Opinions on the ; Rosso Fiorentino Sienna or Volterra II Speakers

urbie,

There is truth to your words, but Rosso Fiorentino is not a brand that is going to stay that way for much longer.  I have worked with the brand for six years now and been acting distributor for about four.  We are establishing ourselves and the TAS review was a pinnacle for the Elba 2.  Other models will be getting reviews shortly and the brand will continue to grow.  At this point in time, the dealer network is expanding and interest is growing across the country.  There are things happening behind the scenes to prepare for the growth because the writing is on the wall.

Speakers are the toughest product to establish due to it being 'easy' to build and the market is flooded.  The RF line is not a 'me too' brand and anyone who has spent more than a passing moment with the brand can attest to that.  They are destination speakers that those who want a taste of the high end can strive for without having a six figure bank account.

In my time working with the brand, two pair of Rosso have hit the used market.  One was the Volterra mentioned above that was replaced by $60k speakers.  The other was a pair of Elba 1 where the client had extreme medical bills and had to sell.  He called me to apologize (new one for me) and assured me once back on his feet, he would be ordering a pair of the Elba 2.  I do get trade-ins, but that is only to move up the line to a higher tier model or to the second generation. My point here is that owners don't really sell the speakers because it is that difficult to find products to better them without spending a substantial amount of money.

I have heard the Sienna (I think rev.2?)
They were every bit as good as the reviews I’m reading here, in regards to spacial information, uncolored and and detailed voicing of female and male voices, instruments etc.
I only heard the stand mounts without any sub whatsoever, the bass they produced was fast and punchy for a stand mount, in fact the midbass was as good as any standmount I’ve heard so far.

The decoupling of the midbass driver from the baffle was no doubt a large contributing factor in the manner in which the bass resolved, it is truly excellent.

The integration between the drivers are virtually, audibly seemless - they do not have revealing cabinet resonances that give them away, at least on all media I heard on them, they got out of the way of the presentation and "vanished" so to speak.


I would have to listen to them side by side, but similar impression to the Sonus faber ELECTA Amator III that I heard, unfortunately in different rooms at different times, with different gear (obviously). Seriously, if the rest of their product range voices anything like the Sienna, they are worthy of an audition.

…..well it would seem at this point that no Audiogon members currently own either the Sienna or Volterra II Speakers. Interesting and note taken by the original OP regarding these speakers. Thank you all for responding.      

@garebear  I have owned the Fiesole I, Volterra I and now own the Volterra II. They are my reference speakers.

The problem buying a speaker from a not very well known niche manufacturer is that you'll never be able to resell them cuz nobody knows about them.

The nice thing about since having my Certaldos is that I don't worry about resell because I have no interest in moving away from them until I can afford to move up to the Volterra II... and honestly a Volterra III might exist before I can write that check. I fully understand that for many people they start shopping for the next speakers before the current ones even arrive. It's a big part of the hobby for most people. If you like to shuffle speakers in and out, it's certainly something to consider. But I've stopped shuffling since getting Rosso in the house. I would likely replace every other component in my system before I start speaker shopping again. Obviously never say never, but the sound on these just don't get old for me. Sure, other speakers look interesting. But none have captured my attention in quite the same way. 

…..well it would seem at this point that no Audiogon members currently own either the Sienna or Volterra II Speakers. Interesting and note taken by the original OP regarding these speakers. Thank you all for responding.

Sorry, I'm a little confused by this statement. @mboldda1 has the Volterra II, I believe he mentioned that in his comments. Upgraded directly from the Volterra 1. @davejumpin also mentioned that he has the Sienna. So there are members here that have both. 

Anyway, hopefully you can get ears on them and decide for yourself. Obviously we can share our opinions all we want, but it has to be your ears that love them. Have fun with the process! 

PS - if you're looking in Sienna price range, I think a flight to audition speakers is a small expense for the insurance to ensure you love them. I never understand people that are willing to drop that kind of money based only on word of mouth, but to each their own!