2. speakers
  3. 1204694214

Gallo Reference 3.1 questions...

Howdy,

Just toying with the idea of owning some Gallo Ref 3.1s...

TOYING!

The sub amp is described by some as mandatory, while others describe the speakers as bass rich even without it. Shall I merely infer from this that those who think it mandatory are big ol' bass fiends? Certainly with a 10" driver, I can't imagine it sounding at all anemic.

If a sub amp really is neccessary, does it HAVE to be the Gallo? Couldn't I just use any old amp to run the woofs? Not for nothing, but they need to have their speaker designers take 10 minutes off and help the amp dudes come up with a nicer looking amp. It looks like a DIY kit.

What would be smokin IMO, looks wise, is a Jeff Rowland Concerto integrated running the speakers and a pair of 201s running the subs.

Next Q... I have a tiny joint. Actually I stopped smoking. I have a small apartment. If I placed the Gallos in the hallowed 1.5 foot squares of floorspace I have allocated for speakers, with woofers facing each other, the left one would be inches away from my TV/audio stand, woofer pointing at the rack. The stand is open sided, not solid sided, but I wonder if this could pose a problem.

If I set them up with woofers facing away from each other, the right one would point into my kitchen area, but the left one would face a window about 2-3 ft away, with a big fat AC in it. In the summer the AC runs quite a bit.

OTOH, reviews seem to indicate that the staging on these is very wide (but short, I know), so I wonder just how critical placement is anyway.

Any insights?

Thanks

Rob
rkny
joekapahulu
240 posts
 
I have heard the Gallos in a friends house and liked the a great deal. I am looking to upgrade from 20 year old OhmC2s. I live in Hawaii so the room sizes here are small vs the Mainland. I am setup in a 10 x14 foot living room with an arched ceiling. I can put the speakers about 7-8 feet apart and 18 inches from the wall out. I have a Mcintosh MA 5100 integrated and SAE separates. Both solid state with 45w and 100w respectively. Does that sound like either will drive these speakers enough? I listen to lost of acosutic jazz, female jazz vocals, acoustic guitar, signer songwriter, 70-80s rock. I figure it would be an easy year before I could afford to add on a new am setup.
bostonbean
241 posts
 
Danmeyers, sounds like things are progressing with your Gallos as expected. Along with heavy break-in I did quite a bit of experimenting with placement and the rake of the speaker.

Joek, you should have enough power but the Gallos do like lots to reach their full potential. Most reviews point this out and even Mr. Gallo admits this. Read bottom of this review, http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo3/followup.html I run mine of a Pioneer receiver at 140 watts per and will probably put in an external amp with more power in the future.
jamesgarvin
42 posts
 
Danmyers, what amp are you using? I was using an early generation Adcom 555 for about a year with my 3.1s, and thought there a veiling to the mids, almost like someone placing a piece of paper over the cones. I upgraded to a Music Reference RM-200, and the mids came alive, and were much more transparent than with the Adcom. In addition, it became tonally more neutral - I think the Adcom added some glare as well. The lesson, I think, is that the 3.1 is very revealing of the upstream components.
danmyers
135 posts
 
Thanks Bean and James for your suggestions.

I forgot to mention that my amp is a Musical Fidelity NuVista 300, fed by a MF AC3R pre-amp with source coming from a Wright modded Sony SCD CE775 for SACD and a MF 3D for redbook. Cables by Kimber. I'll just say that this kit is sufficiently resolving that I can't stand to listen to rock CDs recorded in the 70s and leave it at that :) Now, that was with the KEFs and I haven't tried listening to the oldies with the Gallos... yet!

I think these speakers are:
- not yet broken in
- have a very different midrange presentation
- may not be properly placed

To James' point, I haven't spent much time on placement, and won't until they are fully broken in. Sure, I've tried toe'd and not toe'd, but heck, I haven't even tried out vs in firing woofers.

Least anyone think I'm disappointed in these speakers - I am not. They are wonderful sounding speakers. Just very different from what I've been listening to. Kind of like when you get a new car - it feels weird for a while, then a month later you drive your old car again and it feels odd. So for now they are only "half cooked." I'll keep breaking them in and then I'll critically listen to my list of songs that have distinguished themselves on the KEFs and share how I think they compare.

Dan

Now playing: Natalie Macmaster "In My Hands" Rounder
- WOW, that fiddle is making the mids sound pretty danm good :)
krzycho
17 posts
 
I checked Gallos in 3 systems (2 tubes, 1 ss).
There were always problem with the deep of the soundstage.
Any comments?
More to discover