The thing is the rossini already has a much larger sound stage than anything naim offer, plus it has all the details you could ever expect.
So adding a pre like a s1 or 552 is not really needed if you go with the right amp and speakers
As like I have said on many threads already, naims way is with the pre doing its thing with naim amps and source, but he really doesn’t have to go down this road at all and I feel he could get a much better result at a much cheaper cost, as I would sell my 552 and 500 straight away if I didn’t need 2 inputs and infact going to be trying an amp soon that has just that and true balance aswell
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Sorry Dunc but I can’t find the logic there?
What I was trying to say is, you don’t need a s1 to unleash a rossini.
A pre is not the unit that bonds the sound like it is in a all naim system or even just if you have just a naim power amp like myself.
The rossini by itself has a lovely sound stage and massive amounts of music details, it just needs to be paired with the right power amp to enjoy it all, it has a very good pre amp built in, but it’s not going to be anywhere near its best using a naim power amp direct from its built in pre, as we all know a naim power amp needs a naim pre to work best.
This is not true of other designs, plus running a true balanced amp can also take advantage of the true balanced outputs the rossini has.
It’s certainly worth giving a try as you could save thousands probably a good £20000 less even at secondhand s1 prices
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Why else do we need increasingly powerful amps? So we can blast everything 20db louder than our wives think is reasonable. 
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It reminds me this:
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I can’t fit all the boxes. The S1 is narrow enough to fit it in with one rack of 5. The S1 doesn’t need Fraim which I’ll never own. I’d get the smaller A5 to keep in my budget. Probably not the optimal strategy. Can’t demo anything of course.
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Ageist
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That’s some upgrade. Or a particularly severe case of upgraditis.
But I like the cut of your jib all the same 
That was my basic assumption. Sounds like it isn’t a plug and play solution for making everything awesome. It does come standard with a Power Line so that’s like a $1,000 savings… in a way that’s really weird.
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Seems a good plan 
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Well, short of replacing the 552!
Sorry for the confusion FR - all I mean is that you won’t hear the full benefit of what the S1 can really do without pushing the limit of the power amp end … and having a top end source!
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Just walked away from an S1 myself at a very good price and FWIW thinking your coming to the same conclusions as myself.
@916SPS comments are very valid, great though the offer was the extra expense of addressing the issues that in all probability would have been further exposed by the S1 made me reconsider.
I also considered @Dunc views and will be exploring at least one of his suggestions, which will not upset the balance I feel I’ve now regained.
No doubt if I’d had a home dem of the S1 it would have been a game changer and very difficult to return.
Happy Days
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Bravo to your reply, Graham!
It’s a reply from someone who actually owns two of the mentioned products!
Best,
Chris
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It simply had to be said. 
Enjoy Peter
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Yes but Graham has a full naim system and obviously keeping it all naim and going further down the line in naim products should bring benefits.
Here we are talking about a dCS rossini as source and so it has different options going forward and owning a rossini and trying different things, I for sure know that a pre is not necessarily needed if you do it right
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Not that it would be optimal but I imagine a pair of P1s might give the 500 a run for its money on a 552… 
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I read some comments about pre or not pre by Rossini and Vivaldi owners. Opinions seem to be divided. Some prefer direct to amp and find generally the sound more transparent.
Other prefer the addition of a good pre, which seems to give a better textured sound, more organic.
The pre often cited are Audio Research Ref 40 or Soulution. So also very expensive pre.
My primary concern in hifi life is best possible sq at lowest possible volume. My octogenarian neighbors called the police on me because I was playing my beatnik Jazz too loud. Apparently 72 dBA is “loud” to these people who really shouldn’t be able to hear anything. I’m about to take them to court to force them to stop harassing me. I’m not a litigious type but they’re literally threatening me at this point and I need to protect my property rights. You can barely hear anything (36 dBA which is like 2 dB above ambient) from my music in their homes but they’ve decided that they have an absolute right to complete silence 24x7. All they need to do is run a fan or air purifier when my “loud” music is bothering them. I even offered to buy them really nice $850 air purifiers at my expense.
My thinking is a better preamp would give better sound at lower volume. Is this something I could expect from a S1 into the 300DR with Magico A5 at least compared to same system with a 282 pre?
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And I believe that at least one forum participant uses the dCS streamer player with an Air passive preamp, with benefits.
There are so many options, and as many “opinions” as to what sounds “best.”
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