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

I have found a system configuration that sounds really wonderful. In fact, it's the best stereo system I've ever heard anywhere. Modwright 9.0SE tube preamp, pair of Conrad Johnson Premier 12 amps driving Gallo Ref3 speakers. The combination of a warm, liquid tube amp and the Gallo Ref3's is magical, EXCEPT for the bass. Then I added a Gallo SA to drive the second voice coils, and a REL Storm III subwoofer. Now the bass is fast, tight and punchy, but beautifully integrated. I run both the Gallo SA and the REL at 50% gain with both low-pass filters turned all the way down. It's a very versatile system that sounds good with all types of music from chamber music to rock. See "Tantra's Tube Rig" on the A'gon website. Highly recommended!

Read about Zu Druids on 6moons. Srajan compares them directly to the Gallo Ref 3's. He had them both on hand at the time.
Further, I know he traded up to bigger Zu's and still has the Gallos. In short, he praised the hell out of both of them.
And I believe he gave them each an award.

It's funny, I think that people cannot really get over how good these sound. These are so good they are almost a *freak* and because some people don't/can't deal with it they come up with "they sound congested" or "lean Bass".

Give me a break.

I actually went to the Digital Ear a store in Tustin (SoCal), they are a Gallo dealer and did not even have them hooked up or near others for a demo. They tried to sell us EVERY other speaker in the house from Martin Logan to Audio Physics to even Tannoy!

I could not believe it, They were not even going to play them for us, until we demanded that they do. They were clerly superior to everything they TRIED to sell us, the $4500 Audio Physics, the $3795 (Vistas) Martin Logan's and they said with a straight face that the Galllos are over-rated...?

You know what I think? I think that if dealers actually demo these speakers against everything under $10K they will never sell another speaker other than the Ref 3.1's! And I think that is way too painful for many of these dealers, their profits will dip because they will be moving the Gallo's in lieu of more expensive Logan's, A. Physics and every other speakers out there.

This is a business after all, and if Lexus comes out with a car that is 3 times less than the more expensive Mercedes but clearly out performs it, Mercedes is in serious trouble.

And that's what I think has happened here, these speakers are so good, everyone else is in trouble, including the dealers. A $3K Reference Speaker is a major paradigm shift for not only many manufacturers, but many dealers as well.

And I believe, THAT is the issue...

Cheers-

Mike

How much power do they need? I'm thinking of getting either a Manley Stingray or a Krell 400xi integrated amp. Would the Manley tube piece be enough? The lit says they can handle up to 350!

rustler

Rustler, the fact that the speakers can handle 350 wpc doesn't mean you need that much to drive them. The Ref3's are actually fairly easy to drive. The Stingray in UL mode should have plenty of power. Maybe even in triode mode. But I would strongly recommend purchasing a Gallo SA to drive the woofer second voice coils. With this combination you will have it all. The tight fast bass of a high-current SS amp, the lovely liquid midrange of the Stingray, and the awesome high end of those Gallo CDT tweeters. That system would be hard to beat at any price!