I know a secret about these new Aliante Pininfarina speakers, and I shall whisper it to you if you promise not to tell anyone: this little secret is that they have been developed almost entirely by ear. Maybe it’s a rumour, maybe not, but since I know the ear of their designer, Giuseppe Prato, I can go as far as saying that if it were true, that would really be a blessing. And that is especially true in consideration of the fact that most speakers today share the same standardized sound, obtained and caused by the use of standard development tools and standard components. Anyway, I am eager to see the measurements performed by our new (and, even if I say it myself, very close to state-of-the-art) laboratory – if only Giuliano left me see them before they were published… After this “humanising” revelation, I announce you that to know those voyeuristic details such as what brand/model the speakers are, what value the capacitor down left on the crossover board is and so on, you will need to read the technical description written by our own Nicoletti. What I can tell you is that, aesthetically, they are quite a kind of their own, even if they bear a family resemblance to the Italian school of loudspeakers: real wood cabinet, bevelled edges and so on. It is something of a miracle that, on the base of this core, which is required by the American and Asian markets in order for a speaker to be recognised as an Italian product, the outcome is that of a personal, yet elegant and nice-looking speaker.

There aren’t that many variations you can make on a square box; I think the one made for this project is a nice one: the sides are not straight and parallel, but present two semi-arch-like re-entrances, hosting the two reflex ports. The Stile SW (a name, which strongly recalls that of a car, built not far from the Aliante factory) is a compact speaker. But they are not mini-monitors, they are speakers that won’t steal the decor of a room away, but still will be able of a complete enough performance not to make you long for a bigger loudspeaker system. I almost delayed further this Videohifi issue, as I wanted to be able to run-in the speakers completely. In the user’s manual it’s written that a thirty-hour run-in is required before the speaker is able to perform at its best. I needed that time, as when I first listened to them straight out of the box, I was somewhat puzzled by what I heard: a nice mid and high range, but a poor low range, woody and harmonically dry. Sometimes, even we, professionals in this field, tend to overlook run-in, which is important for most speakers, and even fundamental for some of them. I didn’t resort to the common practice of running-in the speakers with a CD player in repeat mode, as I decided to play them as loud as possible, according to the time of the day and to what was allowed by the people I share this house with. A good decision this was, as they begun to show hints and aspects of their personality much before those thirty hours, and they got better and better until they stabilised.

For the first part of this listening session, I used a first rank system, constituted by sources like a Thorens TD124 turntable, with a Pritchard wood arm and Grado Platinum Wood cartridge, and Micromega Reference SACD/CD player. The rest of the system relied on a Bryston SP1.7 preamp and an Harman Kardon Citation II amp (1963), equipped with Telefunken 6550 tubes. I notice that some reviewers are often criticized for reviewing low and mid cost loudspeaker systems with gear that cost much more. I would like to defend this kind of practice, as this is the only way to fully appreciate what a speaker is capable of. It sometimes leads to discover that speakers that were around average or quite good with cheap ancillaries, are amazing overachievers when fed by top quality amps and source components. Those who are somewhat older in age between our readers will remember how impressive those tiny Linn Kan speakers were, when fed by top Naim amps. They were somewhat less impressive when fed by a Nait integrated amp, but they didn’t let down; it was still possible to fully appreciate their qualities, but we were aware that they could be pushed even further. However, to be free from criticism, these Aliante speakers were connected to a much more down-to-earth system, i.e. an Harman Kardon HD710 CD player (which I still consider a real champion in musicality) and a Myryad Cameo integrated amp. The performances I will describe are the mean point between those obtained with the “big” and the “small” systems, so I am sure they are fully representative of what the Stile SW are capable of. Let’s talk about the lower regions first: a strong and full bodied performance, with some really impressive features, such as promptness in attack and decay, lack of queues, progressive harmonics decay.

The sensation was of both an excellent power and good speed, avoiding that sense of excessive dryness and lack of lower bass, which characterises those speakers designed with punch and cleanliness as first goals. Maybe this isn’t “the” loudspeaker for a rock’n’roll fan, but it certainly plays rock’n’roll and other “modern” (an obviously historically wrong term, but explaining why would take too long a digression) music genres really well. They nevertheless let the listener appreciate the width, the breadth and the breath of a symphony orchestra. And I really like the mid range for its qualities: sweetness, liquidity, openness on voices, and most of all a very unusual ability to converge into a more explicit, more “contemporary” (I have avoided the “modern” term) high range, nearer to, but still well far from, aggressiveness. It seems to me that the crossover is particularly well designed, so the impression is that of a modern speaker with some vintage nuances which manage to make of it an universal though very peculiar speaker at the same time, with a strong and individual personality. The tests have been carried out with different amplifications – the latest one was a Nad 302, which the Stile make a very good combo with, even if a little bit more “stick” would be better. They showed that that the Stile is easy to integrate in a system, provided a good quality amplification, tube or solid state, is used. Its dynamic abilities are undoubtedly good, even outstanding in relation with its dimensions and its tonal correctness, and, being these abilities are so good, it is necessary to make good use of them, and to couple the Stile with an amp capable of the same dynamics. Now, we know that stating a power rating range is an almost completely pointless exercise, as the way in which amplification power is measured can vary wildly. But, if solid state is chosen, I would say at least 50 watts/channel, even in moderate sized rooms, are required, and not for efficiency reasons. I think, by ear, we are in the 87/88 dB efficiency range, which some time ago was called mid/high; you need these watts to take full advantage of the dynamic abilities of this product. It must be underlined that the speakers are in mirrored pairs: the tweeters are equipped with an acoustic screen, placed between the two and the six hours position around them, in mirrored position. The Acoustical/Aliante products have always been good at imaging, accurate and dimensionally well developed and the Stile aren’t an exception, quite the contrary. The soundstage is realistic in dimensions and in its ability to tell plans apart, with a well-lit and deep perspective. This perspective is able to let you discern dimensions and placement of the sound sources easily (provided you don’t stick the speakers to a wall), even of the smallest and farthest ones within the musical space.

To summon up, I can say that the Stile are one of the compact speakers I most appreciated in these latter years, and this without considering the price level. One of those good sounding speakers which aren’t a sheep on a flock, not yet another soul-less sound-alike, but one with a personal approach, with a peculiar interpretation of that eminently interpretable (but, lately, hardly interpreted) concept of fidelity we all long for. All of this is brought to us in a refined looking package, painstakingly finished and built, and which confirms the tradition of reliability of the Aliante house, and at an unusually attractive price for a speaker of its class.