| Average Customer Rating: 5.0/5
Total Reviews: 2 |
Rating: 5
Too good not to audition
| Just got back from C.E.S. 2003. Spent a couple of days days at the High End Audio Show. Listened to dozens upon dozens of stratopherically priced systems, then heard this little integrated amp with the Spirit speakers. Wow! This little system produced more emotion, with greater clarity, than almost anything else I heard. It is extremely important that you suspend all your preconceived notions about price = performance. |
Rating: 5
Review the product, not the celeb
| Seems like Mark Levinson's storied past as a high priest of high end sparks some green-eyed problems for customers who haven't heard the more modestly priced Red Rose boxes, but enjoy leaping to conclusions. No, these four-figure units won't blow away the branded Levinson systems that fetch four and five times as much from no-holds-barred audiophiles with big stock portfolios, but the price-performance ratio is terrific. The Spirit amp matches the specs and sound of their original Rosette amp, but carries a slightly redesigned front panel, and foregoes some tweaks (like a remote) that are being made to the Rosette. At this price, the trade-off is still in the listener's favor. I auditioned a number of familiar CDs (no, NOT the SACDs that Levinson himself would prefer we embrace) on the Spirit system, and both amp and speakers sounded stunning, tackling everything from deep-dish chamber jazz to the Berlin Philharmonic to pipe organ with aplomb, and meeting or beating anything I've heard anywhere near this price. |
Buy From Amazon.com 
