Tube Amps with Gallo 3.1's?

A combo of tubes and a SS amp(Gallo's sub amp) works great. The tubes will flavor the sound toward some warmth and add musicality, space, and dimensionality. Most 60W to 100W tube amps (c-j, Jolida and VTL favs) should be fine and the bottom will be tight with SS on the second set of woofer voice coils. Another route is a single SS amp that has the right properties, McCormack, Wyred 4 Sound, Butler, Plinius or Odyssey. Simpler and probably more neutral, but who can argue how satisfying music can be through valves. Borrow one of these great SS amps and if you're not blown away, head for the tube/SS hybrid.

I'm powering my Gallos with a Butler TDB-5150 (5-ch, 150W/ch) and the sound is spectacular. Top to bottom it sounds great, no grain, no harshness, incredible soundstage. The Butler amp is a work of art, I don't see me selling it for the next 20 years - it is that good. www.ButlerAudio.com

-RW-

I have the same question. I'm thinking of upgrading to the Ref 3.5. Currently I have mcintosh mc 202 ss amp (2x200 wts) running my fronts, with a sherbourne amp for my center and rears (all Canton speakers with a B&W sub). I listen to a lot of 2 channel analog though, so I've been toying with the idea of getting the reference 3.5s and running them with a tube amp. They're not very efficient, however. If anyone can recommend a good 2 channel tube amp, I'm all ears.

I have run the 3.1's with Mac, Classe and Levinson power amps, with a variety of preamps.

The one thing that I guarantee is that the 3.1's can handle massive, horrendous amounts of power.

Currently an MC402, with mono subamps. I can run the amp (which is, BTW, an overachiever) near until the guard comes on.
Thats 2 KW.

The speaker breakup is gradual, nothing dramatic, and the limits are extensive.

RW, How are you using the Butler, 4 channels on the Gallos, or in a 5.1 SS system with just one channel for each of the Gallos full range?

>> RW, How are you using the Butler, 4 channels on the Gallos, or in a 5.1 SS system with just one channel for each of the Gallos full range? <<

Sorry for the (very) belated reply. I am using the Gallo 3.1s as the Front Left and Right of a 5.1 system. The Center and Surround speakers are Gallo Reference AVs. The system sounds *spectacular*, the Butler really drives them well. I will probably not change this setup for many years to come, it is not weak in any area.

Here's a link to a 6 Moons review that goes into greater detail on the Butler/Gallo pairing. Suffice to say that the reviewer was ecstatic with the combination:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/butler/2250_3.html

And I'm also employing the resistor tweak as described by this article:

http://www.10audio.com/gallo_ref3-1.htm

The Fronts are crossed over at 50Hz, Center at 80Hz, and Surrounds at 70Hz. The Surrounds are mounted flush against the side walls providing some boundary reinforcement, hence the slightly lower crossover than the Center. I am VERY satisfied with this setup, best sounding rig I've ever had.

BTW, using an Emotiva UMC-1 as the pre-pro, a 10 inch Earthquake sub (400 watt amp), and an Oppo BDP-93 for most of my source material. For vinyl, I have a Gram Slee phono pre amplifying a B&O 9000 tangential tracker with their awesome MMC-1 cartridge.

The only thing I've considered upgrading is the Earthquake. I'm betting a 12 inch Velodyne DD sub would really provide the final touch to the bottom octave. However, the Earthquake is no slouch, it rumbles plenty good when the need arises...

-RW-