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The Best Show Reporting
Coverage of CES 2000 from Las Vegas, NV --
Jan. 6-9, 2000
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| SoundStage!
LIVE Standout Room - Red Rose Music |
Mark Levinson's departure from Cello led to the
creation of his new company, Red Rose Music. CES 2000 premiered the first Red Rose system
shown outside of the first Red Rose Music retail store located in one of New York City's
most prestigious art museums. (Red Rose preamplifiers and amplifiers were formerly
AudioPrism products. They became Red Rose products when Mark Levinson purchased AudioPrism
in November, 1999.) The system shown at the CES consisted of the Red Rose R3 two-way
monitors ($3000 per pair) with a 6.5" Dynaudio woofer and a proprietary Red Rose
ribbon tweeter mounted to permit rear radiation above the woofer box. The tube preamp was
the Red Rose Model 3 Silver Signature ($10,000, or $3000 in the standard version). The
tube amplifier was the Red Rose Model 2 Silver Signature ($7000, or $3500 in the standard
version). Cabling was also from Red Rose: 660 speaker cable and Silver 1 interconnect.
Cable prices were not available, but they were said to be very reasonable, in the range of
$10 per foot for the speaker cable. The sound of of the Red Rose system was very fine,
with exemplary ease and detail on top combined with surprising boom/bump-free extension on
the bottom for such small loudspeakers. Refinement, transparency, and musicality were
notable, giving the system an attractive, sophisticated musical presence. Mark Levinson
and tube electronics -- who would have guessed?
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