Home
AudioAsylum Trader
Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Gallo Acoustics Reference III Speakers by arms

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

For Sale Ads

FAQ / News / Events

 

REVIEW: Gallo Acoustics Reference III Speakers

210.0.231.246


[ Follow Ups ] Thread:  [ Display   All   Email ] [ Speaker Asylum ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

Model: Reference III
Category: Speakers
Suggested Retail Price: $2600
Description: 4-driver 3-way hybrid
Manufacturer URL: Gallo Acoustics
Model Picture: View

Review by arms on August 22, 2004 at 06:57:54
IP Address: 210.0.231.246
Add Your Review
for the Reference III


I became the first owner of a pair of Nucleus Reference III in Hong Kong when my speakers arrived 4 weeks ago. I ordered the pair 3 weeks before it finally arrived. Originally, my dealer told me that it would only take 10 days for the speakers to ship, but Anthony must be selling loads of these and not making them fast enough.

I was previously using a pair of Thiel CS3.6. I have been happily using them for more than 10 years. I still consider them as a very good pair of speakers even by today's standard. However, due to one reason or another (a midrange driver blew and the local distributor said they couldn't repair it or order a replacement. The driver was eventually rebuilt by Thiel after I shipped it to them. Thiel provided great customer services, but that's another story), I decided to finally to buy a new pair of speakers. After much research, I finally decided to buy the Gallo Reference III.

After 4 weeks, with over 100 hours of break-in, I feel that I am ready to write a review to share my experience. The speakers already sounded pretty good right out of the box, I originally wanted to write a preliminary review, but eventually decided to wait till after the speakers are fully broken in before I write and post a review.

Before I begin with the review, I have to answer one question before someone asks it. No, I have not heard the Gallo Reference 3 SA amplifier (previously called BAM). Srajan Ebaen of 6 Moons told me that it should be available in about 4-5 weeks time. I wrote an email to Anthony Gallo Acoustics last week asking them when the Gallo Reference 3 SA amplifier would be available and they replied that they expect to ship the SA amp by late October. The first article is being reviewed now then if all is OK, they'll go into production. I will order one as soon as it is available.

Let's discuss about the bass first. This remains the slightly controversial area about this pair of speakers. Without a suitable 2nd amp with low-pass filter to drive the 2nd voice coil, different people have reported varying degree of bass quality. According to Srajan Ebaen, Anthony Gallo told him that the Nucleus Ref III liked to see lots of current. So it is likely that high power solid state amps would provide fuller bass than lower power tube amps. My Cello Duet 350 power amp produces 350w into 8 ohms. I can say in my own system, for 98% of the music I listen to, I did not notice bass was lacking in anyway. The Ref III is able to provide bass that will give full weight to classical orchestral music to make it sound realistic. The bass is fast, with good punch and definition. The Ref III without the 2nd voice coil may not give you the ultimate in low bass, but what it excels in is the quality, speed and definition in throughout its' whole frequency range, that is including its' bass. A set of drums sounded and felt like a real set of drums. One can actually hear and feel the impact of the drumstick hitting on the drum. Listening to recordings of Japanese “Taiko” drums (these are huge traditional Japanese drums), the sounds of the drums are so palpable that it felt like you can actually sense the vibration of the drum surface. The only times I felt that bass maybe be lacking was with home theatre soundtracks.

For those who have read reviews of this pair of speakers in Bound for Sound, Six Moons and preview in Positive Feedback, you would have known by now that the Gallo Reference III is a lower midrange to high frequency monster as stated by Martin DeWulf of Bound for Sound in his review of the Ref III. I cannot agree with them more. The tone quality is superbly balanced. The midrange and treble, like the bass are quick, well-defined and grainless.

What this pair of speakers really excel in is the ability of to portray voices and muscial instruments with a palpable life-like quality. Rather than just hearing a ring or a ding, you can actually hear the impact and the ringing of a triangle or cymbal. When you hear the a human voice, it actually felt like you can hear the vibration of the vocal cords. When you hear a violin, you know that it is a violin because you can hear the rich harmonics of the vibration of the strings together with the body of the whole instrument.

The other much talked about area where this pair of speakers excel in is the soundstage. It throws a wide, deep and realistic soundstage. Position of instruments and voices are well defined. The speakers also disappear completely. How well it managed to disappear was demonstrated by one incident. My wife, who is not an audiophile at all, one night was listening to the speakers. She thought she couldn't actually hear music coming out from the speakers, so she walked up to the speakers to make sure that there was sound coming out from them. She was convinced that the music was coming out from somewhere in the middle rather than from the pair of Gallos! I had to convince her that I did not have the surround centre speaker turned on!

I don't know if this is the best pair of speakers in the world under US$10,000 or whether you'll like it as much as I do. But I certainly think if you are looking for a pair of new speakers irrespective of price and technology, you should give this pair of Gallos a listen. You maybe surprised!


Product Weakness: Not "Hi End" enough for people looking for $20,000+ speakers
Product Strengths: tonal accuracy, speed, defintion, soundstage......


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Cello Duet 350
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Audio Synthesis PAS-02 passive preamp x 2, Rotel RSP-1066
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Rotel RDV-1080, Musical Fidelity Tri-vista 21 DAC
Speakers: Anthony Gallo Acoustics Nucleus Reference III
Cables/Interconnects: Audioquests interconnects, MIT terminator speaker cables
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Jazz, classical, rock, pop
Room Size (LxWxH): 15 x 17 x 10
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Sonic Craft  



Topic - REVIEW: Gallo Acoustics Reference III Speakers - arms 06:57:54 08/22/04 ( 34)