Mark Levinson: Red Rose Music-anyone heard this?


In the most recent edition of the "musicdirect" catolog there is a write-up and recommendation for Mark Levinson's Hybrid SACD, Red Rose Music (which, btw, is the name of his newest hi-end equipment company). I won't go into all of the marketing hype, but they make it sound like an excellent reference recording. Before I plop down my $20 I was wandering if anyone has heard this and your opinion (s). Thanks!
Steve H

shoff
I assume you're refering to the first SACD release in the series. It's a somewhat eclectic collection of music and spoken word. The music is generally a mix of jazz and classical, nicely done but not really mainstream in appeal. The album is described as having been recorded using the full capabilities of the SACD process (DSD, etc.), and the sound is good. Much, if not all, of the recording took place in the Red Rose Music store in Manhattan, and the recording must provide a good sense of venue acoustics, although I am not familiar with the sound of the location, and without extended listening I cannot attest to the realism of the reproduction. It did sound natural when I had a relatively brief audition of the R3 speakers at this store, listening to material from this disc. I consider the disc one of a number of recent recordings that use state of the art SACD technology, with several cuts that would serve pretty well as demos.
I have this SACD. A very good recording both SACD and Redbook. It has a wide assortment of music or spoken words. If it were a reference recording, it would be perfect because of its variety. I state that it is a very good recording though since purchasing it, Recbecca Pidgeon's "The Raven" and Diana Krall's "When I Look into Your Eyes" are both excellent and sonically better. The Levinson CD is not something that you can listen to all the way through, at least I can't. I certainly don't regret the purchase and would recommend it to others in this crazy hobby.