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Gallo REfF3's-All their cracked up to be?

Having won award from Absolute Sound,6Moons etc just wondering if how they compare with others in $25r00-$5K range.With Maggie 1.6/3.6's,Spendors,Harbeths,B&W Nautilus 803's etc not to mention used Quad 988.989,Infinity Preludes that have been seen as low as $3500,Gershman RX-20's used,offerings from Audio Physic (again good values used,heard Sparks where I liked low volume dynamics and read the Gallo's need to be pushed to come alive) well it's a crowded market.But seems like the twop speakers that have major buzz factor are the Gallo and NHT Xd system (selling for a bit over $6K).Live in sticks anbd would like to hear from folks who have put the Gallo's up against other speakers with empahsis on accurate midrange.Had as pair of Ref 2's but never got system set up around them nor dialed them in correctly.Was so nervous that tweeters might blow which were irreplacable got me nervous and I got rid of them pretty quickly.Have heard from dealers that Gallo can be unpleasant in cutomer support and lack of back tweeters could have been his resent ment that they did not sell better.But even though that's speculation is does say that they could be beter in support area.Maybe new models and sales might correct this.,They seemed to have great attributes but also weakneeses.Couldn't shake the feeling they were "gimmicky" in some respects but againn perhaps they were not dialed in proprly.Would lkike to run with 40 watt glass but could go 200+ solid state.Any auditions or owners who could give the good ,the bad and the ugly?
Thanks
Chazzbo
chazzbo
bgrazman
226 posts
 
I think kkm is on the right track. I don't think the brightstars are magic, but good stands make a big difference.

However, I find that "energizing" the second voice coil makes for more controlled bass. You get the double benefit of power & control (the magnet acts no matter which way the woofer is moving). But, it does take some time to dial it in (just like putting in a separate sub)--if memory serves, the settings "out of the box" were way way off from where they ended up.

I also found that speaker cable made a big difference for the second voice coil, but this may not be universal (I tried Nordost SPM).

Get something and put on some nice Mark Miller, or Jaco--you will hear the difference!

happy listening,
kkm
124 posts
 
Dave, don't want to hijack this thread and get off-topic, so I'll e-mail you and get you a photo later. I haven't receive the stands yet, so I don't want to be too premature with my assessment.
mjhaudio
3 posts
 
KKM-
I'm also interested in the stands. The Brightstar stands look good, but $500 seems out of line to me. If there is a cheaper (but good) alternative, I want to know more.
thanks - Mike
bright_star_audio
179 posts
 
Hi All,

Gallo Reference owners may be interested to know that we are now offering the new more economically priced IsoRock GR3.2 stands for the Gallo Reference 3 and Reference 3.1 speakers.

Best Regards,

Barry

Barry Kohan
President
Bright Star Audio
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
To raise the height of the Ref 3s on a temporary or experimental basis, you might do what I did. Go to Lowes (or wherever) and pick up 4 of their concrete blocks sized 8 x 16 x 4" high. Cost is something like $.69 per. Then you can raise the the speakers first 4 inches, then 8 inches, and see if you like the result, sonically. Lord knows they're solid! They don't even look too bad and would even look better if sprayed black. Just a suggestion. Dave
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