I am not dissing it? It’s been said by many on here that now have S1, or whatever.
So please its not just me, plus i am not saying the vitus is better, its different for sure.
But i can’t lie about the difference i got when i removed it from my 500 set up.
I think we all know the 500dr amp is a star, and still can do the business. Plus it did a Stella job when i went directly into it.
The nd555 can sound better when running through a S1 into a 500dr, so not making that up, unless the S1 guys are lieing about how much better is over the 552dr.
So not sure what you are trying to say really?
No, the 252,SC2,250.2 deserve the criticism it gets afaic. Turd combo. The DR must’ve had a significant influence on the SQ of those components b/c prior to that the SQ was sub par at best compared to other Naim components in the offering.
I’ve not heard the combo you mention so don’t know how execrable it may have been to some ears. Simply responding on apparent bias in some comments where apparently being ‘disrespectful to our hosts’ only applies to what is said about 552, whereas 252 is fair game.
I do agree totally, but its far less than what the 552 was doing.
As said i would if i could have no pre amp.
The sia030 seems to bring very similar results to what S1 owners reported the gains to be.
Much better bass, as in weight, control and speed. Much wider sounding, much more detail, everything was much easier to place, as you could hear where everyone was.
Just a very different presentation, but the sia030 does add some class A warmth that going direct didn’t have, it’s certainly not there on the dcs and the vitus is adding that for sure.
But i could do without it no problem, but at the same time it’s nice, just not 100% needed, if you get what i mean.
I knew that any pre amp i put in, would do something, as its got to, as everything in the signal path will do something to the sound.
In 1998 I went to a conference at NASA GSFC. Some nice chaps gave a presentation on using sequential estimation techniques to determine a spacecraft orbit, which was received very badly by some with some criticism that only batch least squares methods are appropriate. The next presentation was using sequential estimation methods to determine a satellite orbit, but before starting the presentation the presenter said, ok I like a good bar fight ……
I believed that, especially with naim, as that’s what i have only ever read. Thats why i was so shocked at what my outcome was.
Beforehand i would have easily bet you £1000 the outcome would have been 100% the opposite, thats how sure i was right, and the other guy so wrong. Glad i didn’t as i had to eat my words as it was, and look where i am now.
Well, it didn’t really beat it. It was extremely close, but in the end, i decided i would rather keep the 552 in, plus i needed a pre amp as i had a turntable.
That’s why i was so shocked at the difference when i tried it again with the apex, as the difference was so close last time, it didn’t really seem worth trying again.
I wasn’t ready for the difference at all, it was certainly one off them O f–k moments we don’t often get in this hifi game, and once you hear it, you just can’t un hear it, and the path is set.
I found the exact opposite, though I’ll admit my experience is limited to dealer dem rooms. In that environment great recordings sounded sublime and bad recordings were exposed and sounded really bad. I believed the 252 to be more even handed as I wrote earlier. Never as good but never as bad either.
That’s definitely an isolated problem. My experience (552DR vs 282SC) both over several years of use is that I could plough through recordings good and bad with the 552 and while it didn’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse, you could hear much more of what the artist was communicating from the recording making poor recording much easier to listen to. I enjoy all my collection with it. Led Zep is a great example - not the worlds best audiophile recordings, but the 552 communicates their music in a way that the 282 couldn’t hint at. Again, my 252 experience is limited so, can’t comment on it in this regard.