VR-4jr or Gallo Nucleus Reference 3

I recently purchased a pair of Gallo Nucleus Reference 3's. I auditioned the VR-4jr's along with countless other speakers prior to purchase. For my personal musical tastes, I haven't heard a speaker that approaches the Reference 3's for a two channel music-only system.

I upgraded from a pair of Quad ESL-63's, and I wanted to keep the sonic characteristics of the Quad's, but add some dynamics and bass. In the past, I have always been partial to electrostatics and planars, and the Gallo has much of the electrostatic sound with the added bass and dynamics I was seeking.

The Gallo's are very, very fast, transparant and musical. Imaging is first rate, and they are the smoothest sounding speakers I have ever heard. Detail is also incredible. The detail is not harsh or etched as in most hyper-detailed speakers I have heard. The detail is simply right-there in a way that makes you smile and wonder how you never heard the intricacies of certain passages before.

Gallo's also present vocals in a way that I have only heard through electrostatics and planars in the past. Vocals are very immediate sounding. The speakers don't just present tone, but also the texture and emotions behind musician's voices.

Finally, there is no boxy sound or crossover oddities from the Gallo's. A person really needs to hear a boxless speaker without crossovers such as the Quad's to understand what this means. The lack of crossovers over 150 Hz and the round enclosures probably explains the extraordinarily smooth and coherent sound of these speakers.

I should qualify all of this by saying that the VR-4jr is also an excellent speaker. It just wasn't what I was looking for. Bass was very good, and tone was nice, but in my opinion, it just didn't compete with the best that I auditioned. It didn't make my short list.

For what difference it makes, my number two choice would have been a pair of Martin Logan Ascents. In the end, the ML's were just too big for my room as they would be for yours.

I am powering the Gallo's with a Wadia 850 directly driving a pair of Cary 805c's. That is plenty of power, and in my opinion, it's a match made in heaven.

One other thing, be aware that the subwoofer amp is not available until the beginning of October. I plan to add one to my system at that time.

Hope this helps.
Jeff

Wow--I just got back to this thread. Sorry I missed it for a few days. Anyway, I will answer a few questions. I did not physically measure the hotel room, but I would guess it was about 15 x 17 x 8. I had test equipment to take acoustical measurements, but there was no need. Once you've done this as many times as I have you recognize when a problem exists--in this room, with this set up there was no problem. It was not worth even taking an acoustical measurement. They had really good sound. I listened before the show opened and selected my material and material chosen by Kevin and Albert of Von Schweikert. I listened to many other rooms, and many rooms had severe bass problems in the same size hotel room.

The other aspect I would like to mention in these forums, is that Elb asked for an opinion, not a scientific white paper. We aren't doing reviews here--just sharing our experiences.

I should probably also mention ATC (seems to have found it's way in here). A fabulously designed speaker. Predominantly used in recording studios--yes we've designed a bunch of those too. We have also designed listening rooms with ATC speakers, and while many ATC speakers appear modest in size, their bass is not. They are very full in the bottom end and can be somewhat problematic in small rooms. We are currently working on a room in Singapore with ATC (70s I believe). Even with good dimensions we still load the room very quickly.

Then there's Gallo. I've heard them, but only briefly. Not enough to give a strong opinion. I do recall that they were very clear through the midrange, well detailed. But without more time with them there's not much else I can offer.

Jeffreyds,

Your post sound just like what I am looking for. I own a pair of Magnaplanars (Mg3A's). They are great speakers that are seemless with a magical ribbon tweeter. However, not very dynamic and my room is too small. Also, I only have 100Watt tube amp. The Maggies just fall apart with large scale classical music. They need a much larger amp. All the dynamic speakers I have listened to sound, well like a bunch of seperate drivers (in my price range of under $4K) relative to the planars. The virgos sound seemless, but sound thin with no bottom end. I heard the 4jrs and they were very dynamic, but not seemless.

I probably will end up with the speakers in a 12 ft X 15 ft room. What size room do you have them in? Also, did you find a dealer that had them set up properly? If so, please let me know. I have been making a list of speakers to listen to, and I want to put them on my list. Any suggestions on other speakers to listen too would also be helpful. What types of music do you listen too?

Thanks

My room is 12' x 17 1/2' with a 10' ceiling. The Gallos ended up approximately 8' apart and 8' from my listening position along the 17 1/2' wall with the woofers facing each other.

I enjoy many types of music. My preference is probably to rock and jazz, but I also listen to some classical and a lot of blues and acoustic music. I would recommend more than the 50 watts I am using to anyone wanting the Gallos to perform their best with large scale classical music. I think that 100 watts should be fine.

I bought my pair from Mundy's Audio Video in Cumming, GA. Unfortunately, Mundy's specializes in home theater, with very little focus on two channel systems. I would guess that problem may be very typical of Gallo dealers. Mundy's was very helpful and professional, and I recommend them to anyone looking for Gallos; however, you may want to try auditioning the Reference 3's with your own equipment if possible prior to purchase.

As far as other speakers worth listening to, I auditioned just about everything that I could find prior to purchase, but in the end, I narrowed my choices to these four:

1.) Vandersteen 2Ce - With 100 watts, I would choose the 3A over the 2Ce, but I didn't think 50 watts would be enough power to properly drive the 3A's.

2.) Usher AC-10 - Fantastic speaker, but they really need a room larger than mine.

3.) Martin Logan Ascent - My #2 choice, but once again, too big for my room. I desparately tried to find a way to squeeze these into my room until I can across the Gallos.

4.) Gallo Reference 3 - Obviously, my choice. Just on a whole new level of performance from most other speakers I have ever heard.

Jeff

Again, I really don't understand the insistence that the Ref 3s require a lot of wattage. With no crossover except between the woofer and mids, 8 ohm impedance, and 88 db sensitivity, they sound spectacular fed by my 12 wpc SET monoblocks. I had used 140 wpc CJ Premier 12s on their predecessor Gallos (the 8-driver Ultimates), and the SETs sounded MUCH better with them. Has anyone else tried the Ref 3s with low-watt tube amps? Dave.