Upgrade path...Need suggestions

Look at this stuff, and read the reviews: (http://www.upscaleaudio.com/view_category.asp?cat=96) There are bound to be some on this site used at some point. Any effort you put into dealing with tubes is worth every moment. That's IF you love the sound of live music!

Oh- And you asked about if tubes are a hassle? These PrimaLuna pieces eliminate the bias adjusting, and even feature a soft-start circuit to enhance your tube life. Power requirements: Your Gallo's aren't extremely efficient. How loudly do you listen to your music? How big is your room? Are you a bass freak? What genre(jazz, classical- philharmonic or chamber, rock, pop, etc.)? If you read all those reviews on the integrateds- you'll get a feel for the results the reviewers got with a variety of speakers and different types of music. That should help you in your search.

Thanks Rodman.
Room is 26'9 inches x 16'9" with a vaulted ceiling. We listen from fairly soft thru loud but not uncomfortably loud. Probably not the exact answer you were looking for but best I can do. Rock, jazz and blues, both acoustical and electric.
Would a tube amp around 40 to 60wpc be enough? I read that tubed power seems to equate around 2x compared to ss.
Thanks again.
Steve

Yes- tube amps sound more powerful than a SS amp of the same rating. There are a few theories why this so, but the jury's still out. With your budget it's going to be hard to get into a painless tube amp(or monoblocks) with the power that will feed your needs(I'd say 75+ wpc). If you enjoyed tinkering with electronics: I'd recommend a pair of Dynaco ST-70's strapped mono and upgraded, or a pair of modded Mk IIIs. Probably a lot more than you'd like to tackle, from the way your first post sounded. Honestly: I'd say save a bit more money and then shop the tubed power amp classifieds in here, and the Upscale site. That Bryston can't be too hard to listen to.

great suggestion from Rodman. The PrimaLuna are a perfect tube amp to get you started and should hold resale value quite well. Perhaps you could run a tube amp on the Gallo's top terminals and your existing Bryston on the second voice coil of the woofer. With that said, I bet the modest power of the PrimaLuna would be more than adequate.

Another inexpensive tube option would be an AES (Audio Electronic Supply) Superamp. Depending on the model chosen, this would offer a little more power and the ability to switch between triode and ultralinear. A big benefit of this is the doubling of power in ultralinear vs. triode. Some of the AES amps are manual bias and some are cathode (self) biasing. Upscale Audio has info on these as well. AES is a subsidiary of Cary Audio and both utilize very robust power supplies and run the output tubes conservatively -- these two components are critical in an amplifiers performance and longtime enjoyment, imo.

I think you are on the right path in considering a tube amp for your Gallos -- their impedence is compatible with a tube amp (which generally don't like 4ohm & lower). Don't worry about seemingly low power ratings either. Once you have tubes successfully integrated into your system, you'll never regret it!

Dennis Had(Cary + AES) designs some excellent equipment. I'd have recommended that also, but your budget..... I've owned a pair of Cary SLM-100s(slightly modded) for a while and love them. I'm also bi-amping, and agree that it would be an excellent way to more fully enjoy your music/system. To do it correctly with amps of different power ratings/efficiencies(plays havoc with your freq. response) you'll need an active x-over, or high/low pass filter. I used a Dahlquist DQ-LP1(also modded) from 1981 until 2005. No one designed anything better that I could find. They are still available(but getting rarer do to popularity) for what they cost new(about $325.00). Watch this one:(http://cgi.ebay.com/Dahlquist-DQ-LP1_W0QQitemZ300200447488QQihZ020QQcategoryZ14977QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) It sells today.