2. speakers
  3. 168639-164289

Gale 401's

Hi there,

I've had the good fortune on inheriting these speakers, though, without an amp.

My dad always said they need "power power power", but looking on other forums, people talk about sold state amps, which I know nothing about, and my dad sure didn't have one of those.

  • What's the difference between solid state and your run of the mill amp from Richersounds? 
  • Could a Cambridge Audio AXR85 power these enough to truly appreciate them?
  • or do I need to invest in something more specialist? 

Thanks,
C
c27078
bgale
2 posts
 

Thanks @tomic601. I can only imagine selling in the Midwest. Appreciate the encouragement re the book. Goal is to have it done this year.

Bruce

atlvalet
55 posts
 

I recently went down a vintage audio rabbit hole and was intrigued by the Gale speakers. And just wanted to pipe in and say today received a fully rebuilt/restored set of Gale 401A's from David at Vintage Gale. Currently breaking them in, but they sound good right out of the box.

David did everything including crossovers. I even shipped him a pair of Cardas copper connectors to upgrade the speaker binding posts.

Powering them with a set of Aragon Palladium 2 mono blocks. Everyone says they need power, so that's the biggest set I got. They're running through a rebuilt Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 with VCaps.

Currently rocking out to Gimme Shelter. Looking forward to see how they develop after I get some hours on them.

atlvalet
55 posts
 

GALE 401A UPDATE:

So, I tried a number of big, high-current AB amps with these.

First were my Aragon Palladiums with the SFL-2 preamp.

Then I used my rebuilt Aragon 4004 mkii.

But the combo that was killer IMO was my Audio Research D400mkii with LS-5mkiii preamp. That produced the kind of "magic" I saw people talking about in here. Meaning, these are gonna be a keeper.

And I'll also say this. I've decided to sell my Vandersteen 3A Signatures with 2WQ subs and keep the Gales. Some of this is due to space. Some of that is "liveliness." And some of that is because at some point I'd like to step up to Treo CT's or Quattro CT's.

More to discover