GMA Callisto vs. Reference 3a De Capo i

I have found a review of the 3As in UHF Magazine. Here are some of the quotes:

by GR "The lively dynamics are something to behold" "... the upper midrange is more prominent that I would have liked..." "I still think this speaker is something special"

by AS "Mind you, at first I questioned the highs which sounded too sharp for my ears .... and seemed to affect female voices particularly." "Depth and space were particularly convincing. And speed."

by RL "But for a minor reservation concerning the top of the spectrum, which can get just slightly shrill now and then, I can say I liked these speakers a lot"

There a review for the Callistos on the 6 moons website and here is a quote:

"The treble was wonderfully open and clean with absolutely no trace of grain or sibilance. I cannot recall anther speaker at this price point that handles 'esses' and 'tees' as adeptly as the Callistos. They were completely devoid of hash or edge. Music sounded wide open and alive like a living, breathing entity - not unlike live music. The Callistos exhibited terrific dynamic range for such a modestly proportioned loudspeaker and displayed remarkable freedom from smearing and blurring."

These quotes reflect what I remember hearing with the 3As and currently hear with the Callistos. I would say that that the 3As would be more dynamic with rock music while the Callistos better at female vocals. I prefer the latter which is probably why I chose to look for something other than the 3As.

Crgolfer,

Man, that is odd. I've had about 10 different speakers in my current room and my DeCapos (non-i version) are about the easiest on the ears of any of the ones I've owned. Admittedly, mine are the non-i version and the tweeter is probably the most significant difference between mine and the current "i" model.

I've never heard the Callistos. When I bought my DeCapos for $1000 (for a cosmetically and functionally perfect pair) about 3 years ago, I got off the speaker merry-go-round. They've lasted longer that any other component in my audiophile history.

Enjoy,

TIC

>> 05-15-06: Crgolfer
>> ....
>> I would say that that the 3As would be more dynamic
>> with rock music while the Callistos better at female
>> vocals.
>> ....

this is a very odd statement re. the Callistos! I'm afraid that I do NOT agree! I've not heard the Decapos but have heard the Callistos. We played all kinds of music on it: female vocals like DK, bluegrass like Garcia/Grisman, boogie-woogie like Memphis Slim, jazz that had double-bass. I can confidently say that the Callisto excelled at ALL of these genres. It slighted NONE of them + it favoured NONE. It had, what I'd call, chameleon-like characteristics. Very laudable for a speaker its size. I also like the "accurate but musical" description by Drubin above - another succinct & correct description for it.

I have never heard the GMAs but I did own the De Capo is for a little over 2 years. I don't believe that the De Capos are bright but they are definitely not forgiving either. If you are using ss electronics and a not-to-great CDP I would not go near the 3As. On the other hand, with a good tube power amp, even SET, and a decent front end, the 3As will floor you. They are best heard in the near field but this is quite normal for a monitor of this size. With the exception of the Quad ESL, which I am now using, I liked my DeCapos better than any speaker that I have owned in the last 10 yrs..

Pardon the small diversion, but I want to ask Bombaywalla how he would compare the Callistos to his Contiuums.