VR-4jr or Gallo Nucleus Reference 3

D Edwaqrds - Lighten up. Rives said nothing about the speakers you recommended, and you're jumping all over him. No one said ATC was a fly-by-night company. No one said anything about ATC, except the one GENERAL comment you agreed with, that component quality alone does not make a great product.

Since you brought it up, though, I've never heard or heard of ATC (unless I'm missing the acronym). Does this mean there's a hole in my knowledge? Sure, but have you heard every speaker there is? With your own equipment in a familiar room? Or with a mix of equipment in various sizes of rooms, so you understand what every speaker in existence is truly capable of? Have you even heard the Gallo or VR4 in question under these circumstances? If so, you haven't indicated so in your post.

While JGH is one of the giants in this field, it is hard to find a major brand that hasn't been called SotA, jaw-dropping, etc. by some reviewer somewhere. Even the big names are always finding new stuff they really like.

Maybe people have given you a hard time about these speakers in other posts, but you should re-read what was actually written here, then consider an apology.

I have read from some other posters the ACTs sound like crap on bad recordings, but they sound awsome with good recordings. If you have a lot of rock and pop recordings, the ACTs may not be your best choice. I can't remember what board it was I read this, but I think it was the speaker forum on Headfi. This does not mean this is abosuletly true, it just what I read from an ACT owner who had a love/ hate feeling about his ACTs depending on what kind of music he was listening with. Maybe someone who has heard the ACTs can comment.

Let me clear up some bad sentence structure that implicated Mr. Rives as making a comment on the ATC.

My dissappointment with Mr. Rives post was the lack of technical backup to his singular listening impression in a small room. Something he easily could have provided on a room calculator a speaker similar to the VR4jr models +11 dB at 36hz. It's not a reason not to buy the speaker its just something to be aware of.

It was not my intention, just bad grammar and sentence structure that got Rives wrapped into the ATC comments.

My very recent exposure to the VR4jrs and Gallos, I felt pretty strongly with the cardioid and wide dispersion output of these speakers a small room would not be ideal to getting the best from these speakers and that there are other speakers better suited to this application. That is all.

I recently purchased a pair of Gallo Nucleus Reference 3's. I auditioned the VR-4jr's along with countless other speakers prior to purchase. For my personal musical tastes, I haven't heard a speaker that approaches the Reference 3's for a two channel music-only system.

I upgraded from a pair of Quad ESL-63's, and I wanted to keep the sonic characteristics of the Quad's, but add some dynamics and bass. In the past, I have always been partial to electrostatics and planars, and the Gallo has much of the electrostatic sound with the added bass and dynamics I was seeking.

The Gallo's are very, very fast, transparant and musical. Imaging is first rate, and they are the smoothest sounding speakers I have ever heard. Detail is also incredible. The detail is not harsh or etched as in most hyper-detailed speakers I have heard. The detail is simply right-there in a way that makes you smile and wonder how you never heard the intricacies of certain passages before.

Gallo's also present vocals in a way that I have only heard through electrostatics and planars in the past. Vocals are very immediate sounding. The speakers don't just present tone, but also the texture and emotions behind musician's voices.

Finally, there is no boxy sound or crossover oddities from the Gallo's. A person really needs to hear a boxless speaker without crossovers such as the Quad's to understand what this means. The lack of crossovers over 150 Hz and the round enclosures probably explains the extraordinarily smooth and coherent sound of these speakers.

I should qualify all of this by saying that the VR-4jr is also an excellent speaker. It just wasn't what I was looking for. Bass was very good, and tone was nice, but in my opinion, it just didn't compete with the best that I auditioned. It didn't make my short list.

For what difference it makes, my number two choice would have been a pair of Martin Logan Ascents. In the end, the ML's were just too big for my room as they would be for yours.

I am powering the Gallo's with a Wadia 850 directly driving a pair of Cary 805c's. That is plenty of power, and in my opinion, it's a match made in heaven.

One other thing, be aware that the subwoofer amp is not available until the beginning of October. I plan to add one to my system at that time.

Hope this helps.
Jeff

Wow--I just got back to this thread. Sorry I missed it for a few days. Anyway, I will answer a few questions. I did not physically measure the hotel room, but I would guess it was about 15 x 17 x 8. I had test equipment to take acoustical measurements, but there was no need. Once you've done this as many times as I have you recognize when a problem exists--in this room, with this set up there was no problem. It was not worth even taking an acoustical measurement. They had really good sound. I listened before the show opened and selected my material and material chosen by Kevin and Albert of Von Schweikert. I listened to many other rooms, and many rooms had severe bass problems in the same size hotel room.

The other aspect I would like to mention in these forums, is that Elb asked for an opinion, not a scientific white paper. We aren't doing reviews here--just sharing our experiences.

I should probably also mention ATC (seems to have found it's way in here). A fabulously designed speaker. Predominantly used in recording studios--yes we've designed a bunch of those too. We have also designed listening rooms with ATC speakers, and while many ATC speakers appear modest in size, their bass is not. They are very full in the bottom end and can be somewhat problematic in small rooms. We are currently working on a room in Singapore with ATC (70s I believe). Even with good dimensions we still load the room very quickly.

Then there's Gallo. I've heard them, but only briefly. Not enough to give a strong opinion. I do recall that they were very clear through the midrange, well detailed. But without more time with them there's not much else I can offer.