Zaikesman, I can detect no difference in the sound whether I sit or stand. The speakers are about 8' from my listening position. I've heard of this complaint, but never experienced any problem. By comparison, a friend has a pair of Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home speakers and there are distinct changes in the sound depending on how high your ears are, relative to the speakers. Dave |
I moved to Gallo Ref 3s from the earlier 4-ball Gallo Ultimates. The Ref 3s are a MAJOR improvement over the Ultimates, which I liked a lot. Granted, Gallo customer support has been nothing to write home about, though no problem ever arose with the Ultimates and they're now (I still have them) 11 years old. Despite their comparatively modest cost, I've heard nothing I prefer to the Ref 3s, and I've listened to the Sonus Faber Amati Homage, Revel Salon, and other high end speakers. I'm driving them with 12 wpc SET monoblocks (huge transformers, granted) in an 18x40' space and never feel a lack of power. I do have a 500w Hsu subwoofer amp powering the woofers' second voice coils. I agree that they don't come fully alive in low-level listening.
They do a perfect disappearing act, with a large sweet spot, excellent soundstaging, great highs (those CDT tweeters) and top-to-bottom balance. They have real "authority" despite their diminutive size. They love tubes. The ONLY complaint I have is that their break-in is long and painful. Once you get past that (100 hours minimum), I think you'll like them a lot. I'd personally go for a used pair and let someone else "enjoy" that break-in. Dave |
Can't argue with Photon46, whose most serious complaint is their sounding like the small speakers they appear to be. I was using humongous Gallo Nucleus Ultimates when I got the Ref 3s, and playing them side by side, people THOUGHT I was playing the Ultimates. The Ref 3s actually had a bigger sound but looked tiny by comparison. This is in an 18x40' space, BTW.
Saki70 describes Ref 3s that aren't broken in (takes well over 100 hours) and/or are miswired (the bottom pair of binding posts are not for biwiring but for hooking up a subwoofer amp). In any event, the last thing they should sound like is congested. Not disputing what you heard, just a tad puzzled. |
Kkm, I'd love to hear more about those custom stands. Dave |
To raise the height of the Ref 3s on a temporary or experimental basis, you might do what I did. Go to Lowes (or wherever) and pick up 4 of their concrete blocks sized 8 x 16 x 4" high. Cost is something like $.69 per. Then you can raise the the speakers first 4 inches, then 8 inches, and see if you like the result, sonically. Lord knows they're solid! They don't even look too bad and would even look better if sprayed black. Just a suggestion. Dave |
Good grief, Ojgalli, what are you listening to through the Gallos. Mine sure don't sound a bit like that. My last two pairs of speakers cost twice as much, or more, by the way. |
Thanks to Kkm and Scott Stein I have a pair of these stands (they look identical to the ones pictured in Kkm's link) and can confirm the sonic improvements. Besides, I think they look rally neat! The slightly "outboard" spiked feet are from Parts Express, their part # 249-720 (cost is $22.99 for 4 feet, twice that for 8).
Between the bottom of the speakers and the tops of the bases, I'm using "dead balls" cut in half, but am still experimenting. With the dead balls, you can touch the sides of the bases and feel absolutely no resonance from the speakers even playing Flight of the Cosmic Hippo at full blast!
I really recommend this tweak. Dave |
First, I got the price of the Parts Express spikes wrong. They're just $14.80
for four, not $22.99. And the stands themselves can be seen at
www.steinaudio.com
Regarding the interface between speakers and stands, In the case of mine,
the speakers are simply sitting on the 4 dead ball halves (as I said, I'm still
experimenting, although these sound VERY good). The speakers are quite
stable, strange as this may seem. I can't seem to get a good photo but will
keep trying.
I prepped the stands with Rust-Oleum "Painter's Touch" sandable
primer, sanding after each coat, and finished with the Painter's Touch semi-
gloss black. If I had it to do over, I might go with flat black for a better
match, although the semi-gloss looks fine. Both primer and black paint were
via spray cans.
Yes, the feet are adjustable and I'm using a slight tilt, but not as much as the
stock feet provide. Dave |
Rolloff, just go to www.partsexpress.com and key in 249-720 under "Quick Search" at the upper left. The speaker spikes attach at the bottom (not the sides) of the stands . Both the brass points and the rubber feet come along with the set. |
I think this is what you're looking for.
http://www.10audio.com/gallo_ref3-1.htm |
I agree. And I sure don't want to saddle my SET monoblocks with the added chore of reproducing subterranean bass. |
Enjoy them, Mechdude 1. I certainly have, for the past 4 years. When you're feeling really flush, treat them to the Mapleshade bases specifically designed for these speakers. Pricy as hell ($775) but they literally transform the Gallos.
As to the Maggie comparison, I heard the 3.6s a while ago and couldn't return to the Gallos fast enough. As they say, YMMV :-) |
Fin1bxn, sounds like they were either undergoing break-in (for the first hundred hours they sound pretty ghastly) or were miswired, intentionally or unintentionally. Set up and broken-in properly, they are anything but congested and veiled. |
I bought mine despite thinking they looked wimpy as hell, especially next to my former Gallo Ultimates. Even ended up co-designing some special speaker bases (just listed them on Audiogon) to raise them 6 inches. The trick to these things is POSITIONING. Although Mechdude1 found them pretty much plop-n-play, it's taken me a long time to get them to world-beater status. The Mapleshade bases make an amazing difference, but that was after I had already moved them all over the place and ended up with them 8 feet from the back wall and 3-4 feet from the sides. Don't get me wrong; I liked them from the beginning -- well, after the break-in -- but I like 'em a lot better now. |
Woifi73, after giving them your best shot for 4 years and not liking the result, you should definitely replace them IMHO. I've had mine for 4 1/2 years, listen to the same music you do (plus jazz) via an all-tube system and have no intention of replacing mine. Must be some serious lack of system synergy because mine have never sounded the least bit tinny and etched to me, and with the substitution of the Mapleshade bases sound truly amazing, albeit much better on everything BUT "rock and electronically modded music." That's a real head-scratcher. Good luck, Dave |
Well, I'll bet Gallo says there's nothing wrong with them. Do you have any knowledgeable audiophiles nearby who might take a listen and make suggestions? I mean I can't imagine BOTH speakers being infected with the kind of nasties you describe. Are you using a subwoofer amp into the lower pair of speaker inputs? I've heard about some people thinking the lower pair of inputs is for bi-wiring, which it isn't. |
