The biggest improvement you can do is raise them up.try
Brightstaraudio.com they make stands special for the Gallo speakers...Big improvement....on getting that tweeter to listening position...
Also since you have the 3.0 versions,when I listened to them I felt that there was some resonace from the Midrange.
Try putting some black electrical tape around the sphere on each one towards the front...See what you think??I liked it when I did it..
If I remember correctly in the 3.1 models they addressed that problem.. |
http://www.10audio.com/gallo_ref3-1.htm
I forgot to mention try this link..They did a review on the Gallos and had a nice upgrade using resistors across the SUB-IN binding Posts that was interesting.... |
I bought a pair of the pricy Mapleshade stands (4" maple platforms with "Megafeet" underneath) and they literally transformed my Gallo Ref 3s. More openness, clarity, dynamics, bass .... all the good stuff. "Course they cost nearly $700 which has to be a consideration.
I found that mine sounded much better way out into the room. They are currently 8' from the back wall and at least 3' from the sides. Woofers out.
I have the luxury of a very large dedicated room, but if you can accommodate them, these are extraordinary speakers. Oh, and they love tubes. Good luck, Dave |
thanks for the advice so far. i have simply noticed that there is more air and treble info if the tweeter is pointed more on axis with the listeners ear. in regards to the mapleshade stands, i can see them offering more stability, isolation, better bass, but it looks as though it aims the tweeters way above the listener's ear, defeating the difference i seem to be hearing pointing them at the listener's ear? on axis they definitely sound more open than before to my ears. |
One of the main points of the Mapleshade stands is that they give you MORE tilt than the stock set-up. I found this to be very desirable, but obviously you don't. FWIW, I have mine toed in slightly but not pointing directly at me. |
I think the original poster is talking a bout tilting them downwards instead of upwards... Please correct me if I'm wrong |
We need more information to be able to give a response to your question. How are they positioned now? Distance from each other and from your listening position? How much toe in? What are the rest of your components? How heavily damped is your room?
I have never experienced "muffled and dull" from my Gallos but pointing straight at you will increase the energy from the midrange drivers. The tweeter energy wont change much based on my experience from toe in. The rake of the speakers will be different for every room and person based on seat height, your height, and distance from the speakers.
Mine are toed in so that I can just see the inside face of the woofer (woofers facing in) so the midrange drivers are pointing just behind my chair. Distance apart is 10 feet. Distance to my chair is 11 feet. My room set up is not symetrical but both speakers are more than 5 feet into the room and more than 4 feet from the side walls. I do change the toe in from time to time for a different perspective on the size and depth of the soundstage.
I built my own bases using Mapleshade's specs and I am using Edensound heavy brass footers. The front to back difference in the height of the footers is 3/4".
I have played with the front to back height extensively and I find this to be optimum for my setup.
I also found the Mapleshade style base to be a great improvement in the overall sound from the stock base. |
My components are a yba integrated with 100 watts and a heavily modified adcom dac with midrange copper interconnects and speaker cable. Ok, the setup is about 5.5 ft apart and 2 feet from the wall behind the speaker and 3 feet from one side wall and 5 feet from another. I sit about 8 feet back. I dont have a lot of flexibility on this setup because of where the TV and couches are. Toe in is probably 15 degrees or so.
Yes, I am talking about the tilt back position of the tweeter. If they are aimed too far above me it seems as though I begin to "miss" the detailed sounds that contribute significantly to air, atmosphere, and subtleties of the recording both in the treble and midrange frequencies. If the angle is more at the listening height of my ears they are not near as "dull" and "muffled" sounding. They are still on the warm side but not as unimpressive as before. My goal is for a natural and balanced sound that is open and dynamic, favoring a touch of forgiveness and bloom as opposed to etched and precise. Leatherneck, I would be interested to hear further about the dimensions and effects of the stands and how simple to make them. Thanks.
P.s. I have a whole different room with another amp and speakers that are listed in my system on audiogon. The setup is more optimum and the results thus far are more to my liking. But I think I am getting closer with the gallo setup. |
Well i had a free afternoon with the speakers to move them farther apart and closer to me by a foot or so and the sound did improve so some of this may have to do with them being too close together, but the aiming of the tweeter vertically still seems to be the biggest improvement in resolution. Wish I could leave them in this position but it is the living room. |
Funny, I've been having the exact same issues with my Gallos lately. I used to have them on top of polycrystal amp stands, which only raised them about 3 or 4" higher than normal, and the sound was quite nice. I recently got a pair of the Bright Star Audio Isorock 3's, and replaced the amp stands with the Isorocks. Bass was definitely improved, and resonance was decreased, but they were just firing far too high above my listening position.
Part of the problem was the fact that the front spikes were on top of a persian rug (which sits on top of the wall-to-wall carpeting underneath), while the rear spikes were simply resting on the carpet. This created a roughly 1" difference that further rake the tweeters towards the heavens. So just two days ago I switched the front (large) spikes with the rear (short) spikes, and the tweeter/midrange is now much more directed towards my ears/listening position. I found that the sound opened up tremendously, though it does seem a little "upfront" now. I guess I'm going to have to continue experimenting. |
Nmuntean,
I think it is pretty critical to hearing the capability of the tweeter and midrange units. I played a little more with the positioning of the speaker in the room and got closer to "locking" the bass in and this too was very dramatic. It went from that sounds pretty good to "here is what the drums and upright basses sound like on the recording." Much more powerful and extended just with positioning.
Very fun to realize there is much more speaker here than I originally experienced. I know what you mean about upfront, but i have really started to like it. It is not bright, i have had that before. Of, course the dac really comes into play on that dimension. Happy listening. |
You probably just don't like the speakers. Period. I went through this non-sense with Maggie 1.6. I'd move it here, move it there, tilt it back, forward, near, far, use resistors, no resistors. Finally, I sold them and bought new speakers and am now living happily ever after. They should be designed with the angle that will make them sound good. It shouldn't be up to you to screw around with them wondering if you are hearing acceptable sound. You should sell them and buy something that suits you better. By the way, I used to own Gallo 3.1's too and they suffered the same fate as the Maggies. I found them way better than the maggie 1.6, but not as good as my Usher 6371's |
