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Will my amp have enough juice for the Gallo 3.1s?

I have had the Onix SP3/Ref 1 combo as my first entry level "audio lover" system and eventually sold the Ref 1s for the Strata Minis. Many people felt the SP3 wasnt going to give the Stratas the juice they needed but considering my room 10x9 (VERY small) it actually worked out well. Now, I have the itch again and want to try the Gallo 3.1s so im wondering again, whats your thoughts on a little SP3 36watt/channel tube amp running the Gallos with authority in my room?
vedder323
8 responses Add your response
zmanastronomy's avatar
zmanastronomy
738 posts
 
3.1's need more than 36wpc to be driven correctly. They'll make music... but they wont do what they do best with that amp. 3.5's will, but not the 3.1's.
goatwuss
877 posts
 
150WPC+ or so if you want to control those 10" bass drivers with authority. They dip down below 4 ohms.
vedder323 OP
31 posts
 
Goat, when you say 150+ are you referring to tube or solid state?
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
I ran my Gallo Ref3s for 7 years with a pair of 12wpc SET monoblocks (845
output tubes, big trannies) and have now moved on to Gallo Stradas and TR-3
subs. I did use the Gallo subwoofer amp on the woofers' second voice coils,
but all too often I forgot to turn it on :-) A 36 wpc tube amp should do the
job nicely in your very small room.
vedder323 OP
31 posts
 
Thanks Dop! Did you use the 4ohm tap or the 8ohm tap when you were using your SETs?
goatwuss
877 posts
 
Vedder - referring to solid sate. It is more the current and the damping factor that is important to control low impedance drivers like the bass driver in the Gallo.

Look for a SS amp that doubles in power from 8 ohms down to 4 ohms. Anthony Gallo used the 500WPC spectron to demo the them.
vedder323 OP
31 posts
 
Hey Goat, I found a used Rotel RB-991 for $400 on craigslist, would that do the trick? Also found an adcom GFA-555 but he wants $500.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Vedder, my SET monoblocks were custom designed and built by a friend. There is only one set of taps, which I believe is 6 ohms.

As to Anthony Gallo's preference for a 500w Spectron amp to drive them, this is true. It is also true that some of the final pre-production testing (according to someone who was there and couldn't abide the sound of the 500 watter) was performed using 10 wpc amps.
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