Gallo Ref 3's for musician?


Friends, I am building a new system for my practice space and would appreciate your thougts. I am a semi-professional musician (get paid but not enough to eat) with tenot sax and clarinet as main horns. I am working a on my improvisational skills by playing along with the greats - Stitt, Ammons, Bill Evans, Brubeck, and Getz, and with vocalists like McCrae and Cassandra Wilson. I am particularly into samba these days as well. My practice space is appx 13'x30' with sheetrock walls, carpet over concrete. The ceiling is a sloping cathedral. Speaker placement is unlimited in the room, and there is very little furniture, all of which can be moved as needed.
My needs are simple, though perhpas not simple to satisfy. I am a student of technique and tone. I want a speaker that is accurate; one that, to the extent possible, faithfully reproduces the true tone, color and pitch of the recorded instruments. And I need a speaker that throws a wide soundstage. When I honk along, I tend not to stay in one place, but try to find a spot that places me in the group. I am also looking for a speaker that has a good vertical stage as well - that sounds strong whether standing or sitting.
After some initital research I came across the Gallo's. The words people use seem to match my needs with regards to accuracy and soundstage and overall musicality. As there is no dealer within reach (according to the Gallo website), I am looking to you folks for your thoughts and suggestions in the $2k range - new or used.
I am also looking at Rogue componants, on the lower end or an integrated like the Tempest Magnum, PL Prologue 2 or the Cayin a88. I like the idea of being able to fine tune the sound with tubes.
I appreciate your assistance and thoughts.
deliberate1

Showing 1 response by likecoiledsteel

I have been trying to find the perfect amp for the Gallo 3.1's recently. I tried Parasound, Arcam monoblocks, Carver Silver 9T monoblocks at 575 watts. I have a 250 watt Krell that sounsd great, but a little on the dry side with the Gallos. My former B&W's loved the Krell. I now have a customer Butler 2250 S.S./Tube hybrid mated with a Cary Cinema 6 and it is an ecellent combo, the best I heard yet with the Gallos. I have friends who use tubes with the Gallos, with the Gallo SA amp runing the low end.

Check out the 6moons review of the Butler 2250, they use the Gallos on part of the test and mates great.

Tweaks I found necessary with the Gallos:

1- At least 200 hours of break in. They sound constrained before that point.

2- Need more height. I use the Sound Anchor stands.
3- The tweeter has a very wide soundstage, but the mids are more conventional. I found tow-in worked wonders.
Good Luck.
Steel