Red Rose Music Spirit IA-1 35-Watt Stereo Integrated Amplifier

by Red Rose Music

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 4.5 x 8.5 inches ; 13 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000068V29
• Item model number: Spirit 1A-1
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,024 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 21, 2002

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Red Rose Music Spirit integrated amplifier is a high-quality, solid-state, integrated power amplifier with four high-level stereo inputs. The Spirit puts out 35 watts per channel (from 20 to 20,000 Hz, .25 percent distortion into 8-ohm speakers) and is designed for use with high-resolution loudspeakers such as the Spirit studio monitors to reproduce the full sonic detail of programs from SACDs, LPs, and traditional sources such as compact discs and FM tuners. (The Spirit amplifier and speakers are also sold as a system, including speaker cable, finished in either rosewood or French sycamore.)

The front-panel selector buttons change the current program source; a blue LED lights when the corresponding signal is currently active. While marked to signify common audio sources such as "SACD" and "phono," all four sets of stereo inputs are identical, high-level circuits. The Spirit amplifier does not include a phono stage--you must use an outboard phono preamplifier if you intend to use a turntable source.

The rear-panel "line out" connectors are unbalanced outputs that carry the same program that is currently selected at the front panel. The level of these outputs is not affected by the amplifier's volume control.

The right and left binding-post speaker connectors accept spade lugs, pins, banana plugs, or unterminated speaker cables. If you plan to use more than one pair of speakers with your amplifier, do not try to use a speaker whose impedance is less than 8 ohms.

This Red Rose Music amplifier is warranted to be free of defects for five years after original purchase. If the amplifier fails to perform within original specifications during the warranty period, Red Rose Music will repair or replace it at its option.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review the product, not the celeb, August 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Rose Music Spirit IA-1 35-Watt Stereo Integrated Amplifier (Electronics)

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.

To the skeptics weighing in against the designs because of Levinson's involvement (ironic, in light of his rep among high end merchants and consumers), a little research (ever heard of Google?) offers food for thought. The underlying design work reflects the innovations of a Swedish speaker designer, Bo Bengtssen, and an American electronics engineer, Victor Tiscareno; Levinson's primary contribution, beyond his name and investment, was pairing Bengtssen's ribbon-tweeter speaker strategy with Tiscareno's purist approach to amplifier design, and encouraging these collaborators to shoot for great sound at modest prices. (Red Rose can and does offer more exalted performance at substantially higher price points, via the higher end units they sell at their own boutique in NYC.)

You don't get this level of sound at these prices without sacrifices, but those I could detect were essentially issues of scale and convenience. The Spirit speakers won't fill a ballroom or a two-storey living room in a McMansion, and the ribbons are highly directional, but sampled in the sort of modest living rooms that real world occupants inhabit, on-axis, they reproduce music beautifully. The amp's minimalist input scheme won't support a wide number of sources, and vinyl loyalists will probably need to spend as much on a separate phono pre-amp as they did on the amp if they want to use a turntable; in other words, the Spirit resembles most of the high-end separates that pointy-headed alpha audiophiles applaud and willingly underwrite with even bigger checks. You got a problem with that?

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too good not to audition, January 22, 2003

By 

[e-mail] (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Rose Music Spirit IA-1 35-Watt Stereo Integrated Amplifier (Electronics)

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.
In the right room, a fairly small one, this system will provide uncolored, superb sound. Needless to say I have ordered the amp and the speakers, in French sycamore, no less....can't wait.