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What happened to Red Rose R3?

What happened to the Red Rose R3, after more than a few great reviews in the major mags it is gone from the red rose web site. What gives? Was it a problem with the speaker or did they just think that the new "rosebud" was better? Anyone heard both the rosebud and the r3 and can give a comparison?
south_park
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
I heard the Rosebud this weekend with the new Red Rose integrated amplifier and a Sony SACD 777? player. I did not like the system.

This may have something do do with the fact that the Rosebuds were on very short stands pointing inward and upward which, to my ear, gave a very vague image. Perhaps lower to the floor enhances the bass but the whole thing didn't sound very special to me.

On the other hand, I heard the R-3's on taller stands (eye/ear level when seated) with the original Red Rose tube gear with an SCD-1 and thought the whole thing sounded fabulous -- really musical -- and I could have listened all day.

The new equipment is supposedly "improved". Go figure. Maybe my ears are made of tin and I should give up this hobby.
andypaulden
6 posts
 
What actually happened was the manufacturer of the woofers for the R3 (Dynaudio I think) stopped supplying Red Rose, and so the Rosebud was born. I havent heard the R3's, but when I auditioned 3 top cd players, the Rosebuds were used in the demo, and I have to say, they were outstanding. I had been using Dynaudio contour 1.1's and Mirage OM-7's, and the Rosebuds are in a different league to both.
dan53e1
20 posts
 
I believe that it's based on a new marketing strategy. They've designed the Rosebuds to go with their ultra-slimline integrated amp. The R3s were not very efficient whereas the Rosebuds are much higher efficiency and designed to accompany the new line of electronics at their given price point. There was a review with Mark Levinson in S'phile where I believe he mentions something about that.
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