Gallo Reference III Owner's: Quick Question


Hi All,

I have one quick question with regards to the Ref III's, in particular about connecting the SA amp to the second voice coil. I know that the SA amp is not yet released, but perhaps someone knows (through theory perhaps) the answer to my question.

I have ordered my Ref III's with the SA amp. The speakers will arrive in January, the amp around March. I am busy organizing the system so that it will be ready for these new components. Specifically in terms of cabling I need to organize how to connect my current integrated amp to the SA amp.

I currently have a double-run biwire set of speaker cables which if needed can be easily split into two single wire cables. I would then connect the pre-out of my integrated to the line-level in of the SA with interconnects. Alternatively I can keep the cables biwire, run one set of terminations to the Ref III speaker in and the other set to the hi-level in of the SA amp. Does anyone know if there will be a difference in terms of sonic quality? Is any one of these method preferred or will it attain integrity more?

It is just a matter of connecting to the SA amp via RCA or via speaker cables.

X
xenithon
I envy you the amp (I have the speakers) but think you'll have to try the two approaches and see what sounds better. I would guess that using interconnects (to the SA amp) would sound better, but it's JUST a guess. Good luck, Dave

BTW, I used HSU subs with my former speakers, powering them with a nondescript SS amp via the Hsu's electronic crossover factory-set at 43 Hz. This sounds a LITTLE better than using the same amp to power the Ref 3s' second voice coils, but the SA amp has to be better than what I'm using, so it's not a fair comparison. I'm dying to try the SA amp.
High-level inputs (on subs and sub-amps) are "usually" there for people who don't have pre-outs. I would imagine amplifying the signal only once (using interconnects) would sound better than amplifying the signal twice...

Just a guess, the only way to know for sure is to try both ways when you get it.
Dopogue - I cannot wait until they both get hear. The gap between the speakers and amp arriving (January - March) I will use to break them in and organize/prep the rest of the system.

I think I will most likely use the line-level input. Just got a reply from JD over at Gallo saying that the RCA connection is the preferred, and fortunately my integrated amp has pre-outs. I would love to get a tube (or tube hybrid) integrated amp but am having a hard time finding one with pre-outs!

X
I'm not sure, but I think a lot of the (passive pre amp) integrateds from Jolida have pre outs. norh.com has a cheap tube pre with two main outs. At the higher end, Manley, Rogue and Audio Research tube integrateds would have provisions for this, I would think. And smaller companies will sometimes modify jacks for their customers....