When I moved into Denver I had to deal with soft water with low alkalinity. A friend gave me some pH 5.2 to try.
I mashed in a porter and its mash pH was 4.90 so I added 1 tablespoon of 5.2, stirred it in and gave it 5-10 minutes to do its magic and I rechecked the mash pH, it was 4.90. I added another Tbs, pH 4.90. Added a third Tbs, mash pH 4.94. Woohoo!
So, in my experience, pH5.2 doesn't work to increase the mash pH when brewing dark beers with low alkalinity water. YMMV