Gallo Reference 3 vs. Spendor S8 vs. Harbeth Super

I recently sold my Gallo Reference 3's and bought Harbeth Super HL5's. The change was driven by a few things. First, the Gallo's, while being excellent speakers never got along well with my choice of amplifiers. Also, I was trying to downsize my system and went from Vandersteen 5's to the Gallo's. The Gallo's compared well with the 5's but I could never relax into the music in the way that I was used to with the 5's. The 5's are still the best speakers I have ever heard.
I lived with the Gallo's for over a year. I had hoped to add the Bass amp but that never materialized despite assurances from Gallo that it would be any day now.

I heard the Harbeth's at a friends house and there was no way I could live with the Gallo's after that. They just made music better and I had to have them. I listen to Rock and Classical mostly. My amp is a Musical Fidelity TriVista 300.
A home audition will be the best way for you to decide what to do. Don't go buy anything that you haven't heard because everyone's taste is different and your mileage may vary.

Good Luck!

the brightstar stands were just reviewed in TAS.

I auditioned the S8's for several days back when they first hit US retailers, and my first impression was that they were unforgiving on less than perfect CDs. To balance that out, however, their bass was spot on -- deep and dynamic -- and they imaged really well in my set-up. I would take a look at their Classic series and compare these to the Harbeths. To many seasoned audiophiles, these are where the music lives.

Gallo Ref3's were fantastic the week I had them to demo.
They do take some correct room setting up,but when locked in they shine.
I do prefer them with woofers out,and 36" from back wall,and facing straight foward,with about 1/2inch front raise for my room...15x21 listening area.Towing them in about 1 or 2 inch makes them more focused if you like a small club effect.Imaging is unbelieveable. For the price its a no brainer.
I am waiting for my dealer to get in the Spendor S8e for a demo.But think the Gallo's will be better.I am not fimilar with the Klipsch.
There is a company called Bright Star Audio www.brightstaraudio.com that make special stands for them to add some height to them.Side wall placement of speakers is important and the starting formula is (room width divided by 18 then multiplied by 5 and then multiplied by 12) which gives you starting distance in inchs to center of speakers.

I went to the Gallo when I went to a small room (there was not enough distance for the sound from Dunlavey SC III's to integrate properly).

I am surprised at Tomryan's comment about bland & boring, I have found this speaker anything but that--in my system, my room, my cables, my music (mostly jazz & blues) etc (details listed elsewhere).

"accessories" are also availabe: I have mine on IsoRock GRIII stands and just added Gallo's sub-amp...

You'll need a good sized room for the Harbeth; it's a big speaker. I've heard the Gallo at a dealer and thought it rather bland and boring but it may have been the other equipment in chain.

I think the HL5 is in the same family as the Compact 7 (which I have) and that would make it very musical with a clear, open, but easy midrange. You can check a back issue of Stereophile from this year in whcih Sam Tellig gives a pretty good description of the HL5. It will be a very different sound than you've been getting from the Klipsch.