Red Rose or Audio Prism?

Mark Levinson incorporated Audio Prism into Red Rose Music and the amps are re-vamped and badged Red Rose now. The company is perfectly legitimate. Regards, Richard.

Red Rose's electronics are the AudioPrism gear, in some cases a little tweaked up but essentially the same stuff. They have been around for a while before Levinson acquired their electronics business. I've always liked their components, which delivered excellent sound, and I think it sounds VERY good with the Red Rose small speakers.

Go to http://www.redrosemusic.com/ for more info on the company, including the designers (Victor Tiscanero for AudioPrism electronics, and Bo Bengtsson for speakers). Mark Levinson is the CEO. I owned an AudioPrism Debut II before it became Red Rose Model 2. Very nice sounding and good looking amp. It is a little over-priced now ($5000) that they raised the price but still a good amp that has many good features (among them, switcheable triode/ultralinear modes and ground loop hum elimination switches). It is still being made at the AudioPrism factory in Washington I believe. The build quality is first rate. The amp was rated Class B by Stereophile, and its flagship mono blocks was rated class A, so they are well regarded. I only solf it to go the OTL route. See http://home.att.net/~vtvu/audio/debutcomposite.jpg for pictures of my old amp. I prefer the gold finish.

Why would you want to change your video setup from 5.1 to 2 channels?

joe_b: why would you undergo laser surgery on your eyes instead of sticking to your trifocals? put another way: what is the sound of five hands clapping? FWIW, i really have no idea what mark (the man, not the name madrigal owns) is up to but couldn't resist the reply. I do have it on good authority that the red rose shop is pretty much tricked out and only plays music that sounds best on their limited-range speakers (think tas or s'phile has also noted this). kinda' like ensemble. ever been to one of their demos? as for me, i'm keeping my 8.2 ht setup 'til i hear better.

I've been to the Red Rose shop in New York. Both of their rooms at CES last week sounded similar and excellent. One may have been tricked out (at the SACD pavillion), but the other I think was not.

I wear reading glasses and laser surgery won't help. However, I just bought an entry level home theater system for my basement (with 5 speakers) and was wondering what wisdom I must have missed, as the surround systems I have heard seem to sound fine (with movies, that is).

Well yes, the two names are one company, some products are exclusive to Red Rose, some to AudioPrism. I can tell you that I just bought the new Red Rose Model 5 Integrated Amp, a hybrid design, and I think its the best sounding amp I've ever heard. The small R-3 speaker is also excellent, but nonetheless a small speaker. The folks at Red Rose are knowledgeable and helpful, and the tech support I got from the factory when a small problem surfaced was outstanding. I suspect they will be around for a long while, their products are excellent, and now will only get better.