atelier 13 audio
Rosso Fiorentino
FIESOLE 2
... driven by music ...
ROSSO FIORENTINO FIESOLE
Pure Performance in a Compact Size
It’s the modern connoisseur’s choice, a simple pair of compact high-end passive hi-fi speakers able to bring superb, breathtakingly realistic sound even to small listening rooms.
Design
Fiesole is a classic Rosso Fiorentino, our first design with which our company started back in 2007. Since its first release Fiesole has been greatly appreciated for its pristine sound, musicality and distinctive design. We knew it wouldn’t be easy to update our ‘founder model’.
Fiesole series 2 is therefore the result of the implementation of our latest technologies and expertise always carried out with great respect for the achievements reached by its predecessor.
Fiesole was the first Rosso speaker to implement the concept of using mechanically different materials in one composite structure where each material absorbs and damps the resonant frequency of another material in the system. The result of this ‘team work’ is a cabinet incredibly still and firm where panel vibration modes are drastically reduced revealing great micro and macro dynamic details in the sound.
This concept has been further developed in the Fiesole series 2 by adding extra aluminium panels on the sides, new and advanced internal damping pads and a bracing system that, implementing a firm connection with the midwoofer magnet, significantly reduces the transmission of unwanted vibrations from the driver to the front baffle.
Fiesole is a two-way rear vented design. All the transducers are held in place in the rigid and damped sandwich front baffle made of thick aluminium and HDF layers.
The 6.5” woofer is powered by a lightweight long-throw voice coil and a vented ferrite magnet system. Its cone material is Nomex paper and provides great stiffness and excellent damping properties showing a very smooth response at mid-high frequencies. Inside the enclosure different types of absorbing material together with a highly scattering sound surface take care of the modal resonances voicing the midwoofer with an exceptional neutrality.
At the top of the front baffle sits the “ribbon/soft dome” section, a Rosso trademark, which combines the silk dome tweeter with our new ribbon ultrasonic generator for an amazing detailed and extended high frequency response.
The wide dispersion of the new ribbon ultrasonic generator perfectly complements the smooth and detailed Italian 28mm neodymium silk dome tweeter and starts to function at around 30 kHz and goes all the way up to 100kHz. The resulting wide-bandwidth performance greatly enhances the “atmosphere” and naturalness of the reproduced sound, giving it a truly three-dimensional quality. Nowadays, the highly extended frequency response found in the Fiesole is even more interesting, with the increasing diffusion of high-resolution digital formats alongside vinyl.
With speakers as ambitious as the Rosso Fiorentino models, attention to detail comes naturally. In order to optimise the retrieval of low level detail in the music we decided to design our own binding posts, selecting our own mix of precious materials and carefully checking each step of production. We are proud to say that this whole process is made in Italy and partly in our own laboratory
$ 9,300 per pair
$ 1,700 per pair / dedicated Fiesole stands
$ 800 per pair / Premium Finish - Monitors & $400 for Stands
Specifications
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Type : 2.5 -way rear-ported standmount
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Sensitivity : 87 dBspl (2.83V, 1m)
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Nominal impedance : 8Ω (minimum 5Ω)
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UHF Driver : 1 x ribbon diaphragm
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HF Driver : 1 x ø 28mm (1.1 in) silk dome neodymium tweeter
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M/LF Driver : 1 x ø 165mm (6.5 in) paper diaphragm
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Frequency response (±3dB) : 45 Hz – 100 kHz
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Typical in-room bass resp. : -6dB @39Hz)
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Crossover frequencies : 2.2 kHz / 30 kHz
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Recommended power : 50W – 150W into 8Ω with unclipped sound signal
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Cabinet : 3 different internal absorbent materials / multi-layer composite construction comprised of aluminium panels, solid HDF fiberboard and rubber damping elements
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Height : 1065mm (36.4 in) incl. RF stand
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Width : 259mm (9.3 in)
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Depth : 315mm (11.4in)
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Net weight : 20 Kg (44 lb) each / with stands : 32 Kg (70.5 lb)
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Cabinet finish : black matte coated aluminium front baffle / exclusive RF silky matte black coating / leather covering on middle lateral panels
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Custom leather covering
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Other finishes on request
what they say ...
PTA / Parttimeaudiophile
Eric Franklin Shook | May 2019
Derek “Skip” Skipworth of Audio Thesis was showing Norma Audio electronics, Rosso Fiorentino loudspeakers, and Star Sound Technologies support systems. This exact system would have easily made my top-five list of AXPONA 2019 — had I made it to their room before the show’s end.
Thankfully I have a second chance to hear this jaw-dropping system at length over the Lone Star Audio Fest weekend. Everything about this room screams refinement and detail. If you want to set yourself up with a benchmark sound at the next hi-fi show, try starting with an Audio Thesis room.
The Fiesole, is considered a Rosso Fiorentino cornerstone product. Sitting in the upper middle of the existing product line-up, it represents some of the companies most advanced technology, in a small and seemingly full-range package.
The Fiesole starts with a 6.5-in Nomex woofer that is is held in place by means of a vibration-damping system. It comes standard with a ribbon ultrasonic generator and detailed 28mm hand-treated silk dome tweeter. The ribbon ultrasonic generator starts to function at around 22 kHz and goes all the way up to 100 kHz. The Crossover is state-of-the-art designed by Rosso Fiorentino. Further, special attention went into the structure of the enclosure. Fiesole was the first Rosso Fiorentino speaker to implement the concept of using mechanically different materials to render the cabinet incredibly still and inert. Aluminum, high density fibreboard (HDF), viscoelastic elastomers, steel, all combined together to create a solid cabinet structure.
The Sound
Insight was the name of the game. Clean and clear, like fresh water. Nothing was left out of the presentation. Most notably for a speaker this size, was the bass. It wasn’t the end-all-be-all of bookshelf monitor low-end reach. However, the Fiesole had superb control over the bones and structure of the bass that was present. Did they reach low? Yes, but not quite like true floor-standers. Are they more than enough to compete with floor-standers? Yes ... but it depends on taste.
Music Emotion - The Netherlands
Ruud Jonker
Listening
An important starting point in audio is that a system that has been thrown down cold out of the box and placed in an acceptable acoustic environment should be able to immediately deliver roughly 85-90% of the performance, but that that performance must also be convincing.... must be.
This must be done without special cables, filters and other paraphernalia. An 'educated guess' must have been made in advance about a reasonable match between the components. So you just have to know (or calculate) what you are going to do and why. If things don't work out, then the match is not good or there are major technical problems.
Holy Grail
The holy grail is basically a fictive concept. Reality representation is impossible for the time being. Yet that reality can be described by a list of properties. The fact is that every system is a kind of "partial grail". You cannot put a system together that has all the desirable features in it. A system around the Fiesole can be just as much a "holy grail" as a line array driven by ten kilowatts. Both represent a different subset from the list of properties and have their own charm.
The Fiesole, however, came close to the "holy grail" during the listening sessions. You should give it a listen. It's the kind of "stellar performance" every audiophile dreams of.
The perceived key features include a truly crushing performance in staging, space, depth, focus and imaging. Apparently the acoustic phase relationship between the drivers is very good. Dynamics and Impulses just sing ! The system around the Fiesole immediately scored at a very high level. The tonal balance is exactly right. There is no hint of 'irrational' bass boom. The bass is surprisingly deep, is absolutely impressive,. Nonetheless, below 50 Hz there is a little less to experience but, Incidentally, this is not something that is experienced as a loss. Only if you know the program material well and listen on systems that descend straight down to 20 Hz, will you notice the loss of the lowest octaves.
In the low end, the Fiesole has slightly less dynamic drive than in the region above 250 Hz. This means that modern music, classical in larger formations and the lowest octaves of a grand piano are slightly less detailed, but is nonetheless presented in a fair way. The Fiesole can therefore organize larger-scale music events with some conviction, but excels, like most minis, especially with the smaller-scale 'happenings'.
Hans Pol (Analogue Audio Products), who came by to have a listen, of course had a 'mean' test disc with him. Those are the type of recordings that only critics and other insiders know about and with which you get a tone of about 25-30 Hertz. The 'beastly' passage was simply reflected by the Fiesole with no hint of any hesitation or reticence. This is partly because the tube-based Sonore preamplifier has the –3 dB point at 5 Hz and, in contrast to almost all tube preamps, simply outputs the bass in phase and with full power. The magical limit was reached by controlling the Fiesole with a Sonore preamp and McIntosh tube monos. This resulted in an experience unprecedented in sound, space, detail and dynamics, with the final result of the feeling that there was no electronics between the recording and the playback.
It breathed with an unprecedented transparency. An extremely pure reproduction, without any form of artificiality became audible.
Conclusion
Può abbassare un po ’la musica per favore?
(can you turn the music down abit, please ?)
Mmmm ... you won't be asking that easily with the Fiesole. This loudspeaker has the X factor and invites you to keep listening. Anyone who hears the Fiesole would swear that there is a bona-fide 3-way floorstanding in the room. The Fiesole easily handles large scale Mahler works, church organ pieces by Bach, or heavy-beat dance music, but where the Fiesole feels completely at home is when restituting small ensemble music ... string quartets, male or female vocals, grand piano, spanish guitar, non-western music, tango, jazz and blues.
It 'speaks these musical languages' with an unprecedented realism and appeal.
The Fiesole sounds extremely linear and homogeneous, sets a fairytale-like stage, is dynamic, is neutral and has amazing communication properties. You also get a visually distinctive and elegant form, far from the 'clan of beasts' that consist mostly of the obligatory six straight sides with a black front.
Indeed, this loudspeaker has the "Italian touch" ... an individually and distinctly designed monitor with a beautiful black glossy acrylic front that looks like it comes straight from an edition of the Millionaire.
Together with a good integrated tube amplifier and a decent CD player, this Italian version of the Grail can be had for a 'still sensible' investment outlay if about $15K."
