New Gallo 3.5's

I just posted about this on one of the other Gallo threads. Several days ago I picked up a pair of the special stands that Pierre Sprey (Mapleshade) created specifically for the Gallo Reference 3, 3.0, 3.1 speakers. After installing them, I thought they made my Ref 3s sound pretty good but I didn't know HOW good until yesterday.

A fellow owner and friend brought over one of his stock Ref 3s and after getting a fix on how my "new" pair sounded, we substituted his for the left speaker with mine as the right speaker, then played a variety of mono stuff. Using the balance control on the remote of my Aesthetix Rhea phonostage, I can quickly switch from left only to balanced to right only. It was uncanny. In balanced mode, we could hardly tell the stock speaker was playing!

The Mapleshades deliver superior bass and dynamics with rich, full-bodied sonics that the stock speakers can't begin to match. We tried my friend's speaker on other platforms, with and without the stock spikes, and on my own Stein Audio stands. Minor differences, yes, but nothing came close to the Mapleshades.

These things are expensive (mine were $775) and won't win any beauty contests, but they come with a 30-day moneyback, and if you are inclined to try them I'll bet you keep them. Dave

Dave, Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Mapleshade stands. I tried to get some input regarding these stands in another thread with no luck. Sounds like the stands are a good upgrade. Will probably check them out.

I saw those - the aesthetics however leave a lot to be desired and the price is really up there. Isn't there an alternative in terms of someone else making a stand that is the same size as the base? Can't recall the name though . . . .

DW

I hear you, and the first time I saw them I figured I had to paint 'em black post haste (as soon as I decided the keep them). Strange, though, the more I look at them the more I'm getting used to the appearance. And the more I listen to the speakers, the more I figure I can live with anything that sounds this good. But YMMV, for sure :-)

I'm the friend who brought his stock Gallo Ref 3 speaker over to Dave Pogue's to compare its sound to one of his mounted on the Mapleshade stand. Dave is not exaggerating about the amount of improvement the bases make. It's huge. Mine are on order. Bob