Anybody hear the new Gallo Reference 3 speakers???

Yup, I own a pair now... They are still low on hours (70-80) and so they still need some time. they replaced Paradigm Studio 40 v3/Signature S-4's for my 2-channel system and I am very happy. Gallo informs me that the prototype LCR Ref. 3's will be ready for CEDIA... Until that time, my Paradigm setup will be used for HT and the Gallo only for 2-channel.

What I like:
1) Holographic speaker! The width and depth of soundstage are still changing for the better but wow! I am in awe of the holographic nature of these small floorstanders

2) Non-fatiguing highs - I am not a fan of the spitty sounding tweeters in most metal dome speakers (even Paradigm straddles the line between resolution and spitty highs) and the Gallo's have replaced this with very natural sounding sibilants that no longer sound "hi-fi". The tweeter is truly remarkable at getting the details correct without sounding harsh. Very transparent.

3) Good bass - if you are a bass freak these will need to be supplimented with a sub but for a speaker this small, the bass seems pretty good down to the mid 30's. The bass is nice and fast, not resonant at all and not boomy

4) Size - here we have a very small floorstander that is small enough to get out of the way yet casts a HUGE soundstage. They work well in the room and are not eyesores like most big speakers

5) Image height - after tilting the speaker back via the feet the soundstage height is around 5 feet in my room, great if you consider the tweeter is about 2.5 feet off of the ground.

6) Musical - I find myself doing less "surfing" of songs and just listening to the music - these speakers are terrific for those that find they can;t listen to hi-fi for more than 30 min becuase of fatiguing highs.

Other stuff:

1) Imaging is not a pinpoint as the best I have ever heard. Mind you it is still terrific but the image is not a razor sharp as some. This may be due to more layering of the music in the soundstage which is quite apparent and very neat.

2) These speakers really do dissappear better than any other speaker I have heard - maybe becuase there is no cabinet but if the lights are off you simply caqnnot localize any of the sound to the speaker - impressive. This is vs. Maggie, Gershman, Paradigm Signature, Vandersteen, B&W, etc.

3) Positioning is crucial. The speakers are that fussy but objects to the sides of the speakers really seems to imapct the sound quality more so than box speakers with a directional tweeter. pull these speakers out until there is no central obstruction and the imaging between the speakers will improve.

Overall I am very happy - I'll be keeping these for many years to come

I just ordered a pair yesterday. It was between these and the Harbeth Compact 7. What sold me on these was how well they disappeared. I heard the Harbeths on a full Naim system including the $10000 CD3. The room wasn't overly treated but was a recording studio compared to where I heard the Ref IIIs. The Gallos I heard on an Arcam system and then on my own Manley Stingray. The room was filled with TVs, speakers, racks of equipment and noise from all over. They sounded amazing on every piece of music I played and didn't want to leave when they needed the room for someone else.

The speakers do seem to be very revealing. I could hear major differences between the two amps. These will probably make good reviewer's speakers. 6moons just put up a short review/info piece on the bass amp module that will augment the bass down to 25Hz and includes a crossover, phase adjustment, etc. Check it out over at 6moons.com as it's not on the Gallo website yet.

I look forward to hearing these in my room on my equipment. Should be a week ship time.

(Repeat from my comments on another Gallo Ref 3 thread:)

I have been living with the Ref 3's for a couple of weeks now. They are fantastically open and revealing in my system.

In fact, they sound too prominent in the upper mids/lower treble in my room. (I have used the tweeter switch to taper off the HF response a couple of dB, too.) Because of power sources, I have to place the speakers at the short wall and fire them along the long wall. This may cause a first reflection room interaction that accentuates the upper mids. The 300 degree-disispersion tweeters may need more "breathing room" than the 32 inches (to the side walls) I am giving them. Despite the open-celled, rippled foam I have placed at those
reflection points, I still hear a fatiguing, forward, (shouty") upper-mid prominence.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with the Gallos?

Putting the upper mid-prominence aside (which may be unique to my set up), the Nucleus Ref 3's open up a detailed, light, and airy window on the source material that surprises me---especially for their price. (My reference is the Coincident Super Eclipse.) The sound stage height is in proportion with the whole picture and not an problem for me. It is somewhat like listening from the first row, mezzanine or balcony at a symphony hall---where the sound is often best anyway--and looking down slightly at the stage. Lowering the listening position compensates for this--if you don't like it.

I would like to bring the Gallos to a dealer to test them against other speakers in a different room just to find out what happens. Maybe that upper-mid shouting will be proven to be in my setup only.

I am currently listening to the Gallos with a pair of 95-watt, triode, push-pull mono blocks (Cary SLAM-100s) and also inserted the Berning ZH-270 amp.

Do folks out there have a take on whether the Gallo Ref 3's "like" solid state or tube amps?