Gallo Ref 3 and CJ Premier 350

I've heard great things about this amp from people who should know. What was your previous amp?

I'm amazed with the Gallos too. The reviews have all pretty much stated though, that they respond best to good electronics, especially those with big power reserves. That being said, I love my Gallos and think they sound terrific. I'm glad you got to hear yours as they can truly sound. Good enough to keep. I would recommend the additional aftermarket stands though. They bring the sound out in a whole new way.
Enjoy,
Dave

I've had the Bel Canto evo6 and lately butler tdb2250. The butler is good but no comparison to the 350. the 350 of course cost twice as much.

This interests me greatly.Had a pair of REef2's that had good aspects to sound but always kind of sounded "gimmicky".Plus I sold them because Gallo did not have replacement tweeters only two or three years after speaker run ended.Thought that was bad back up/customer service.Now 6Moons and TAS give great reviews and Gallo ads have a dealer saying he's never had a speaker fly out of his place the way the Ref3's have.But another dealer had a pair for sale here on A'gon (must have goten one to see how it would do) and said that Thiel and B&W way outperformed them at price point and couldn't believe the TAS write up.So who's to believe?They must make some impression intially because they have sold but now there are many up for sale.So now maybe they aren't the holy grail we have all been waiting for.Just know that nothing has made as much buzz in years as the Ref 3's and the NHT Xd system.But look how at the Infintiy Prelude which Fremmer gave a great review (if you liked uncollored speakers) and at $10K were the cheapest set of speakers on Stereophiles Class A list at $10K.Now you can pick them up new for a little over half that and used for $3500.But hope that mopre owners respinf about the Gallo 3's and talks about match ups.Some speakers are more sensitive and chnge their sound with diferent amps than others.Are tubes the answer?Or are they a product that make a great firest impression but don't hold up.Find this to be the case when a product (especially speakers) has a markedly "diferent" sound which we intially think is beter but later discover is only different not beter.If you have the Gallo's speak up!
Chazzbo

Chazzbo, you sure are hard to convince. What, exactly, will it take, and why should we bother?

:-)

Jinrum8

Congrats on your purchase of the CJ 350. It is an outstanding amp but does require about 200 hours of run in time. CJ says 100 but I have found mine improving beyond the 100 hour point. The amp is simply amazing at its ability to develop large amounts of power (current) with so much finesse and detail. I am currently driving Thiel 3.6's with my premier 350. I have owned it for about a year and do not see myself changing amps for a long time.

Chuck

What does the 350 cost anyway? Can't remember seeing any reviews of it yet, and CJ's website provides few details (as usual). I recently got a McCormack DNA-500 from a member who's using the 350 now, and though he thinks highly of both amps you can see which he sold and which he kept.

Zaikesman

The 350 retails for around 8500USD. There are a couple of reviews posted on CJ's web site at least there used to be.

Chuck

Everyone thanks for fedback. So far I have kept playing the amp continuosly and sounding better evryday. I had the DNA 500 but it kept blowing up evrytime. I had it returned and replaced 3 times. Always played for few seconds and just blew the fuse. Mccormack just could not figure out why it does that in my system. After the 3rd replacement I just told them to send me the CJ 350 and no regrets so far. I am sure the dna 500 is a great amp but unfortunately did not get to really try it in my system.The Gallos are sounding better everyday. They seem to need good quality high powered amps. the sound is not just different. You get better bass, sound stage, depth and details I never heard before. With the volume sold, I am sure there are many keepers than sellers. Then again if I get hit by the upgrade or change your system and empty yr wallet syndrome, I will consider the wilson sophia, revel studio and krell res1 or 2. thats how it goes in this hobby.

Chuck - do you connect yr 350 thru a power conditioner?

My system:

belcanto pl1a
audiopax model 5
cj premier 350
gallos ref 3 with isorock gr3 stands
cabling are virtual dynamics masters ,revelation and shunayata anaconda,python
shunayta hydra 8

Jinrum8

No power conditioning. I tried a passive unit (PS Audio UPC200)for a few months and did not like it. It seemed to remove some of the life and dynamics from my system so I sold it. I plug everything directly into the wall which is a dedicated 20 amp circuit with 10/2 romex and a couple of PS Audio power ports. I am using PS Audio xstreme statement power cords on all my components (Sony SCD-1, cj premier 16 series II and the cj premier 350).

Chuck