GMA Callisto feedback Green Mountain Audio

I own Europas and I think they've really come on song in the last couple of weeks ... and I've owned them for about 2 months, though with not much time for use.

So breakin would seem to be required. I think the europas use the same low frequency drivers.

I also find that I have to turn the volume up a little to get the best ... they can sound a little thin at very low volumes.

I also agree about the spectacular sound ... on a good recoding the speakers completely disappear, and there's a huge and deep soundstage with superb imaging.

If there's a weak point with the Europas then IMO the bass is neither very strong nor very deep for such a large monitor, but I cross mine with a REL strata and the results are spectacular.

I'll add my vote to the customer service from GMA. It is absolutely outstanding. I don't think I've ever had the level of followup on anything else I've bought, ever. And they're so enthusiastic about the music. I just hope they're paying equal attention to the bottom line because I only spent $900 when I got my europas.

I get the impression that they're run off their feet though, so they can take a few days to respond.

It looks to me like both the callisto and europa use the same LF driver (from Aurasound). To get the higher sensitivity I suspect that the Callisto (and Europa max) use a more expensive Morel tweeter, as the more expensive MDT-31 and MDT-33 are more sensitive and have better low frequency response, but are similar in other respects to the tweeter used in the Europa (which might be a MDT-30 ... I don't know, I haven't remove it).

I really like my europas, but I have to say that the Callistos, on paper, don't look like they justify the additional cost. That said, I've never heard them, and I'm sure a big portion of the cost is recovering the engineering and design time, rather than the increased driver/crossover cost.

Thanks for posting Roy, and don't get me wrong ... I wasn't implying that GMA are gouging on the Callisto vs the Europa. I was simply saying that the Callisto is more than twice the cost of the base Europa, and as a buyer there had better be a substantial difference in performance for my extra outlay.

Additionally I think the Europas are much more capable than my sources (LP & CD), so more money would have to be spent at the front end before the speakers.

I also work for a small manufacturer so I understand very well that the cost of product is a lot more than the cost of the parts, though sometimes our customers have to have this explained to them.

The Europas are excellent speakers that I can recommend without hesitation. I hope I can one day hear your other speakers, but I'm not a tire-kicker, so it would have to be at a show.