New Gallo Strata's sound like tin-cans: break-in time problem?

Maximoam85 wrote: "almarg: suggestion is a good diagnostic but I am hesitant for fear of invalidating the warranty (they are new speakers) and/or damaging the speakers."

The 1.5 volts almarg suggested translates to less than 3/10ths of a watt into the Strada’s nominal 8 ohm load, and the speaker is rated at 150 watts. The crossover will route the battery’s DC current to the midwoofers; the tweeter will not see any of it. In other words, what he suggested is perfectly safe and would give you valuable information.

Every speaker I make is polarity-tested with a comparatively brutal 9 volts (ten watts into 8 ohms), because once upon a time I shipped a speaker with the woofer's polarity inadvertently reversed due my using the wrong color wire coming from the crossover board.  In other words, it can happen. 

I can understand you wanting to go to the dealer regardless of what the battery test reveals, because opening up the enclosure might very well void the warranty. But the battery test that almarg suggested is safer than playing them at normal volume.

Duke

Maybe it’s none of my beeswax, but 200 hours seems like a stretch. That’s over six hours a day every day for a month. You might want to contact Gallo directly for a second opinion.

I would never tell a customer it will take that long for his new speakers to finally sound good. Improvement over time, yes. But not that much improvement.

I used to be a Gallo dealer. Never had the problems you’re having; all of my customers were very happy with their Gallo speaker right out of the box.  (I became a speaker manufacturer, that's why I no longer sell the Gallos.)

Note that your legal right to return something for a refund also has a clock ticking. Unless you are confident the vendor will take the speakers back after 200 hours regardless, you might want to find out when that clock runs out. For items purchased "mail order", my understanding is that it’s 30 days.

Duke