New RS520 owner

ROSE Products RS520
#1

Just bought an RS520, I took a bit of a chance having read these forums and the problems some users here have suffered. I can only say, wow this thing is incredible. I have a really hi end hifi system but bought this as a stand alone for another room. It is a very impressive piece of kit and sounds wonderful and is the best streamer I have heard and improves substantially on the Naim Atom it replaces.
It worked straight out of the box and no issues so far, but only 48 hrs in.
I was expecting the rose app to be clunky from what I have read here but it is brilliant, some minor counter intuitive stuff but overall a great interface.

For a newish brand it beats the pants off the Atom which has rave reviews. I am so impressed I have ordered an RS130 to replace my holo audio red in the main system.

The build quality is great and the screen is stunning even if a purist might say screens affect sound quality.

I do not post this to undermine the problems others have undoubtedly experienced, just to give a little credit to Hifi Rose for where this product is now.

I hope this product continues to perform as it has so far, Well done Rose

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#2

Ianmuir,

Welcome. You will find that most people who post have some sort of problem. The software could be a lot better but itā€™s very stable and full featured. Itā€™s just poorly laid out in its decision tree structure but it works. The hardware is bulletproof and stable.

I have four HiFi Rose devices starting with the RS 130 and RD 160. I know all their faults and love them anyway.

You will too.

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#3

Tell me a little more about the 130, is it a bit jump in SQ over the 520, thanks for your response

#4

Ianmuir,

First, Iā€™m old, 83 my hearing doesnā€™t go above 14k Hz so much of the quality is wasted on me. Iā€™ve said in the past that when youā€™re young and canā€™t afford the best audio equipment, you have the best hearing which could have really appreciated the good gear. When youā€™re old and can afford the best, you canā€™t hear it. Such is life. Still, the RS 130 is a reference piece of gear. Iā€™d buy it again in a heartbeat.

I have two 520ā€™s and I really like the sound of their ganfet amplifiers. I am using the RS 130 with an RD 160 DAC and then feeding two Eigentakt amplifiers feeding Popori Electrostatic speakers. Better sound? Yes. Big jump, no but I think the 520 is pretty good already.

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#8

As an owner of a 130, I agree with Boris. I know when I am playing my 130 I am actually listening to the DAC in my Mac preamp and everything downstream. I never expected it to have its own sound. I just expected it to not get in the way.

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#9

Aww, our ā€œbits arenā€™t bits, I swear I hear itā€ brigade is in force.

#10

Its interesting to compare a GaNFET against a Purifi amp.

I suspect that they will both sound very similarā€¦ meaning you probably wouldnā€™t hear the difference.

I heard those Popori speakers at AXPONA and they are impressive.

#11

Smegel,

You are correct they sound the same to me- very good in both cases. Iā€™m not able to tell that they are Class D.

Iā€™m trying to find subwoofers that match the Popori WR-2ā€™s quick response. Any ideas or suggestions?

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#12

There are a coupleā€¦
When I bought my Mon Acoustics at last yearā€™s AXPONA I spoke w them and they recommended REL and I forget the other brand.

If you watch YouTube videos, watch Nemo Propaganda. He tends to specialize in Subsā€¦ if you post a question in the comments, he might respond or if youā€™re on Discord, you could go on his channel and ask.

You could also ask Popori or the dealer you bought them from.
Audiophile Junkie (Another YT audiophileā€¦ loves the Popori and when I visited their room last year he popped in and was answering questions about them. Very knowledgeable.)

Nemo just dropped his best of 2025. Of course his price no object would be the REL S850 ( I think) but then mentioned for a less expensive option the RSL which IIRC was the other brand recommended by Mon Acousticā€¦

#13

Hi Ron,
I am from Germany.

Please would you inform me about your Purifi Amps? Who is the manufacturer of the Implementation?

Thanks

#14

@Ianmuir
Welcome to the forum !

I purchased my RS520 in April ā€˜23, replacing a Naim Uniti.
I would concur 100% with your comments about build and sound quality.
As regards to software, the Rose Connect App is absolutely fine for my needs ( Qobuz, Rose radio, CD, RoseTube ).

I respect that other Rose users may have different priorities to mine ( e.g. Spotify Lossless, Amazon Music HD) and are frustrated by the lack of progress in implementing them.
That said, the RS520:continues to give me and the misses countless hours of listening ( and viewing ) pleasure and I hope the same for you.

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#15

Thanks for the welcome martini, I agree it may not have everything for everyone (what product does) but what it has is enough for me and the sound quality really shocked me. I buy some really top of the range stuff, cos I am an idiot that wayšŸ˜‚, but bang for buck the 520 takes some beating in my view. This is especially now in uk as price seems to have dropped substantially, donā€™t know if itā€™s just a short term thing or if there is a new product in the pipeline.Got mine for just over 2k with the VAT off

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#16

Great price and well done !
I paid Ā£3300 back in ā€˜23 but the dealer gave me a very fair P/X on the Naim so that eased the pain.
No regrets, itā€™s a great piece of kit.

#17

@Ianmuir

Thank you all for your feedback and for sharing your listening experiences with Rose products.
Weā€™re glad to hear that many of you are enjoying the RS520 and RS130, and we appreciate both the praise and the constructive thoughts. Your input helps us continue improving our products and software.

We hope your Rose continues to bring you great music and enjoyment.

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#18

Thank you, still awaiting the arrival of my Rs130 and hope it will be as good an experience as my 520 is so far. Credit were credit is due, these products are innovative and different front many others and my experience so far is a very good one :+1:

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#19

I, too, had picked up an RS520 and was very impressed with the sound quality. I have it hooked up in the living room to a pair of MoFi Sourcepoint 10 ME speakers. I am very pleased with that setup. I ended up picking up a used set of RS150b and RA180 for my main listening room, and then a pair of MoFi Sourcepoint 888 speakers. I am quite pleased with the sound from both systems. I even reconnected my pair of Magenapan 3.6Rs to the RA180 as well, since it has two speaker outputs. In bridged mode the RA180 powers the Maggies very well, much better than I thought that it would. Iā€™ve been very pleased with the HiFi Rose gear that I have. Do I wish that the software was a bit friendlier, it has better subwoofer integration, and had more streaming sources? Yes. But for sound quality and build, I am very satisfied. I just use Roon to do most of my streaming and it makes up for a lot of the things that Rose is missing. Enjoy your listening, it gets addictive.

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#20

Hi Ian,

Nice to read that you are happy with your RS520. Iā€™ve had mine now since they were released and I have been extremely happy with the performance.

Lozza

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