Official Anthony Gallo Owners Thread - Page 91

+1. Blue Jeans is good also. Where cable performance is concerned there are only three factors that matter, resistance, capacitance and inductance. None of these are directly linked to price. Any and all references to any other factors by cable nuts, be they manufacturers, sellers or users, are the stuff of fantasy. Required reading:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2012/03/29/monster-cables-face-off-against-coat-hangers/

Maggie's are a whole different beast. Electrostatics are generally much more power hungry than other conventional speakers. To me, they serve a different purpose than Reference 3.5s. As far as amps, the most important thing is matching the right amplifier to the right speaker. For example, I had some Sonus Faber speakers before and they sounded awesome with my McIntosh amplifier. But I wasn't too crazy about the McIntosh paired with the Reference 3.5s. Doesn't mean McIntosh amplifier is good or bad, you just have to match it with the right speaker. I've never had the opportunity to own any Emotiva equipment, but there are lots of happy owners out there. I couldn't give advice if it's a good match or the Reference 3.5s. Hopefully you'll let us know

As far as cables, there are numerous (thousands?) of threads on this board discussing this issue. Personally, I don't believe in them, but don't argue with anyone who claims they can. It's an individual's choice. This always leads to a very heated debate. Personally, I don't like Monoprice cables as they're too stiff. I prefer more flexible cable (just my preference). I've purchased all my cables used from various sources. Good deals come up once in a while, you just have to keep your eyes open.

I only read some of that but what I did shouts what a load of drivel! Have you ever read anything containing science?

I don't means to seem offensive or unpleasant but it's my Pavlovian reaction to this kind of insult.

We have to assume you've never heard any different wires. Do you have a Hi-Fi? Do you think break in is in our minds only?

I already said that the point of extreme priced cables is to make the industry money. There's nothing to debate. Buy and borrow a dozen cables, they all sound different. It's not a fantasy or bullsh1t. And to moderately clever educated people it's not a mystery either.

I just looked at your profile Bill and from that I find that you're in the audio industry! Having difficulty comprehending how someone with your experience can make such an non balanced comment or link to those pages! Have you heard of Ben Duncan? He did some comparison tests of 5 metre speaker cables and measured a varying time delay of the signal across the selection of cables. A science test with no emotion, not based on faith, ignorance, manufacturers BS baffling buyers, or anything other than the curiosity of an enquiring mind.

People just have to listen to some stuff then they know there are differences at least, although they probably won't know what is what. People who haven't and who log on and slag off everyone who has.......

I expect there's a great deal of naivety about the honestly, or lack of, of the Hi-Fi cable industry and I think they must be worried that at some point someone will find a way to fit HDMI between all audio boxes and kill the cable industry at that moment.

Big brand manufacturers and sellers lie. I just bought a cheap 10 metre HDMI lead after reading quite a bit on the www and seeing so many very highly priced, glossy, brightly coloured BS cables that they proffer so as to swindle punters I was dismayed. The 10m leads works fine of course, it has to or it would be illegal as it has to meet the HMDI spec. These industries survive on peoples lack of ability to comprehend. And matters are not made better when people toll threads with links to nonsense that just serve to baffle and confuse.
Edited by Ian AS - 2/24/13 at 1:27pm

That statement, along with this one
indicates that you suffer from Dunning-Kruger Effect. My condolences. But as that renders impossible any meaningful discourse between us suffice it to say that there will not be any further response from me.

But in parting, read this, and then tell us all how many of the speakers reviewed in this thread did you design?

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1353217/speaker-shootout
Edited by Bill Fitzmaurice - 2/24/13 at 1:25pm

But Bill, according to some top educational physiologists my ability actually IS much higher than average Tested and demonstrated, not an illusion. My IQ is a bit mixed but averages to 98th percentile. Some of it is MUCH better than that and some of it a lot lower. But I've never thought of myself as clever. I have to keep reminding myself that there's this big difference in the way I perceive and comprehend and that most people can't and never will in the same way.

You want us to listen through coat hangers!?

I was trying to happily offer some small amount help from the experience I've accrued and you arrived and unloaded negativity rather than contribute in any meaningful helpful way. And you're anyway plain wrong about cables having no effect as you would know very well if you'd ever listened to any.

I have a pal who has designed and sold loud speakers that people have said are as good as stuff costing £10,000, he sometimes struggles to see what is obvious to me, but he's educated, and has a reasonable memory that is full of formulae. You don't need to be a genius to design loudspeakers, or be one to have a degree, doctorate even. Have an interest, read some books, have the right training, the motivation.

My great failing and the bain of my life is dyslexia (as it used to be called and most people think of as a reading difficulty but is apparently now classified as a hearing problem according to Dyslexia UK. I have Meares Irlen syndrome). For sure it's stopped me achieving a MA or MSC at least, as most of my relatives have achieved, eg, my cousins son is a professor of maths.

Anyway, which ones did you design? Or are you not allowed to breach confidentiality. Rhetorical question really as you're not going to respond.

I don't think I'll respond either. Each time I come to AVS I soon get put off wanting to visit again.
Edited by Ian AS - 2/24/13 at 5:19pm

Maggie is planar magnetic design, whatever that means. I don't understand a whole lot about the technical side of it. But it sounds warm, detailed, immersive, the music just fills the room. The Strada is more directional relatively speaking, cleaner.

I don't understand why amp and speakers may or may not agree with each other. Isn't a power amp's only job is to amplify a signal without changing the shape of the signal? Assuming there is no distortion...

Ian, Bill, and Howard, thank you for the information. Although there are debates about speaker wires, it's probably the last thing I'd worry about upgrading. I tends to upgrade incrementally and will thus be able to hear if any upgrade will make a discernible difference within the constraint of my equipment and listening environment. There is much for me to learn before I would be able to appreciate it fully.

One question still remained unanswered is how much power do the Strada 2 or the Ref 3.5 need? Bill from AG said 125+W I want to buy something that's powerful enough for both the Strada 2 and Ref 3.5 and Magnepan 3.7 (which is still sweetly haunting me in my dream to buy it) Is a pair of 250W mono block enough or 500W better with more headroom? How much is enough? I've been searching and couldn't find an understandable answer.

Usually impedance. Some speakers have impedance loads so low that they draw more current than some amps are happy about. If the speaker also has low sensitivity that requires higher voltage swing as well. OTOH tube amps are fine with low impedance loads, not so much with higher impedance loads.

LOL Thanks for the levity

The secrets are usually contained in books Or Google

My comment about most people not being able to understand wasn't arrogance or anything, just calling it as it is, but not explaining it well.

There's a bell curve with most people in the middle and not so many at the top and bottom. Evidently even people nearer the upper thin end have difficulty understanding some stuff, so the rest are going to find it hard going. Simple fact of life. So then faith and belief come into play and people do or don't believe a popular swell for or against whatever. They are not able to work out the facts for themselves. And even reading doesn't help as they can't really understand what they read or what's been explained, they then made a choice based on emotion. I'm not being unpleasant, I know plenty of people like this. I've known people who quote on the internet mixed up tidbits from a book they read but don't understand, then argue with people who do. A friend spent £20k on his car despite me and others patiently explaining but he chose to trust someone in a overall who owned a garage as to his mind that meant they must be the expert but he was so very wrong to his cost as wasted at least £15k of that. It's a mistake he'll make again as that's the best he can do. That garage owner knew this and that he could make a good living preying on these people. It's the same in Hi-Fi with cables. Eventually people become angry and mistrust everyone and assume that it's cables that are the problem and vent their cable angst in vitriolic posts.
Edited by Ian AS - 2/25/13 at 7:06am

Generally speaking, planar/electrostatic type speakers are highly directional. There's usually that one sweet spot in the room where you get the perfect sound. On the other hand, the Gallo speakers disperse the highs much better throughout the room (although there is still a sweet spot for imaging). The wide angle high frequency transducer in the Gallo is one of the reasons I love the Gallos!

In a perfect world, every amplifier and speaker would produce the sound as it was exactly originally produced by a musical instrument. But this is far from reality. Every piece of electronics adds it's own coloration. Some amps may be on the brighter side. Other may produce better bass. Yet others may have excellent midrange at the cost of some other upper/lower frequencies. Speakers are the same way. This is why it's of utter importance to match the correct amplifier to the speaker. Some electronics from certain manufacturers have their own signature tone!


250 watts of clean power is sufficient to power the Gallo's. I've never owned Maggies, but I've owned Acoustat electrostatic speakers (decades ago). Go with the 500 watt amplifiers as planars/electrostatic speakers will eat up every bit of power you can give 'em.

Hey Barry, do you know anything on the latest status of the 5LS? I noticed that Gallo is out of stock on these.

Hi there-

I'm very interested in what you think about the Gallo Classico CL-4s.

How are they sounding to you now? What speakers are you upgrading from?

Ciao!

Hi, I have the same measurements. I have 5 Strada and 2 A'Diva for rear channels, The MC amp is the Denon avr 4520 with Audyssey xt32. The measurements for the A'Divas wall mounted are 100hz, for the Stradas wall mounted (surround and central channels) are 90hz, and for the LR channels the measurements go to 110 Hz with a separation of 30 cm from the wall, 120 Hz 40 cm and 150 Hz 80cm. It is a piti because this speakers really has an awesome deep scene with a good separation of the wall.

Thanks for the info. After some fiddling with L/R Strada angles (more carefully toeing in main listening position) XT32 sets them XO to 120Hz now. I also replaced my TR-3 sub with a SVS SB12 one. It digs deeper and blends a little bit better with Stradas. I really like Strada sound and in future would like try them out on floor stands (away from walls) with 2 SVS subs located like Ref 3.5s to overcome localisation issues.

Which preamps are those with the Spectron Musician III amps using? I have two I've been trying out, the Modwright SWL9 signature, and a Decware CSP2 - the latter seems to do a little better with bass response though I've a lot more listening to do. Just curious as to what others have found to be a good match. I have Gallo 3.1s w/out the bass amp.

Thanks,
Ron
Edited by roncagg - 3/15/13 at 4:51am

Does anyone have experience with the Reference "3.05," that is, the revised model of the 3 without the tweeter switch? My understanding is these are substantially similar to the Reference 3.1. But, the 3.05 can be had cheap - around $1k. My question is whether it is worth the extra $500 or so to buy the Reference 3.1 on the used market.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks

So upon doing even more research even though I thought I had my choices narrowed down, I came upon the Classico CL-1 speakers. Nice specs, and a perfect size for my space. I would need 3 for the LCR. Anyone have experience with these speakers? I would be running them off of a Yamaha RX-V765 receiver. I like more "forward" speakers, with clear highs. I have heard, and enjoyed listening to, Klipsch Reference series RB51's. I liked them, but am looking for speakers with more mid presence. These speakers would be used for 99% movies and TV usage. How do these compare? I also listened to and liked the Imagine Minis by PSB, even though they were a little laid back.

For anyone interested, on Friday, April 12th from 6-9pm, Anthony Gallo will be demoing some of his new speakers at AV Synergy in Clinton, NJ...

Wish I could attend. Met Anthony once at a show, extremely nice person who really loves what he's doing. You can tell he really has a passion for audio!

I use to own a pair but never really had the chance to compare them to the 3.1 in a similar environment, I only heard the 3.1's at my dealer. My dealers room has always sounded better than mine when listening to 3.05 to 3.05 or 3.1 to 3.05. They were good but can't quite sum up if the 3.1s were better. I eventually upgraded the 3.05 to the 3.5's which were a step up in my own room.

Hi, I have the Strada 2 for Left, center, righ, and the A'diva for rears, sides as well.

I'm looking for a new subwoofer for my new house. WAF is important so I'm looking for SMALL.. Wondering if two the TR-3D in each corner of the room is going to sound good.
http://www.10audio.com/gallo_ref_strada.htm

this is one of the only reviews I've found.

My other option is going Sunfire
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/review_sunfire_subrosa_subwoofer_and_crm2_speakers/#When:13:06:39Z
and do 1 in wall.

thoughts? will the TR-3D go DEEP? will I feel it?

Much of "Will I Feel It?" depends on your room and how it's set up. I had 1 TR-3 up in my living room, and really "Felt It". There is a scene in "How to Train You Dragon" where the giant dragon takes flight. His wing beats shook the room and were felt through out my body, more felt than heard. The same sub down in my basement audio room wasn't as impressive, but no others are either. I think with proper placement, two TR-3D subs will really move you. They are powerful yet still tuneful, and mate well with the Stradas.

Had two TR-3D, and it is enough, and i love loud music.

I have exactly the same AG Stradas + A'Diva setup. I used to have one TR-3 SW (not TR-3D, I don't know the sonic differences). I also have space and WAF limitations. After some researching I have replaced the TR-3 with a SVS SB12 (sealed) sub. It is very musical like TR-3 but tighter and goes deeper than TR-3. SVS claims it operates within 23-270Hz but users claim it goes deeper than that and I think it is correct. It is relatively small but still bigger than TR-3. Overall my subjective opinion is that SVS is a better sub. I am considering putting a second SVS to improve multi-seat listening.

BTW all connected to an Onkyo 818 AVR. Audyssey XT32 set the XO to 120Hz for Stradas and 90 Hz for A'Divas.

By new speakers do we mean the Classicos or something that hasn't hit the market yet?

The latter

HI guys, new here. Just picked up a pair of Reference 3.5s for $2,900.00, a nice sale! They are still breaking in. My quick story. I have had a pair of Infinity IM 4.5 for 7 years. They were wonderful in many ways, but just lacking in transparency, so much so that I really didn't enjoy classical music with them. moved them to the rear and picked up a pair of Volent Paragon VL-2. I really enjoyed those speakers in many ways. Incredible, see all the way through to the back transparency and detail. Incredible detail. Very nice! However, just a touch of midrange hardness at times and did not throw a soundstage out into the room like the Infinities. One of the things that the Infinities did very well was project a nice bubble of sound out into the room. Wall to wall. The Volents just did not do that. Once you have experienced it you really can't live without it. With regrets i sold the Volents and thought I was buying a pair of Audio Physic Sitara 25s which i thought would give me the bubble things. Well, they were mislisted and were simply the Sitaras. I hooked them up and really didn't think they were anything special. Back they went for a full refund. At the same time I found the Gallo Reference 3.5 on line for a very attractive price and after reading about them decided these were the speakers meant for me.

I have a fairly short and wide room. I am about 8 feet from the speakers and they have a good 10 feet to either side of them. I have a Denon AVR100 surround receiver that I use as a pre-amp and a Van Alstine U70 tube amp to drive the Gallos. I cross them over at 80hz to a pair of VMPS smaller subs driven with 250 watts each.

Speakers are still breaking in, I have maybe 50-60 hours on them. I love how they project the soundstage into the room, guitars and voices really float in front of you. Bass tone and detail are also stronger then the Volents. I have the Gallos tilted up slightly with spikes on the front of 18"X18" stone platforms and haven't taken the plastic off the squishy base stuff yet. Love the U70 with the Gallos, well, with anything really. Audioquest CV-8 and colorado interconnects.

Detail and absolute resolution don't seem to be up to par with the Volents, not quite the level of soundstage depth and reverb decay that I got with them. Is this going to improve slightly as they break in? I am very happy with the trade-offs that I have made, the Gallos are by far the more musically involving speakers, but still miss that detail every now and then. Of course, it could be part of my poor aural memory and a slight twinge of sellers remorse.

Finally, so some new Gallos coming out? Am I going to be kicking myself? The improvements in the Strada 2 seem to be more aimed at desk top use, I like the fact that the 10" woofer provides some mid bass support to the 4" drivers, subs and strada won't do that.

Looking forward to chatting about the Reference 3.5. That tweeter is really something!

I am thinking of picking up the 5LS Reference speakers for a good price but think they may be too much speaker for the room I want to place them in. The room is 14 feet wide by 18 feet long. I will only be able to have these speakers around 1 foot from the wall behind them and only about 8 feet apart. I can't try these speakers out before the purchase. Does anyone with knowledge of the 5LS think they would work in this room?

I have owned/loved the Gallo 3.1s for a while now and have been powering them with the Peachtree Audio Nova Pre and 220 Power amp using the B&O modules. I have always been interested in hearing them with tubes and know that you typically suggest solid state for these speakers. I spoke with Mark Obrien at Rogue Audio and he is leading me to believe the Cronus amp with the KT120s would be more than effective in man handling the subs in the speakers. He even told me they used his gear in testing the Gallos? I was just wondering if you think I might be making a mistake going from the 220/8ohms to a 100 watt tube amp?