Gallo reference /TAS vs Me

Hmm, Guess I'll have to revisit my dealer. I wonder if the fact that we also heard Sonus Fabers and JM Labs in the same store colored my impressions?

I can tell you that the Gallo's are the best all around speaker I have ever owned (Maggie's, Proacs, Soliloqy's, Mission 770's, Sonus Faber's). The only speaker other speaker that challenges them is my pair of System Audio
SA2K's which is the best monitor sized speaker I have ever heard anywhere. The Gallo's have a great tweeter and if you set them up properly (away from the walls and well into the room and listen in the relative nearfield) they provide a transparent and spacious window into the performance. I have not noticed any colorations.....every source material shows it's own virtues with little interference from the speaker.

One concern I've read about is the low soundstaging due to the fact that they're rather short.

Did any of you who own the Gallos find that problem compared to your previous speakers?

I agree with Rad 21 -- you're describing a pair that is not broken in. The break-in period begins after they've been playing about 6 hours and lasts for about 100 hours, if my pair is typical. I was also worried about image size, since my speakers were 8-driver Gallo Ultimates, over 4 feet tall. the Ref 3s have at least as large an image with an incredible soundstage.

I'm using 12 wpc SET monoblocks to power them, plus a 100 wpc stereo SS amp, thru a HSU crossover set at 43 Hz, to power the woofers'second voice coils. The low bass is awesome this way, but it is very good even without the second amp. I'd like to at least try Gallo's subwoofer amp, but the current setup is going to be hard to beat.

These are fabulous speakers.

I share your impressions of the Gallo's. They were OK, but were not what TAS described. The mid-range was a bit vieled and the upper bass region was muddied. I went to the dealer expecting to purchase a pair of these speakers, but instead bought some Audio Note AN-Es (new AN-Es cost me $2,500). In my opinion, it wasn't even close. The Audio Note's simply outclassed the Gallo's and were far more musically engaging. I think your hearing is OK.