This should be listed under “not so favorite demo”

Anyone auditioned Red Rose Music (Mark Levinson’s) products?
Recently I walked into their store in Chicago http://www.redrosemusic.com/dealer.shtml to audition one of their tube amps and was stunned by what I saw. No, its not the price tag even though it could’ve been if I didn’t look them up in their website prior to walking in. I was greeted by a salesman to a listening room which has their Model 5 integrated tube amp priced at $8K and a pair of floor standing speaker (Classics) priced at $8K. I popped in one of my own CD into a Sony CD player (SCD-XA777ES, $3K) in the room and was about to sit down with a good deal of curiosity and excitement. I was thinking, “Wow, I’m about to listen to sound coming from $19K system”. The salesman said to enjoy and closed the glass door. Just before I set down, I was stopped by squeaking, clunking and air turbulence noise coming from the ceiling just above the chair. When I looked up, I saw a supply air louver. Then I looked around the room only to realize that all the walls are painted gypsum board and no acoustic panels of any sort. Above that room was employee office space but without any acoustic insulation so each time someone takes a step, I can hear it loud and clear. By this time, the music was already playing and I wasn’t sure what to make of this demo experience. My jaw dropped. If someone saw me through that glass door, he / she may think that I’m amazed by the sound coming from the speakers.

I did not stay for long and as I was leaving the store I asked myself, “What‘s Mark Levinson up to?” Supposedly these people know what they are doing when it comes to audio (& video) but to set up $19K worth of equipment in an environment like that, there’s got to be a reason. Basically I came up with two scenarios that may explain this.

1. These people don’t really know what they are doing.

2. These people know what they are doing and beyond. Perhaps the potential buyers of Red Rose products are already well aware of Mark Levinson’s line and come to the store to see and feel (touch) the products before taking out their credit cards. By having a listening room as such, keeps the less potential buyers like myself from crowding up the place.

Any gunslingers want to take a shot at what real reason may be?

Two years ago when I heard about Outlaw’s separates, I didn’t think of myself as a potential buyer and was happy with my base model Yamaha HT receiver. Today I own Outlaw’s separates so Red Rose ought to leave the options open if scenario #2 is really the case.