Hello,
I’d like to hear from users who have upgraded their RS150B to an RS151. Is the upgrade worthwhile in terms of sound? Is there a significant difference in sound between the two models?
Do you regret the change?
I’d appreciate any feedback.
Thanks,
Hi,
Honestly, I don’t think you will notice any real difference in sound quality between the RS150B and the RS151. The upgrade is more about new features and design changes rather than a dramatic sonic improvement.
The real advantage at the moment is that the RS150B can be purchased much cheaper, which makes it a very strong option.
Best regards.
I’d stay away from the RS151. It is very glitchy.
And Hi Fi Rose does not support this unit at all
I have one that’s a little over 7 months old and is not compatible with class A Amplification! Lol
Misleading advertising and total unawareness as to its function and compatibility…sad but true!
You’re misleading people. Just because you’re having problems doesn’t mean everyone who owns this device does. In my country, a lot of people bought this player, and the distributor hasn’t heard any complaints from people because they would have posted them on our local forums as well.
I also have this device, plus two of my friends, and so far none of us have any issues that would make us regret the purchase.
We also need to add that there are people who own these devices but don’t write on this forum that they’re satisfied. There are probably many such people, so I suggest a bit of distance, because this device is better than the RS 150B in many respects, starting with the sound itself.
Lol. Just my experience…lol
No misleading about lack of support…just saying
As modestly speculate that I’m the only one your just way too funny 
🫢:shushing_face:
I didn’t say you were the only one, but you wrote as if it was happening to everyone, which it isn’t. In reality, it’s not Rose’s fault, but your distributor’s, who is refusing to repair it. But if the truth is on your side, there’s a court, and you’ll definitely win, and they’ll bear the costs of such a lawsuit. At least that’s how it is in Europe.
In your country, the US, the first shipment of the RS 151 sold out before the unit even arrived in the US. Several people from the US have asked when the next shipments will be, and there don’t seem to be dozens of people from the US having problems with this player.
If you believe the distributor isn’t honoring the warranty, file a lawsuit, and the truth will prevail. It’s time-consuming, and I understand your frustration, but you also need to look at the number of players sold, how many people have problems, and how many of those are due to the poor approach of the distributor of a given brand in that country.
In the works… In other words way ahead of ya…
Listen I did enjoy the brand and it’s initial newauce.
The total down side is time… This has had issues since June and it was delivered to me at the end of March …
Furthermore it’s obvious as to your liking I don’t diss you but you are quite quick to. So beware as to if or when you are violated … Best of luck
If you listen with your wallet, possibly.
Hi, do you have visibility/knowledge of such numbers?
This is evident in my country, as players arrived in stores, where they were mostly sold and more were ordered. I read online that this model is also selling very well in the US, and as I mentioned, the first shipment practically sold out without even seeing the players. There were people here asking about further shipments to the US.
In my opinion, this player is better than its predecessor in many respects, and it cost the same as the previous model, so in that respect, it’s also a plus.
I also think its price is good compared to many other players, and there are many players that aren’t much better but cost 100-200% more than Rose, such as the Aurender A15 or Lumin P1. Not to mention players from companies like Esoteric or DCS, where the prices are truly high.
dCS (Burmester, Wadax, Berkeley, etc. etc.) are pure Veblen goods. They are bought not because they are somehow “better” (well, casework is usually better, but how much milled aluminum do you really need?) but precisely because they cost a lot.
151 is a perfectly fine (when the software works, anyway) streamer. And it has a big screen, which is a nice selling point. Sounds as good as any other ESS-based DAC using reference design does though, and you won’t pick it apart from the 150 (or the 250, for that matter) unless you are looking at it. With 150B selling for quite a discount (while they last) it’s a much better deal though.
True, I have a RS151 and use it witch a class A mark levinson pre/end amp and it works perfectly. Besides that also an bluesound node x for comparison reasons. (The previous streamer). I’m very happy with my RS151.
Advantages for RS151:
Personally I’ve bought all my four Rose devices with a big discount (but with warranty), because they are discontinued models (ok, for the RS451 I got very good offer for trade-in).
Also I would never expect a real better SQ in using a newer model, especially I’m using always external DACs for them.
They just got a firmware update a couple weeks ago. And there’s nothing relevant in Android 12 that 151 uses that is currently missing in the older Android other Rose products use. Tidal Connect, Spotify Lossless, etc. can be implemented on those just as well.
It’s a DAC, not a power amp.
Apart from the 160, which is… not exactly state of the art… there are no audible differences (unless you happen to have enough noise floating through the air to make balanced connections useful) between them. Not that an external DAC would be better either.
do you’ve a RS201E → no firmware updates anymore and I’m sure, that also the support for the older model RS150, R250 or RS130 will stop in the future…
no it’s a streamer with a DAC and the streamer is running on android with some apps, which are needing more or less power (also DSPs etc.)
You don’t know, if in the future only on newer models with a newer Android features will/can integrated or not.
My points are fully objective and I’m not rating.
Of course. Nothing is supported forever. Support for 151 will stop at some point in the future as well. For now, they sell them and support them. And nothing about their OS version prevents Rose from implementing new services.
They have enough CPU power (nothing to do with OS) to implement new services.
Which has nothing to do with OS version currently.
Sorry to say, but you need to have some idea how things work before you can form an objective opinion.
I have a RS150 for 2 years and have experienced numerous issues. The worst has been the player can not find the Dac. Zero support!! Read a post several weeks ago with a lame excuse Rose will do better going forward.
What about folks like me who have not been able to enjoy the player. Several weeks ago I purchased a Schitt Dac and easily connected to the 150. My listening issues have completely gone away. I’m not a engineer & have basic knowledge of two channel
I am very disappointed with Rose & will no longer purchase their products again. BTW, I am a McIntosh fan & the support is terrific by phone, email & text. That’s what I expect when I invest in high end components.
HiFi Rose is not high end. It is just priced as if it were. Many of us learned this only after purchasing. You should consider this possibility.
“High End” is a meaningless classification anyway. There are tons of “high end” gadgets, some significantly more expensive than anything Rose makes, that are no good at all.
Rose devices, as far as the sound quality goes, are as good as anything, high end or not, although far from being state of the art, and depending on whether one is willing to pay for the large screen, they may or may not be a good value. Support and software are neither here nor there though.
Decidedly more pedestrian (price wise; on features they are far ahead) Wiim or Bluesound somehow manage to do both better. When one of my PowerNodes developed noise in subwoofer output (something that Rose does not even have; so I guess it’s good it can’t have that issue? ) they had replaced it for free, even though it was out of warranty. How’s Rose handling even warranty repairs?..