Gallo 3.1 sounds slow and veiled...why?

Alright folks...here's some new info.
A friend came by to audition the Gallos in question and agreed that the Paradigms were far more transparent and 'alive'. We were mystified as the difference shouldn't have been so great...regardless of wires. Now the Unico has been in storage for about a year and a half and it's been moved from Northern Canada to Vancouver Island...what if the amp were faulty? We took the Unico to his house and....it sounds the same (worse) on his speakers (Tannoy)...IT"S the FREAKIN' AMP...probably the tubes. I grabbed his Anthem power amp so now I can use the raw output from the DAC 1 into the Anthem / Gallo and the same output into the Paradigms (also using Anthem power inside) 'Apples to apples'....stay tuned for that test as the house is currently asleep.

Templetech - I don't own the Gallos, but definitely recall reading a review (Stereophile or elsewhere) stating that the Gallos not only needed breaking in, they needed SEVERE breaking in. The reviewer actually placed heavy blankets over top of them for a few days and played them continuously at HIGH playback levels. He went on to say that he believes many people have heard them without being properly broken in, which obviously leaves an "unimpressive" impression... good luck with your amp/situation!

I had 2 pair of Gallo 3.1's that I blindly bought locally years ago. One pair was brand new, not even opened. The other pair was fully broken in.

They both sounded average to me. Personally, I cant believe people pay so much for them. I know many of you love them, and thats great....but in my opinion there price should be around $1350 brand new at most.

Since selling these, Ive heard them at a dealer..still just found them to be just ok.

I have now listened to the Gallos (powered from Anthem) compared to the Paradigms...both using the Benchmark DAC 1 as source and pre. The Gallos sound better but still not on par with the Paradigm Active 40's. The Gallos are perhaps a little more refined on the treble but mids are not as defined or as detailed and the bass on the Paradigms is vastly superior...tight, powerful and completely integrated. Now to be fair...there is no second power amp on the gallos to power the woofers but....that's a chunk more $$$ just to match the Paradigms. I'm not a Paradigm fan in general...find them rather clinical and lacking but...the actives may very well stay with me for good! I'm having my Unison retubed and checked over and will run the Gallos from that for a few weeks...see how that pans out.

yawn - I am not at all surprised. Well designed active speakers are indeed tight powerful and completely integrated. They will usually trounce all but the best passive designs. Of course their clarity is clinical sounding and understandably not to everyone's taste.