Seadweller, I live in your area and noticed you have interest in auditioning the Gallo's. Are you familiar with St. Cecilia's Sound Gallery in the Clearwater area on Hwy.19? I've found Brian, the owner, to be a great guy and he's got a pretty good product lineup (including the Gallos's you mentioned.) I listened to them myself during my search for replacements of my Maggie 1.6's. What really floated my boat, but was out of my budget, were the Nolla Reference Vipers. He's just received a new Nola Viper model priced @ 5.5k that sounds like it's worth a listen.
First round of auditions disappointing
Well, I finally got out and did some actual listening over the weekend, and I can see that I have quite an adventure ahead of me.
I listened to the Focal Profile 928, Polk LSi15 and a couple of Martin Logan's (Vista and Vantage). The Focal was by far the worst of the bunch; as a matter of fact, it was downright awful, and at a price of $5K for the pair?????????? Good grief...
The Polk LSi15 was better, but far and away from what I expected, given the good press. I use to own Martin Logan Sequel II's, and liked them for their midrange qualities. The newer Logan's were pretty nice, but far too dead in the dynamics department. Very nice rendition of vocals though, and great soundstage presentation.
The more I listened to the typical box speaker, the more I believe that design won't satisfy me. My wife, who is really not "in" to music, commented to me that the Focal sounded "like a box," so there you have it.
I'll probably have to wait until CES, because there is little in the way of "high end" in my area.
I listened to the Focal Profile 928, Polk LSi15 and a couple of Martin Logan's (Vista and Vantage). The Focal was by far the worst of the bunch; as a matter of fact, it was downright awful, and at a price of $5K for the pair?????????? Good grief...
The Polk LSi15 was better, but far and away from what I expected, given the good press. I use to own Martin Logan Sequel II's, and liked them for their midrange qualities. The newer Logan's were pretty nice, but far too dead in the dynamics department. Very nice rendition of vocals though, and great soundstage presentation.
The more I listened to the typical box speaker, the more I believe that design won't satisfy me. My wife, who is really not "in" to music, commented to me that the Focal sounded "like a box," so there you have it.
I'll probably have to wait until CES, because there is little in the way of "high end" in my area.