'New' Gallo Reference vs. 'old' B&W Matrix 802

If you ever get a chance to hear a pair of Ref 3s that are fully broken in, I don't think there will be any question. Read the review on 6moons where they replaced $20,000+ speakers in Srajan Ebaen's system. THAT is what they sound like. I understand, though, that the Ref 3s are substantially back-ordered. Good luck.

The Gallos easily bested the 802s when I auditioned them recently.They are really that good.I am now waiting for the sub amp they are offering to drive the second set of coils.I also own Martin Logan Odyess and Vandersteen 3A Sig.

I'd go for the Gallo's. The 802's are no longer supported. The driver's are $300 if you blow one(Repair not replacement and are 16 ohms which are'nt made anymore). You'll need the Northcreek Xovers and Soundanchor stands to get the best performance.

Thanks all of you for the answers. They are very insightful.

Yes, Gallos are insanely backorder (good luck to me!). Also, I want black with a wood-base, but dealers only carry black on black or black on aluminum. They told me about 2-3 months!

Ohh well. At least I have more time to make up my mind.

I use to own a pair of B&W 802s. I have owned them for many years but I wasn't able to get them to sound good regardless of what gears I use with them. I have gone from Classes, to Manleys, to Macs. The 802s are very hard to drive and do not have enough low ends. The aluminum tweeter of the 802 also make them extremely bright sounding.

I have even tried putting damping materials on the walls and ceilings. No matter that I tried, the 802s are very bright sounding, and they have a standout midrange which really shouts at you. And unless if you get the 802s with the arcici stand, the bass response will be pretty bad.

Try playing violins on the 802, and the horsehair on the bow will sound like metal rather than horsehair.

Yes yes, my audiophile friends have called me an audio nervousa, having a bad case of tinni Itous, the audio version of abhorance of all things bright. While this may be true, but I have no issues with brightness with the Gallos.

Get the Gallos..... while the Gallos may not be the speaker of choice for me personally, it is still a very good speaker and will outperform the 802s EASILY.