Up for your consideration is 1 pair of $5000, stunningly beautiful to look at while incredibly musical to listen to, Italian Aliante Pininfarina One speakers! What appears to be gloss black in the photos is the color, Aliante refers to as high gloss metalized charcoal grey.Tweeter: The ScanSpeak tweeter is produced to Aliante’s strict specifications. It’s handmade, 1 in, silk, soft dome; tweeter is manually coated in multiple steps to achieve proper damping which ensures fast response while also reducing possible distortion. Mid/Woofer: The 6.7 in SEAS Mid/Woofer which is also produced to Aliante’s strict specifications. It features a new generation diaphragm with an innovative polymer; the unit shows an unusually shaped phase plug coming from a long period of research and development. The phase plug optimizes midrange performance while avoiding coloring the music. It also aids in focusing the image and improving heat dissipation from the pole piece. The plug is built by turning fine solid copper, a very expensive but functional material, most useful for dissipation of the voice coil. Crossover: The high quality driver used allows Aliante to use a (6dB/oct) 1st order crossover (without compensation) which is the best for high-end audiophile applications, with it's correct time & phase coherence. Cabinet: The cabinet is produced with MDF panels from 35 to 60 mm thick that are shaped by a high-precision CNC machine. This care in design ensures very tight tolerances while also allowing for precision shaping. This type of crafting produces rounded outer edges to reduce unwanted, distortion creating (time smearing) diffractions. A tilted front baffle improves phase coherence while the area around the tweeter has been shaped to improve dispersion while further reducing distortion. Once the cabinet is assembled, it takes many steps to complete the final finishing. This complex task starts by using insulators to make the wood structure inert. The expensive outer color is applied with in a pressure cabin in several layers and then dried for 72 hours. When doing the "knuckle test" you get a dead, deep thump versus a high-pitched cabinet tone. Impedance: Nominal rating of 6 ohms (4 min.) Frequency Response: 38Hz - 25KHz (+/- 3dB) Rather than provide you with a plethora of audiophile terms defining what I think these speakers sound like, here’s a review by Steven R. Rochlin from their September / October 2003 Enjoy the Music webzine.
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Sitting In The "Driver's Seat" If there were only two words to describe this loudspeaker, they would be smooth and detailed. Very even octave-to-octave coherency allows for a very natural harmonic structure. All the while small details and the ability to follow complex passages show the Aliante One to be quite a performer! This could be due to the very inert cabinet design combined with top quality drivers and crossover package ("less is more" theory). Another factor playing a big role is after precise setup via my laser alignment system, the tightly matched drivers ensure critical timing cues are not smeared, thereby reducing the music's clarity. After some hours without the supplied acoustic screen, they were placed in the appropriate locations and yes Virginia, the imaging did indeed become more precise. it was not a huge difference akin to day and night, yet was perceivable. According to the owner's manual their effect can vary depending on the positioning within your listening room and the acoustics thereof. In my room they made subtle difference so I left them on during the remainder of the review. Those of you who demand ultra-focused imaging will find much to like about these loudspeaker. Width, depth, imaging outside the loudspeaker plane, and expansion into your listening room, was being produced within my listening room. The depth was rendered with extreme precision as different recordings proved that insuring natural mic'ing and phase coherency would outperform multi-tracks synthesized technics for natural depth perception. While depth can be faked with the use of modern effect and mixing techniques, the clarity of the Aliante One showed them as just that, fake. Good for party tricks, bad for those seeking a more organic rendition. Organic is a great word as it also describes the natural reproduction of acoustic music as portrayed by these monitors. In some ways they truly have that "from Italy" sound as found in other prominent manufacturers from that country. Is it something within their heritage, the culture, or vast knowledge of music that has to be accounted for? Whatever the cause, the affect clearly allows for a highly enjoyable musical experience. The 28mm silk soft dome tweeter was extremely smooth. In fact my ears tend to generally prefer fabric to their metal counterpart. Maybe metal domes have an unnatural or higher distortion and subsequent harmonic distortions versus the more natural silk? As for midrange, the 170mm polypropylene pentapolymer driver was fast and clean. While this same driver also had bass duty, the tuned rear port gave more than just a glimpse. Bass was quite full down to about 50Hz or so, yet did not appear to get congested, thereby reducing midrange reproduction or "muddy bass" during some of the more complex passages as found in big orchestral works (Tchaikovsky's 1812 for example). So what are the drawbacks? Lovers of big pipe organ music will need a subwoofer. Do not expect 30Hz Fugue in D minor to shake your home's foundation. Nor can you expect room-gripping techo/house droning bass notes to fully energize your room. This is why we have subwoofers my friend. Also, if you enjoy your music on the hotter (louder) side, a 3 to 8 watt single-ended tube amplifier may not be your road to nirvana. At 25 watts, like the Final Laboratory or 47 Laboratory will just begin the trip the light fantastic in my average sized (14' wide by 18' deep by 8' high) listening room. (TG1954: I used the Aliantes with a 40W/ch SET amp and they played as loud as I'd ever want them to.) Also, the loudspeaker five-way binding posts are a bit recessed within the cabinet. While there is quite a bit of room for the cable and connectors, if you have succumbed to the ultra-huge cable club, you may want to ensure usability. Virtually all normal cables should easily fit without any problems while the binding posts do allow for the use of banana plugs. The Winner's Circle The Aliante One is an amazing loudspeaker that excels in natural music reproduction and ultra-precise imaging. For such a small package, the extremely solid and heavy cabinet virtually eliminates enclosure resonances. Add to this the gorgeous visual style available in both natural wood and color combinations so we have a mix of the classic Armani with doses of the avant-garde designs of Dolce & Gabbana. This is especially true of you opt for the matching stands. In reality this Italian design comes from the legendary house of Pininfarina, vita bella! After hour upon hour of auditioning these loudspeakers, my ears never became fatigued, as can be experienced with less than smooth frequency reproducers. I can foresee these loudspeakers finding their way into the best of homes and also Italian car enthusiast's personal home museums. They deserve no less. A test drive is enthusiastically recommended! Of course in the end what really matters is that you... Enjoy the Music, Steven R. Rochlin
========================================================================== If you type Aliante Pininfarina One reviews in Google you also find another great review written by Lars Fredell for ULTIMATE AUDIO's fall 1999 magazine. Ok so why am I selling them if they’re so good? The answer is quite simple. These were my main speakers until I tried a pair of 98 dB/W/1 m Fostex FE206ES-R single full-range drivers loaded in crossoverless, large double back loaded horns! As good as a (6dB/oct) 1st order crossover is no crossover is even better! Since I've been bit by the single full-range driver bug I know I can never go back to using crossovers or less efficient speakers. So considering that these speakers have just sat in my spare bedroom for the past year, I've now decided to sell them and let someone else enjoy them! I’m asking $2300 for the pair. If someone meets my asking price of $2300 I’ll throw in a pair of $1395 matching VELA stands (as seen in the photos) and a pair of Nordost BlueHeaven 3m bi-wire speaker wires absolutely free as a gift! If you believe my asking price is too high, please feel free to offer less if you choose but, low ballers will be ignored and although you can negotiate I don't believe you'll ger the speaker stands and the speaker wires for less than my asking price! I rated them 8/10 to be as honest as possible in following Audiogon's standards but, to me and most others they could be rated 9/10. Any imperfections is either dust or caused by lighting these speakers have no flaws I've noticed. NOTE: Please read these following conditions carefully. • In addition to listing the Aliantes here on Audio Asylum I’ve also listed them in other locations. So I reserve the right to end this AD early for any reason I so choose to. The first person at any of these sites that produces what I consider to be an acceptable offer will get these speakers! So if you’re watching this AD I suggest you make your best first offer ASAP, as I might be willing to accept it! • As always I’ve attempted to describe the item(s) as accurately as I possibly can. What you see in the photos is what you’ll be receiving. As these speakers are being sold used there as absolutely no warranty or guarantee provided or implied. They're sold AS-IS so please ask any and all questions BEFORE bidding or making an offer, so there’s no possibility of misunderstandings or hard feelings. You can contact me via email at: thetubeguy1954(at)yahoo(dot)com or by calling me here in Orlando, Fl. at: (407) 207-4364 Just ask for Tom. (Please speak into the answering machine, I don’t talk to telemarketers.) • The speakers weigh 60lbs by themselves! I honestly don’t know what they’ll weigh packaged so I put 80lbs. I only charge for actual packaging material used and shipping costs! Also if you get the speaker stands too, they’ll be shipped separately to avoid any damages. • Upon receipt of payment, the item(s) become the buyer's property. Shipping is done as a service to the buyer. The item(s) will certainly be properly packaged and I package very well. However, in the rare instances that damage or loss may and can occur in shipping, I highly suggest the buyer requests insurance on the item(s). In the event of loss or damage, insurance claims will be paid directly to the buyer.
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