It does, bit more alive and detail, but not much in it and if i had a ND555/555ps already i wouldn’t swap it for the Bartok, but i dont i have a nds and selling my gear its not much to get the Bartok.
Well its £3k for a new Bartok against £10.5 for a new nd555. That is what i call slam dunc !
Plus through in the life span and upgrades the Bartok will get and its even more a bargin.
Sitting here right now playing a few albums from the melco and its just fabulous, but part off me wishes i could keep my naim rig going, but i cant justify getting the nd555 for the reasons above, a shame really as been a naimie for over 25 years and it looks like for the first time in that time, i wont have a naim sorce,so will be down to just a 500 and 552
Maybe but then the nd555 didn’t?
I would like to see what it sounds like with out the 552, but then i couldn’t use my turntable, but the way it sounds i dont think the turntable will be used much
I will try if i can blag the right cables, but the 552 adds nothing to the sound or atleast it shouldn’t and in all my demonstrations i have only ever heard it with a 552. But it would be interesting and if you dont have an analog source then it could be even more a bargin
I was just talking from my point of view due to price and what it would cost me.
If i didnt have a 555psdr already and needed to buy this along with a nd555 then it would be a rossini and clock 100% as it slaughters it
Go listen yourself thats the only way.
The Bartok is on par with the nd555 as quite a few have found out and even so called experts lol. No one has ever said the rossini/clock is the same as the Bartok.
It is very different it has all that a nd555 can offer plus the detail of a dave and the results are just stunning, it makes you sit on the edge off the seat, it gave me goosebumps and made me chuckle to myself it was just that stunning.
But if you are happy with your nd555 then great, enjoy it.
There is better than the rossini out there, i am not blinkered
I heard the Rossini recently with an SN2 and could not feel connected to the music. All the details were too much up front, and there was not the cohesiveness as with a Naim source. It was impressive indeed but too much demonstrative.
When the dealer put the Linn kdsm, I felt more connected. The sound was more delicate and refined, with more intricated musicians playing together. It was nearer the nds sound. However with less urgency, tension.
I feel you would like the Rossini. You like when all the details of a recording are there. The Rossini is superior , as the Dave, to the Nd555 in that respect I feel.
Before buying a second 555 dr, perhaps you should try these dacs.
For myself, I am more attached to the why than to the what in replay. So Naim and Linn are more to my tastes.
I agree. However the 20 k Linn KDSM was on the same SN2.
But I know that I should try the Rossini or Bartok on my system, the best to know really if it suits or not.
You should read the HiFi Critic review of the Bartok which I alluded to above. If Martin Colloms, a 552/500 series owner and vocal Naim partisan, compares it favorably to HIS OWN nd555, then that means something.
I have been on this forum since 2003 and I remember seeing your “naim” here for an equally long amount of time. Anytime Naim users stray from the mothership and experiment with non Naim sources feathers tend to get ruffled and some go on the defensive. I remember the original Lavry wars, the first Chord Hugo, and when myself and many others jumped ship to the Linn Klimax DS back around 2007/8. Unfortunately Naim has had some rocky experiences with digital - the HDX and NaimNet come to mind - and that caused many of us to jump ship. I moved from Naim to Linn back in 2011 and am still happily enjoying my KDS and all of its upgrades ever since. It has also been a financially beneficial relationship as, just like my LP12, Linn has kept the KDS upgradeable and not forced me to bin things when new technology becomes available. DCS promises to do the same.
As I previously said the Bartok I have on order will not be replacing my KDS in my 500 system but will be used exclusively in a headphone system. But don’t think that I will not slot it in and see how it sounds with a pair of Titans in place of my Focal Headphones. I have a funny feeling that it might sound rather good.
I fully realise there is a whole world out there. I’m just aware to think that new is better when it’s just different. Someone on here bought a DCS streaming box and thought it the best thing since sliced bread. He sold it a few weeks later. Who knows?
