Gallo vs. Quads ESL 57

Actually I was talking to a friend this afternoon, a pianist and old audiophile, and he suggested that I look into an old pair of Polk Audio SDA. I don't know these speakers but they look pretty cheap...I wonder what is the trick.

Also, what's behind all this hype about Emerald Physics? Are they a true revolution like the Quads in the fifties, or is this just hype?

The Polk SDAs were okay in their time,somewhat dark.Not in the league of either speaker mentioned previously.

Hi,

Back to the original question...

Whether you prefer the Quads to the Gallos as the better "overall" speaker can only be determined by listening.

Objectively, you'll be gaining some things by moving to the Gallos, and also losing others. You'll get more dynamic control, tigher bass, better bass dynamics, more "authority" as you put it, and tighter imaging.

You'll lose some of the startling transparency that the Quads are known and loved for. Granted, the Gallos are pretty transparent themselves, but not much out there at any price can compare to the Quads here.

If it was me, I would take the Gallos for the "overall" speaker, as they are more genre independent, and work well for rock, symphonic, chamber, etc. The Quads will do small classical ensembles better, though.

Again, though, the only way to know is to try them.

having heard both and own pk quads,i would say the quads,wthin their range, have a balanced frequency response,whereas,the gallos seem a bit peaky in the upper mids/lower treble.

the quads seem more natural with respect to timbral accuracy.

Your Japanese components match very well with Harbeth and Spendor products. You might want to audition the British BBC Sound. Don't know your budget, but there are some nice reviews out there on these products, including Harbeth's new 40.1s. Not surprisingly, the reviewer is using a similar setup as yours. I think that Shindo/Harbeth has all the tubey magic you could wish for.

PS: Some Audiogoners referred me in 2007 to a wonderful dealer named Gene Rubin Audio in Ventura, CA who specializes in these English products. He might be able to offer up another opinion. I have not bought anything from him, but he has wonderful insight from handling these products over three decades. I can also recommend a Gallo/English dealer named Sound Asylum in Venice, California.