Rosso Fiorentino Fiesole musical instruments

marvda1

INTRO

I would like to start this review out with a big shout out to our own Skip of Audio Thesis for bringing this line of speakers in for us to enjoy.
I first heard Rosso Fiorentino Elba speakers that skip had at the LSAF (Lone Star Audio Fest) last year. While I thought they sounded pretty good, I still had my Usher Mini 2 dmd to fall back on.

Now enter the Fiesole stand mounts, a week before the LSAF at 8 pm when I had just sat down to eat some KFC, I get a call from Skip asking if I wanted to come over and drink a few beers and listen to these new speakers he brought in for the show. Needless to say after gulping down the chicken I jumped in the car and away I went.
That night listening to speakers that had no time to fully breakin yet, I heard great vocals, imaging, soundstaging, timing, and tonality, but still i had my Ushers to fall back on.

Going into the LSAF I had been planning and saving to purchase a pair of $8k speakers that first appeared 3 years ago at the show. I got there Thursday night and struck a deal for the speakers (at least I thought) for a good price. As the the show went on and as I would drop by Skip's room more and more I began to doubt my pre made plans.
I have a pair of speakers with the same tweeter as the $8k speakers thus I knew that they could sound a little harsh at times so I was going to bring some music by and give them a good going over for the last time to test for imaging, tonality, sound stage, and upper end smoothness.
well I didn't get the chance to as the speakers were sold out from underneath me for the seller to get an extra $500. I was a little depressed then made my way back to Skip's room and talked a little with him and sat down and listened some more to the Fiesole's, when asked what I thought about the Fiesole's, Skip then planted the seed in my head for the purchase of the higher priced Fiesole's
The rest is history.

I am going to write this review in sections as listed below.

1. Intro (you're reading it)
2. Equipment and music used along with a description of the speakers
3. High end, Mid range, Bass breakdown
4. Tonality, Imaging, Sound stage, Pace, Balance beakdown
5. Overall impressions and final thoughts.

This may be spread out over a little time as I am headed to Cancun Thursday, but I'll try to get it all in before I get too drunk

http://www.rossofiorentino.com/en/home.asp

http://www.breathlessresorts.com/riviera-cancun

treitz3

Lookin' forward to it man. Rock on wit'yo' bad self!

Tom

halen

Marvin,

Can't wait to see your review. Have a great trip!

halen

marvda1

I threw some pretty goo equipment at the Fiesole's and they responded with sound made in heaven

For source I used a combination of the cayin venus CD-100i cdp as transport along with the Musical Paradise Mp-d2 tube dsd dac (wonderful combination).

Preamp is the excellent DeHavilland Ultraverve III preamp with upgraded Mundorf gold, silver, oil caps and various 6sn7 tubes.

Amplifiers used were the Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (78 watts) and Ayre V-6xe power amp (150 watts).

Interconnects used are the MG Audio Design Planus Cu2

Speaker cables used are the Cerious Graphene Extreme

Power cables used are from Cullen Cables, Six Sons Audio, and Swiss cables

Music used is as follows:

Ahmad Jamal - I Remember Duke, Hoagy & Strayhorn (great piano)
Heifetz - Double Concertos (Living Stereo label) my classical fix
Ronnie Earl - Healing Time (Telarc label) blues with a great sounding Hammond organ
Vanessa Fernandez - Use Me female vocals
Jeff Buckley - Grace male vocals with minimal instrument (guitar)

THE SPEAKERS

http://www.rossofiorentino.com/en/collections-fiesole.asp
"The Reference series represents the quintessential expression of RF's design where the concept of elegance, in technology and look, is seen as the key to performance."
Type:

2-way rear-ported stand mounted
Sensitivity:

86.5 dBSpl (2.83V/1m)
Nominal impedance:

8Ω (min 5Ω)
Freq. response (-3dB):

50Hz - 100kHz
Drivers:

1 x Ø165mm (6.5 in) Nomex diaphragm woofer
1 x Ø28mm (1.1 in) hand treated cloth soft dome tweeter
1 x ribbon diaphragm ultrasonic generator
Internal wiring:

Single wire, multistrand. High purity dense Silver coated high purity OFC (Van den Hul)
Terminals:

custom-made Rosso Fiorentino BP-01R: pure copper, rhodium plated (100% Nickel free)
Cabinet:

Solid high density fiberboard + internal damping elements. 10mm thick aluminium front panels. Asymmetric braced structure
Dimensions (HxWxD):

40 x 28 x 31 cm - (15.7 x 11 x 12 in)
Weight:

13 Kg (28.7 lb) each

Stands:
Sturdy high density fiberboard marble chips filled stand
- Steel disks on the top base for speaker and stand decoupling
- Adjustable spikes for accurate decoupling and different flooring needs


Weight: 12 Kg (26,5 lbs) each
Dimensions (HxWxD): 63x22x31,5 cm (24,8x8,7x12,4 inches)
Height with spikes and cones: 67cm (26,4 inches)

marvda1

well, i'm back. will try to finish up tonight.

voltz

A little Jet Lag? Try some more Tequila

marvda1

Time for the meat and potatoes, the music.

When I first listened to the Fiesoles one of the things that caught my ear was how they portrayed the sound of the piano.
When I got them home the first thing I found was some piano to play.
I know this just kills Skip as what I found was a jazz cd on the Telarc label by Ahmad Jamal titled I Remember Duke, Hoagy & Strayhorn ( Telarc CD-83339).

From cut number one, My Flower, to the last, Goodbye, I could hear the weight of the piano. Each note was separate and clear. The hammer striking the strings can clearly be heard.
One thing to listen for in piano reproduction is sympathetic vibrations, that lets say you strike middle c, you hear all the c's above it vibrate in unison.
But you know what....it just sounds real.

Mood change, a now popular demo cd is “Use Me” by Vanessa Fernandez:
Drum work at the beginning of “Be Thankful For What You Got” where you can hear the stretch of the skins on the drums with each hand slap is just unreal. Brush work on “Distant Lover” is so light and airy that it makes the hair on your body stand.
Some other quick notes are great voice on cut #5, the drums and guitar on cut # 6 are spooky.
Cut #7 is good toe tapping music. and then there is of course # 10, “Here But I'm Gone” I love the bass and drive on this song. Don't forget the guitar solo blow the dust off your woofers.

If you have ever heard a Hammond organ you know what I'm talking about, tonality in spades.
I used another Telarc cd, Ronnie Earl – Healing Time ( CD-83490).
A very good recording.

To get my classical on I picked Heifetz Double Concertos with violin.
Outstanding strings and full orchestra sound. This is on the Living Stereo label, great inexpensive music on hybrid sacd.
One last song I had to listen to was Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah, not the version Skip used to hook me on the Fiesoles, but great in it's own right. Voice just floats across the sound stage. I like the entire cd. Give it a try, the cd is entitled “Grace”.

EndersShadow

What about Snoop Dog, Skrillex, AC/DC, Vanila Ice and MC Hammer? How do they sound on em

txcoastal1

EndersShadow wrote: »

What about Snoop Dog, Skrillex, AC/DC, Vanila Ice and MC Hammer? How do they sound on em

Go ahead and mail those horns back to me

marvda1

EndersShadow wrote: »

What about Snoop Dog, Skrillex, AC/DC, Vanila Ice and MC Hammer? How do they sound on em

Elton John sounds great

txcoastal1

marvda1 wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

What about Snoop Dog, Skrillex, AC/DC, Vanila Ice and MC Hammer? How do they sound on em

Elton John sounds great

Ehh not my first choice

...John Denver

EndersShadow

txcoastal1 wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

What about Snoop Dog, Skrillex, AC/DC, Vanila Ice and MC Hammer? How do they sound on em

Go ahead and mail those horns back to me

Lol what? House of pain will sound GREAT through them I'm sure

I'm actually looking forward to starting that build after a bit more research on drivers.

The crossover is the tricky part so I'm debating going active to start and then once it's hammered down moving to a passive one.

marvda1

Conclusions:
Highs: open, airy, detailed, revealing. While not shrill sounding the super tweeter/tweeter combination will pick apart any link in your system.

Mids: tonally correct, very natural sounding. The mid range portrays instruments and voices in a lively true to life way.

Bass: While the bass is only rated to go down to 50 hz you feel you are missing bass.

Imaging/Soundstage: Speakers disappear with voices and instruments spread out over a wide and deep soundstage.

I was looking to replace speakers in my second system but after hearing the Fiesoles, I began to rethink
my whole musical outlook. Having had Ushers for a long time I thought I was through in my speaker hunt, at least in a price range I could afford as the Ushers are $5k. And now, blame it on Skip for shattering my world and also thank Skip for finding some rare gems in the audio world that we can enjoy.
Believe me when I say if you are looking to start out in the audio world or simply tweak what you already have give Skip a call at Audio Thesis but be warned when he gives you that first hit of the ole crack pipe with that drug, Audio Nervosa Earlitus you'll be hooked for life.

txcoastal1

So when do the Volterra's arrive

voltz

Welcome back Marvin, Hope you had a awesome time!

BTW thanks you for the Review as I have come to trust your ears.

marvda1

vacation started off great as i found a hundred dollar bill on the floor at the airport in cancun and got flashed by a couple of topless girls at the pool

txcoastal1

marvda1 wrote: »

vacation started off great as i found a hundred dollar bill on the floor at the airport in cancun and got flashed by a couple of topless girls at the pool

Obviously you were in a different place than KenB

tonyb

marvda1 wrote: »

vacation started off great as i found a hundred dollar bill on the floor at the airport in cancun and got flashed by a couple of topless girls at the pool

Now that's a great start to any vacation....or end, depending, lol

BTW...did you mean to say "you feel like your NOT missing any bass ?

voltz

I agree that I was not sure what you meant either about the bass.

Thinking you wanted more bass, is why your looking at the floor standing Volterra's?

P.s. at the LSAF Skip had the Bookies moving the curtains behind them till some people where looking behind the curtains to see if someone was moving them

It became one of the coolest parts of seeing other come into Skip's room and listen to the speakers and waiting for Skip to show them how he could make the curtains dance!

BTW yes these are a littler better then my Usher Mini X's but the bass is pretty cool already on both.

voltz

[/quote]

The Fiesole can do well even in a large room but they don't get you that deep bass and they never will. Their -3db is 50 hz. The Volterra pulls it down to a -3db of 38 hz and should do very well in Marvin's room.

The beauty with the bass the Fiesole produces is in its detail. There is texture to the notes that sucks you deeper into the music. While it won't dig, it does have presence and a realism to it where you don't necessarily miss the lower frequencies as much as you would think.
[/quote]

Agree, I think I never felt the lack of Bass because to me they had more then I was normally use too.

They are to me something special in the realm of speakers like what I always heard about bookies like the Joseph Audio Pulsar's to be, though I have never had a chance to hear the Pulsar's.

It is always pretty cool to hear Bookies that can take your breath away and make you think to yourself -> I could own these some day

marvda1

tonyb wrote: »

marvda1 wrote: »

vacation started off great as i found a hundred dollar bill on the floor at the airport in cancun and got flashed by a couple of topless girls at the pool

Now that's a great start to any vacation....or end, depending, lol

BTW...did you mean to say "you feel like your NOT missing any bass ?

oops, that is what i meant. too many drinks by the pool

marvda1

look see

tonyb

marvda1 wrote: »

look see

PSOVLSK

tonyb wrote: »

marvda1 wrote: »

look see

Slightly????

You're no real audiophile.

xsmi

Way above my pay grade, but man I'm gonna have to hear a pair. I wish Dallas wasn't so far away. Thank you for the review Marvin.

marvda1

i asked rosso the question is the volterra just the fiesole with a sub or are there other enhancements to the volterra. here is the answer.

Dear Marvin,
as a first approximation we can say that the Volterra is a Fiesole+sub but actually that is not totally correct. They both have a lot to share however the Volterra has a slightly different crossover and the acoustics presentation is that of a floor stander speaker. Lets say that if you liked the Fiesole you will love the Volterra.

Thanks and best regards,
Francesco Rubenni

txcoastal1

marvda1 wrote: »

i asked rosso the question is the volterra just the fiesole with a sub or are there other enhancements to the volterra. here is the answer.

Dear Marvin,
as a first approximation we can say that the Volterra is a Fiesole+sub but actually that is not totally correct. They both have a lot to share however the Volterra has a slightly different crossover and the acoustics presentation is that of a floor stander speaker. Lets say that if you liked the Fiesole you will love the Volterra.

Thanks and best regards,
Francesco Rubenni

And since when can you trust a dago

txcoastal1

My comment was to roust Tony , not an insult

tonyb

txcoastal1 wrote: »

marvda1 wrote: »

i asked rosso the question is the volterra just the fiesole with a sub or are there other enhancements to the volterra. here is the answer.

Dear Marvin,
as a first approximation we can say that the Volterra is a Fiesole+sub but actually that is not totally correct. They both have a lot to share however the Volterra has a slightly different crossover and the acoustics presentation is that of a floor stander speaker. Lets say that if you liked the Fiesole you will love the Volterra.

Thanks and best regards,
Francesco Rubenni

And since when can you trust a dago

Hey now....LMAO.

I'm very trustworthy.....Dago's aren't in the garbage collecting business for no reason.

txcoastal1

So we can trust in making a good pie, and taking out the garbage...duly noted

marvda1

someone should buy a pair of these!!