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Looking to upgrade Gallo Strada?

Hello all,

I am looking to upgrade my Gallo Stradas which are currently on matching stands. So far, I like the B&W 805S and the Sonus Faber Toy Towers as they seem to have garnered quite a bit of praise. My room dictates that I use small monitors or small floorstanders. Please fill me in on some good speaker choices that will perform significantly better than the Stratas as I do not want to make a lateral move.

My room is 11' wide by 12', but opens into the dining rm/kitchen so it's like a long rectangle. I have all digital sources including a Mac Mini server into a Peachtree iDac into a Classe Cap-2100 integrated. Speaker cable is all Audioquest.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
ariaudio
jdoris
972 posts
 
Do you like the Stradas? The 3.5s are significantly better, small, and would likely work pretty well in that room.

John
audiooracle
387 posts
 

The Stradas are very good speakers, their only real weakness is that they have a slightly soft top end compared to tweeter technologies, and considering that the speaker uses small woofers, is limited in terms of bass response and ultimate dynamic range.

There are a handful of great monitors that would represent an upgrade:

Usher 718 DMD
Paradigm S2
KEF R Series or Ref 201.2

The Sonus are also a little soft in the top end however they have better bass and dynamics than the Stradas.

dealer disclaimer
ariaudio OP
10 posts
 
John - Thanks for the recommendation, I've read many good things about the 3.5.

Audiocircle - The KEF R300 looks very nice, have you done a comparison between the stradas and them?

Has anyone compared B&W 805S to the Gallo Strada?

Thanks.
jdoris
972 posts
 
Ariaudio: You might give Walter at Underwood HiFi a call. He might well be able to work an attractive deal for you on the 3.5s.

A monimally informative comparison. I auditioned one of the B&W floorstanders with the new diamond tweeter. I'd have no trouble choosing the 3.5. The B&W was perhaps more neutral, but the draw dropping imaging and airiness of the Gallo's drew me in a lot more. My hunch is I'd have similar thoughts with the monitors (although I think the 3.5 beets the strada through the whole range, and not just the highs).

John
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