Maybe your room is coloured 
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Good try but no.
Everyoneās room is coloured, unless you go just for headphones.
But its not worth going back down that road, as its a naim forum.
But as said i couldnāt believe what a 552dr does to the sound it receives, and i can certainly see why S1 owners report in a huge difference when they go from a 552 to a s1.
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I just want to add that what is coloured or not is totally individual. What you might find as reference neutral I might find flat and boring which is what many claim about DCS too which you then boost with a warm speaker cable. But I donāt bother that much. I know 552 create magic to my ears and thatās enough for me 
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Iāve owned the 252/Super and two 552DRs.
I would say the 552DR is more open, lower noise floor. More articulate. More engaging, faster transient response. Deeper more visceral bass. Contrary to what Iāve read, it does deliver the most important aspect of the music. I havenāt heard a pre that Iāve enjoyed more than the 552DR hence why I splashed out on a second one having sold my previous one.
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In an ideal world of coz 552 reigns everyday but account balance said I can only afford the 252ā¦.
Fingers crossed Iām still hoping I can up my 252 to 552 soon enoughā¦
Iām sure youāll be more than happy with it. Hifi isnāt the only thing in life. Also (and this has cost me so much money to learn) when a system sounds right and youāre really enjoying it - DONT CHANGE A SINGLE THINGš¬. You donāt know what small change can upset the balance of it.
Iām still trying to achieve the sound I had in my previous 552DR, 135s system which I cannot seem to replicate. I have the same pre/power combo now but there was a magic to the last setup. Is it that my 552DR isnāt run in yet? is it the cables? Is it the DAC? Iām still trying to figure it all out.
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The room is dedicated to listening and HT, symmetrical and passively treated with about 70 pieces including absorbers, diffusers and resonators (itās my job to set up listening rooms).
Currently playing a 7.1 channel HT system with 4 pairs of naim Ovators (S600 + S400 x3). I am very satisfied with the result and I love listening to music and not the system. I approached naim 10 years ago with sources and now itās time to introduce naim NAC + NAP amplification.
I will not be able to invest regularly in the system and therefore the most balanced choice would go towards 252 + SCdr. I fear that the 552dr may highlight too much the limits (if there are any) of nDAC+XPSdr by asking for an NDS+555PS which, however, could only arrive in a few years
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If you are going to use the combo with S600s, then a NAP300 was used to voice them when they were developed. Itās a great combo - enjoy mine. I had a 252 for some time and only chnaged, when a very attractive was available, otherwise I would not have changed the NAC. @Simon-in-Suffolk has already made a good case for a NAC252. This may leave you with funds to make other adjustments including i/cs, or keep in reserve. As always audition.
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I went from 282DR to 252DR to 552DR.
I often wondered after a while if I preferred the 282 to the 252 but once I went to 552 I never thought of the other two pre amps.
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Having owned 2 552 DRās I can say with some confidence this would not be the case. The 552 makes music, I love live music and there is no amplifier I have heard which more closely mimics the live experience. I have used the 552 with a CD5XS/CDS3/CD555 and ND555. Its a music making amp. If you want HiFi I canāt really help you as I listen to music. I listen EVERY day until late, the 552 is beguiling, beautiful and you forget about the HiFi and only focus on the music.
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Coloured is when you feed a signal into something and the sound changed when it leaves.
Now that could be a better or worse sound, but really you want a pre amp to be as neutral as it can be, so you are listening to what the source is doing, as if not then you will never hear what a source can really do.
I loved my 552dr, and in a full naim system its probably just about ok, but like i said others have also found the 552dr is colouring the sound when they compare it with a S1.
I do wonder how much better the nd555 would be with a better pre amp, if it can breathe more, have more detail, depth and width.
As said donāt get me wrong, the 552dr is a nice pre amp, but it has its limitations like most things do, and once you get to a certain level, it becomes the week spot.
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And how do you know when your system is neutral? You make claims your new setup is more neutral and how do you know that ia? You donāt even know how it sounded in the studio? Neutral ia a strange word in hifi since every part of it colour the sound and so dosa your Mogami cables to big extent. Itās just a matter of finding synergy that best trigger your music endorphins. Some prefer super detail flat and some more warm. If I change cables in my system it is impossible knowing what is most close to the truth I wasnāt in the studio. Everything colour the result. Itās just a matter of finding what you like be it 552 or DCS. A straight frequency curve rarely sound fun and engaging because your ear is most sensitive in the mids since our ears are developed for voices.
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You are completely missing the point.
I fed my streamer directly into my 500dr amp, so i completely removed the 552dr from the loop. It doesnāt matter what the streamer is, as every source you feed it will come out differently sounding.
The difference in sound took me by surprise, as suddenly it had more detail, bass, more dynamic, wider, everything was just better. I was expecting the sound to just collapse, but it was the 552 that was making it collapse, it never went back in, thats how different it was.
But doing this just shows how much the 552 changes things, there is no magic or tricks going on.
Like i said i never would have believed it or even tried it, if i hadnāt been told to give it a go from another 552 owner.
But in life its all a learning curve as they say, and every day is a school day, if you want it to be.
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Is it a streaming pre amp? So fed directly into the 500 itās using the pre amp in the streamer and into the 552 itās bypassing the onboard preamp?
Went straight from 282 to 552ā¦ Never liked this kind of āsoftnessā in 252 in contrast to the energy of 282.
552 is my has-it-all and final preamp. Its insight into music is truly breath-taking. My journey ends here.
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Hi
My streamer doesnāt have a pre amp, it just has a digital volume control.
Itās quite complicated how it works, and i could copy some bits and paste it up, but then if you want to find out more, you could easily do a search.
But it works very well, much better now as well with the apex upgrade.
I would certainly not have a pre amp if i only had the one source, but I have a turntable and that rather complicates things.
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The 252/SC2 was forgettable for me. Iād go 552 and 300DR if you can swing it.
@ElMarko you slate the 252 at every possible opportunity, but the fact it was a long time ago and you were using non DR with an old spec 250 you never mentionā¦.
We all get you like your 272 but many of us who have had 272/250DR think 252/300DR blows it away.
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My 252 + 300 non DR is a great amplifier and teamed with SL2, I would hardly describe or characterise it with a āsoftnessā presentation. It pleases me and that is what is important
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You are not in the position to claim I make any claim at every possible opportunity so you should should refrain from making such claims.
When I state SC2 that is indeed old spec. So again, stay in your lane. Iāll share my poor experience with that amp as much as I please just like anyone else. And youāre right, the 272/555DR/250DR slays my former 252 set up. All day long, every day. And I never made your last claim. More projection on your part.