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Just thought I'd share what seemed to be my never ending journey since I sold my beloved Maggies 3 years ago. I've been active on the planar asylum since '99 or '00 so I felt best to share on this site as chances are I might go back to Maggies in the (hopefully distant) future.
I came into some extra $ so I decided to go with an all Sanders Sound System including his 10C's. I loved the very strong center soundstage with bass, drums, voices etc...but I didn't like how it was a single listener system (speakers) and the odd way music panned hard left or right sounded. I took a loss and sold them on audiogon.
I temporarily had a set of Gallo Acoustics 3.1's which were bought for rear channels while waiting for my inSound (Omega Mikro)/Mapleshade modified Gallo 3.5's. The 3.1's sounded ok, but overall just sounded small and didn't have the last word in detail. This changed with my modded 3.5's. Higher soundstage and some of the best high range detail since my ribbon tweeters on my Maggie 3.6's...maybe better! I had a few issues with the speakers and got sick of the money and time spent to fix them including having to drive from Columbus to DC to pick them up.
I found a pair of Gallo 5LS's on eBay and audiogon for a price I couldn't pass up around Chirstmas so I bought them knowing very little about them except that the were line source speakers taller than my 3.6's. I was not happy with their sound at 1st and moved them around a lot trying to find their sweet spot. Turns out I found it it was just that I was using a cheap pair of temporary speaker cables. I changed the jumper cables and speaker cables back to my Omega Mikro cables that were getting repaired and the problems were solved. Much more detail, clean and coherent and full midrange (suffered the most from the cheap cables leaving a bloated sound) and clear semi-deep bass. These speakers were quite the chore to get them in my house by myself due to their weight, size including the wooden crates they came in. They were also more work than any speaker I've owned to set up, but once was all said and done with my Omega Mikro speaker cables installed (just yesterday) I think I've found what I've been Searching for the last few years. I have considered getting a pair of SVS SB-13 Ultras, but even living in a house I'm worried about disturbing my neighbors. I'll take a month or 3 to decide on that.
I've upgraded several key components as well which would've improved the sound of my Maggies just as much as they have my Gallos.
In short I'm sick of buying new speakers and it would be a huge pain to pack up n ship my 5LS's so I'm glad that I'm so happy with my system now. I hope to stick with these speakers and the new components I've gotten over the past few months for years to come. If I do make a change I'll probably go back to 3.7's or the 20x series of Maggies. Time will tell.
Best regards,
Jon
Follow Ups:
This is a very impressive speaker and Gallo's purely acoustic crossover for mid/tweet should make for a great time performance. I don't know how well the stacked alternating mid tweets work as they appear to violate the spacing requirements for a line source, but since they basically cover the same output ranges in most of the mid-tweeter region I can see how that would work assuming the cylindrical tweeters have sufficient vertical dispersion (which I would not have expected them to have - so if not then I assume the ear level tweeter is the only one you actually hear and there is a very particular seat height that has everything working together).
Bass wise I don't think you have a need to add a subwoofer, as the woofer column just needs to be EQ'ed and driven by a separate amp (biamping) to bring up the low freq output, as there is ample driver surface area and power handling. .I believe Gallo's SA amp has the requisite EQ circuit and XO to drive the woofer column with proper low freq output.
Hey Satie,
I do really like the 5 series from Gallo. They never really took off in sales so they had quite a limited production range.
The tweeters don't have the resolution of the 3.5's, but they sound good enough. I believe I can hear 3-4 of the tweeters and 4-5 of the mids from my listening position. He could have easily cut off the top 1-1 1/2 feet and there likely wouldn't be any difference in sound...except less bass (all these little 4" woofers really add up!).
Speaking of bass, I've had 2 SA amps go out on me in the last month. My 1st of 3 went out on me while I still had the 3.5's. The 2nd played for a day or so then the right channel went out. The 3rd arrived with the left channel not working. I'm going to give one more SA amp a chance (they're warrantied so it's not costing me anything) and if it goes out on me then I'll either get a refund or get a new one and sell it on Audiogon or Ebay. The bass is actually pretty good by just using Omega Mikro Jumper ribbons, but the SA amp definitely provided more bass...whether it is better bass or not I'll have to listen to and compare to find out. I'd really rather not add subs to the situation so I hope the next SA amp will stay working and provide some nice clean bass...slightly more than I'm getting now.
I'm using a Magtech amplifier on them now and it's plenty of clean power to drive them to some pretty impressive levels! They do dominate the room though and I told myself after my Maggies (both my 1.6's and 3.6's) that I wouldn't own speakers that did that again. O well, as long as I'm getting good sound :) I don't have the space for 20x series in my living room and I don't plan on moving anytime soon so it looks like I'll be keeping the 5LS's for a while.
Best regards,
Jon
Here's a pic close to where their final resting spot is:
Those SA amps are coming off as really unreliable. You should ask Gallo for an optional EQ characteristic you can put into a Marchand filter, or DIY. Or perhaps they have a line level EQ device instead of the SA EQ circuit..
Re comparing to the Mapleshade Gallos, I was wondering if the widely spaced tweeters could actually act as a single line source so your comment on the loss of clarity against the Gallo 3.5 in the tweeter range indicates that it works, but just barely, losing you some of the resolution that tweeter is capable of. I am always impressed by things that shouldn't work performing well.
Yeah, I ended up getting a refund on my SA amp instead of getting another one. I prefer the sound of the speakers running full range and I recently found out that Anthony prefers them full range as well. The guys at Gallo were nice enough to give me almost a full refund even though I've been using the SA amps for almost a year. Even with 3 failed units I thought that was pretty nice of them.
I changed my mind and decided to get dual SVS subs. I just hooked them up today and it's a little to early to decide whether I like them or not. They do surely take care of the bottom octave though!
It's hard to explain how the 5LS's sound, but to keep it short I'd say that all the drivers come off as sounding like one cohesive speaker with a great sound stage, quite good at imaging and just slightly lacking in high frequency detail. If I didn't directly compare them to my 3.5's I probably wouldn't have noticed and they best the 3.5's in every other category by quite a bit IMO including the bass which I've heard others disagree with me on this.
Best regards,
Jon
Don't the SVS come off a bit bloated sounding relative to the column of 4" drivers?
Where do you cross them over and do you let the SV5 run full range or filter it?
I usually suggest using a bipolar sub like the Dayton to match better with the tight bass of planars
http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-rs1202a-1000-watt-dual-12-subwoofer-system-assembled--300-767
Hi Satie,
Just a followup...
I got a pair of SVS SB Ultras a week after demoing the SB-2000's. The Ultras are worlds better and setup with crossover at 40hz, 24db per octave slope and placed correctly they are an excellent match and sound great for both music and HT. Keepers for sure and no regrets!
Best regards,
Jon
In my short term of listening to them I'd have to say yes and no. Time alignment is a concern as well, but I'm not willing to go from pre to subs to amp to speakers to get this attained. I just see degradation of sound everywhere regardless of the quality of the cabling.
Gallo recommended an 80hz crosover point and SVS recommended a 40hz crossover with 24db slope. 5LS's are running full range.
I bought the SB-2000's which I'm going to return for several reasons. Their lowest crossover frequency is 50hz with only a 12db slope available, I have them crossed over at 80hz right now. I've played around with placement and different crossover frequencies...haven't found the right fit yet and I'm going to try the SB Ultras and/or JL Audio E-112's to see what I can get from subwoofer's that are still in my price range. I have to get a mike out in the living room and run some software (I'm using 10.6.8 on a Mac, cannot update so a program has been hard to find) to help optimize the settings. I think this will be much easier with the JL Audio e-112's or especially the SB Ultras compared to the SB-2000's.
How would the Dayton match better than an SB Ultra or E-112? A good sealed woofer with enough power and crossover options (and EQ options as well) should do the trick...maybe. I admittedly only know of how to run subs in car audio correctly and that's a totally different situation on many levels.
Best regards,
Jon
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