Gallo Reference 3.1 questions...

We all know that listening to speakers before buying is a must, but getting that out of the way I would like to ask a couple of questions to those who have listened to these speakers, and have placed them in different settings.

My room is 11' wide and 17'long. The room is carpeted and it serves as a theater as well as my music room, I do not enjoy the economic benefit or the extra room for separate systems, for that reason I have to make compromises in order to accommodate both movies and listening to music into a single room in order to enjoy my hobby as best as I possibly can.

I currently own the Arcam 350 receiver which I use as a pre-amp in analog direct in conjunction with a bi-amped Bel Canto evo4 version II which produces 400 watts per channel at 8 ohms, and 600 watts at 6 ohms just for music, the receiver's amplification only kicks in when I watch movies to power the center and surround channels.

I think that the speakers that I now have in my set up (Paradigm 100v3) are very good speakers, but I have a tendency to listen to music 70% of the time against 30% movie watching. I also have to place the Paradigms too close to the walls because of the room size as well as the screen size as they will get in the way when watching a movie. I do not know how good the Paradigm will compare against the Gallos in a large room where there's plenty of breathing room for them to shine, but in my situation with limited space and based on some of your experiences, Will the Gallos give me a less congested sound than the Paradigms?, which seem to be too big for my room? (I also have 2 rows of 3 recliners seats each for movie watching)

And the toughest question of them all, and this question is posted with all honesty, as I am always searching for better sound to enjoy the music that I love. Are the Gallos simply a more refined and sophisticated speaker for critical music listening than the paradigms?

Your educated help will make my decision a more pleasant one.

Hello,

I own the Gallo Ref 3.1's and I have heard the Paradigm's in a store. So I am much more familiar with the Gallos. To my ears the Gallos come a lot closer to the musical sound I'm looking for. Particularly in the mid range where they really shine. I have never heard the Gallos sound congested once I finally got my room properly set up. I have my Gallos about 5.5 feet from the back wall and about 6 feet apart but my room is strictly for music. Although my room has similar dimensions, approx 9 feet wide and 22 feet long. Hope that helps a bit. The Gallos have a very distinctive sound so I really feel an audition would be necessary. They don't sound like a box and the don't sound like Planars or anything else I have ever heard. The go down very low but it isn't the hit in you chest low some people are looking for. It's what bass is like if you are listening to a baritone vocalist, cello, tuba etc live without amps. They are an amazing speaker but like everything else they are not for everyone.

Thank you for your response. I'm looking for effortless and open sound. I feel that The Paradigms in my room sound congested, They may be too big for my room, but something is not right with the overall sound. The Gallos may be the answer.

I had a pair of Paradigm Monitor 11's and Paradigm monitor center for 5 years and now have the Gallo's 3.1's and an AV center. So I can compare the monitors with the Gallo's fairly well.

I like the Monitor 11's but in comparison the Monitors had a bright and narrow soundstage while the Gallo's have a huge soundstage and sound very natural and neutral while still being very detailed.

The Gallo's do have a distinct sound but one that is very natural, very open and very effortless. To me they are quite musical.

The tweeters on the Gallo's are quite amazing where the Paradigms you could hone in on exactly where the tweeters were on the Gallo's they tend to disappear and just throw a huge sound image.

I'm very happy with my upgrade and will be sticking to the Gallo line of speakers for a LONG time.

Well, I finally got the Gallos 2 days ago, and with about 12 hours burn in they are already sounding better than the Paradigm studios ever did. Actually they sounded better than the Paradigms from the get go, specially the highs but the base still needs time to sound its best (I'm hoping)

If these speakers take as long as people claim to break in and indeed they get that much better with time, then they will walk all over the digms, and the 100s are not bad speakers at all.