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Gale 401's

Hi there,

I've had the good fortune on inheriting these speakers, though, without an amp.

My dad always said they need "power power power", but looking on other forums, people talk about sold state amps, which I know nothing about, and my dad sure didn't have one of those.

  • What's the difference between solid state and your run of the mill amp from Richersounds? 
  • Could a Cambridge Audio AXR85 power these enough to truly appreciate them?
  • or do I need to invest in something more specialist? 

Thanks,
C
c27078
bgale
2 posts
 

Ira Gale was my brother. I was about 16 when he was actively working on the speakers and wound up working for him when I was in college. One of his favorite albums to demo the speakers was Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker, “I’ve Got the Music in Me”, an early direct to disc recording. I only recently stumbled across this post and thoroughly enjoyed reading the messages. I’ve come to know some of the names mentioned over the years, mostly thanks to John Mayberry, David from Vintage Audio and others through the Gale Audio Google Group. FYI, Ira was partial to SAE and Mark Levinson and definitely was a fan of “more power is better”. It’s so wonderful to read these posts going strong more than 25 years after his passing. I have been working on a book about his life for quite some time, nearing completion. Should anyone have met him personally or worked with him, I’d love to hear from you. I may be reached at bgalephd@gmail.com.

Best wishes,

Bruce

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,879 posts
 

@bgale Sorry for the loss of your brother. I worked at a dealer in Columbus, Ohio where we carried the chrome model w matching stands. The Speaker company. They always sounded great but in the conservative Midwest were a tough sell . Had we been sharper, we would have gone with wood cabinets.

Please do let us know about progress on the book. My absolute best to you.

Jim

bgale
2 posts
 

Thanks @tomic601. I can only imagine selling in the Midwest. Appreciate the encouragement re the book. Goal is to have it done this year.

Bruce

atlvalet
52 posts
 

I recently went down a vintage audio rabbit hole and was intrigued by the Gale speakers. And just wanted to pipe in and say today received a fully rebuilt/restored set of Gale 401A's from David at Vintage Gale. Currently breaking them in, but they sound good right out of the box.

David did everything including crossovers. I even shipped him a pair of Cardas copper connectors to upgrade the speaker binding posts.

Powering them with a set of Aragon Palladium 2 mono blocks. Everyone says they need power, so that's the biggest set I got. They're running through a rebuilt Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 with VCaps.

Currently rocking out to Gimme Shelter. Looking forward to see how they develop after I get some hours on them.

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