course, capable of driving the most demanding speakers.
What I can say for sure is that the 500 DR particularly shines with with complex music, like a symphony. It seems to have a lot of headroom, it never gets confused or loses its natural ease, even at elevated volumes.
I heard Statement versus active 500 dr with S1 statement preamp into Kudos 808…both systems sound great…i would need a lot of time to choose between them, my gut feeling was active 500 dr.
I traveled the upgrade path from 250 to 300 to 500. The jump from the 300 to the 500 was substantial. The 500 just does everything better; easy decision especially since you are getting one for a nice price.
Yes…I agree I really noticed a change on really complex densely mixed music…like the Voice Alan Parsons…the instrumental in the middle of the track…just opened right up and stays open no matter what volume…