I think your assumption would be correct due to the larger bass drivers in the S5 but after listening to the S3, I didn’t go back to listen to the S5 (I auditioned at a dealer, home audition wasn’t possible). I felt S3 offered the right synergy in the context of my system and would be controlable in my room. If I had more than my 6m x 7.6m space, I would have considered the S5. My dealer also felt the S5 would benefit from a bigger room to really shine and at European prices, I wasn’t prepared to not let them shine.
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Well, you might spend a lot of money breaking apart a system you have worked very hard on just before it comes into bloom.
You might spend parts of your future wondering what the system would have sounded like if you’d taken out the bottleneck and added the preamp that your system is crying out for?
But then you would not be able to find out whether it was better than some big bland super-integrated with it perfect nothingy-ness.
I have heard the Gryphon Diablo 300- " perfect nothingy-ness " it is not. There is a lot of meat on the bone there…
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Yes, Varyat - but I recall you often saying what a step up the 552 was when you got one - and were delighted with it.
Absolutely! In the context of a Naim amp system, the 552 is the best I have owned. But the OP is looking elsewhere to minimize racks. I have also owned the Vitus SIA 030 and as a one box solution, albeit a large box, it did very well as an alternative to a 552/500. Different sound presentation.
I was just commenting on what I heard with the Diablo 300. It has a lot to offer imo.
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Yes, i like that!
All composite phenomena are impermanent
All contaminated things and events are unsatisfactory
All phenomena are empty and selfless
Nirvana is true peace
(Four Dharma Seals)
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My room is slightly larger but the ceilings are at least 18 feet. Maybe it’s prudent to get the s3 since the price difference is substantial. At this price I expect perfection. Would be slightly tragic for the more expensive version to create problems. The s3 might not perform at same level as s5 but since I’ve heard neither and will only ever hear one it won’t matter; they’re both expected to sound much better than my 400’s.
Thanks. My kids might actually get to attend college thanks to this post.
Well to start with if I had a 282, then I wouldn’t sell the 282 straight away, the next question is, if I only had the rossini/clock and no other source, then I would go find a suitable amp and run with the built in pre amp in the rossini, as this was very good and not far behind the 552 running directly into my 500dr, as long as you worked around the problems you can get when doing this, I have described all this before and so won’t go re over it, easy to find.
But for sure the 282 would be holding back the rossini a bit and you will get a nice uplift, or call it, see what the rossini can really do if you add a 552dr into the mix and then a good naim power amp, etc.
I do find that the dcs kit works very well with naim, it adds more sound stage, more detail, etc, while the naim helps keeping its prat going strong, if that makes sense, a very good balance.
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I’m going to give that a try next week. Having new 20 amp circuit installed so I need to take my rack down. Will reassemble it without the 282. Unfortunately the rca → xlr cables I have are not comparable to the SL cables I’m using. Not sure how much difference will be attributable to the cable vs lack of the pre. This is where access to a dealer would be handy.
However… I do have the Din 4 → rca hi-line that i mistakenly purchased circa 2014. At some point I’m going to find a use for this thing.
My primary “concern” is that most people believe the balanced output of the dcs dacs is significantly superior to the single ended. They’ve advised against running balanced into unbalanced xlr like the 300.
If the 282 is holding back the 300 then bypassing the 282 should sound better since you’ve only heard slight improvement with the 552.
Hi I could lend you 2 cables to run from the rossini RCA’s to the 300 xlr’s, they are handed and marked up and are silver coated cables that I made up with good quality ends.
I think you might be presently surprised as long as you keep the rossini as close to 0.0db and adjust the output voltage to suit the volume, this is the problem and pain to work around, as the rossini really does need to run at 0.0db as 5he further you go down the scale, the dynamics start to get effected, it’s not huge but it is there and thats a reel shame, but that’s digital volumes for you, or it is right now, hopefully not for ever.
I don’t think you will hear any difference from the RCA’s over the balanced xlr’s unless you are running long cables, but for sure if you have a true balanced amp then keeping it all balanced would be the way to go.
But lots of guys are using dcs kit with no pre amps and find it fantastic, I found that yes it’s great, but with the 500dr, it really couldn’t wait to get it back as it adds the last bit of sparkle to it all, but obviously that bit of extra sparkle comes at a cost, it’s that cost only you can determine if its worth it or not, but for sure give the direct option a go.
As said before if I can answer any questions you have then please ask as I have tried quite a few different things with my dcs/naim system.
Cheers dunc
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It is among the top US brands. That was the integrated amps they recommended at the $20k/$45k price points until they heard the Diablo. It is certainly possible margins on Gryphon are better v D’Agostino and that is a factor but they don’t recommend the $45k model over the Diablo. I don’t like the bling of their equipment and suspect it’s an expensive part of their build. Not super excited about the Gryphon aesthetic either but it’s less detracting than the steampunk look.
A bit off topic but Naim classic design is my favorite.
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If he hadn’t said that the it’s possible the Roman Empire never would’ve happened which… ultimately… means no Netflix.
‘Fuller sound at low volume’ often begs for relatively efficient speakers, which Magicos are not. We enjoy our Magico A3’s at all volume levels with the 552/500, but whether the S5’s will be full enough at a volume you want to listen – really impossible to say. It’s a speakers + room dynamics equation.
A subwoofer is a great way to ‘cheat’ and get that bass at lower overall system volume. It has its pro’s and con’s but it’s one way to get that.
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I prefer the silver and copper versions though. Jules Verne meets Half-Life.
That would have been ‘the cast has died’.
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Given your larger room and high ceilings, the S5 may not cause the issues I foresaw in my smaller space with unusual ceiling geometry. I am reasonably familiar with the way my room contributes to the overall presentation so it was quite easy to draw the line where I did.
Your larger room could let many speakers shine but the flip side may be difficulty finding the performance you want at low volumes. I guess it depends what you consider low volume and whether you sit relatively near or far field. I generally listen around 75dbA average at my chair (according to iPhone app decibel X). Low volume is around 70dbA but if I have drop much below that I switch to headphones.
I wish naim would do a high end one box solution - it has to be within their capability….
Gary
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High end doesn’t really mean anything, it mostly means high price. Many high end hifi products are just marketed that way, to give an impression of exclusivity. And when it’s more expensive we automatically assume that it performs (much) better, which is often not backed by objective evidence.
In a technical sense the Nova is already very much high end as a single box solution, and the Atom HE + power amp similarly for a two box approach.
Just look at the insides of a Nova and try to tell what is not high end about it:
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If I had to guess . . . I would guess that that’s been or being considered. There IS a market for high end / more compact systems. A lounge full of hi fi sound and not full of hi fi racks. Sounds very 2020’s to me.
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guess @Farthings-cat “desires” a rival to (something like) Krell 300i or a Constellation Integrated 1.0.
Something above 10k
