gallo review - mediocre for hi-fi!

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i think this review has been bashed before. 4kgs each!?! I think not. But it's more of a summary than a review so I don't know how they can reach any conclusions from it. Treble Curtailed?! Not over here it ain't.
 
Hmmm, not sure there. I've heard them and thought they were 'ok' but not great and certainly not as fantastic as people have been saying.
But that's just my personal opinion.
 
I have been rather afraid to air my views........ but i dont think the gallos are THAT good. From what i read........ i would believe them to be as good and better than systems much more expensive, much larger. I dont really think this is true, my local dealer also agrees........ his opinion being that they are good........being able to match up to a system of similar cost....... but thats as far as it goes.

anyway, i dont want to get on anyones nut, so im going to shut up now!

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Where did you hear them Buns? If it was Lyric, I would suggest getting a second demo in a few weeks time when the speakers have (hopefully) had time to run in.
 
I didnt hear them in lyric, but that was the opinion. I heard a pair of them in a mates bedroom. I didnt consider them a patch on my speakers.

out of interest, a thought....... would they not do quite nicely as car speakers?

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Guys, if any of you ever heard a well set up, full Gallo system, to say you would be shell shocked would be an understatement.

Yes I do sell Gallo's. I could choose to sell any number of Satellite systems. However, I chose to take on the Gallo's because I honestly feel they are unbeatable for the money.
There are many well documented case's where folks have gone for a demo and have been less than impressed only to do a 180 degree about turn when they hear these set up properly.

Some of these folks have even visited me to hear them (presumably to see if I had lost my marbles :rolleyes:).
Instead of having me commited, they ended up with a grin that lasted 2 days.

The truly mystifying thing is that these are probably one of the easiest systems around to set up. Mind you, knowing the overall "standard" out on the high street some of these guys could make 20k speakers sound like crap.

I would suggest checking out other opinions (not just mine) below.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47281&highlight=gallo

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46956&highlight=gallo

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39284&highlight=gallo

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45952&highlight=gallo

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45171&highlight=gallo
 
Originally posted by Nic Rhodes on 16/06/02
The speakers are being brought in to the UK by a non hi-fi company (GPS supplier I think) and will be placed in only about 30 specialist dealers. What I heard certainly places them in the seriously interesting category. I really fancy a set my self.

Gallo speakers are a 4 inch sphere with a 3 inch full range driver. Exactly as it sounds. It has a single full range drive unit which means no crossover. This brings HUGE gains in my book. The sat make a decent stab a full range (claimed 80 hz to 18khz, but seemed more like 120hz to me) Basically all you need, very good for a single drive unit. Efficiency is claimed at 89 dB / 1W but seemed higher to me, 91 /92 dB / 1W. Very easy to drive. . There are matching passive and active subs. The 5.1 active set is about £1300 and a pair of balls (+ passive sub) £300 / 400 I think, can’t quite remember. They come in eight colours (bronze, matt black, canery yellow, gloss black, wine red, snow white, coballt blue and standard Stainless Steel.) There is a elegant wallflower speaker stand, wall mount or a rubber gromet stand (honest!!) which holds the balls.

The sub isn’t really a sub more a woofer module so you can still add that gut wrenching Servo15! Basically we are talking a sub / sat combo here.

Now the good bit The sound. The speaker is so tiny is easily fits into you hand but the sound…. It does some things REALLY WELL, and I mean class leading. The metal ball means no internal resonance or diffraction problems. The lack of crossover means great spatial resolution and coherence (better than UniQ). Huge soundstage with excellent imaging in a tiny ‘designer’ package. Well matched and tonally coherent and cohesive sound stage. Works with music and films. It will win many friends.


Sound is big and makes The Perfect Sound recommended components list. (Active sub is Best Buy). $1500 in the states

Originally posted by Gordon, Convergent-AV on 16/06/02
I was going to post a big spiel about these a week or so ago but thought that everyone would think I was just advertising.

At StereoStereo we like to keep trying stuff to make sure we are offering the best sound for your pound. Ian decided to have a look at these and the distributor brought them in. I have to say that I took one look at them being unboxed and left the room laughing, went to Alan and asked what on earth Ian was playing at wasting a morning getting these in......Then...

After they were set up and Ian had mucked around he asked me to go and check them out. Ian left the room, not having said what he thought about them. I put on some music and some films and my jaw HIT THE FLOOR. I was astounded, amazed in fact. What a sound from those little things. They do limit high frequencies which I think is one of the reasons they sound so pleasant. Seriosly considering getting rid of my cheapo B+W's....


Glad to say that SS are one of the dealers in Scotland and that hopefully Convergent will be able to benefit from this too!

With the greatest of respect to the others guys but I trust the opinions of Nic and Gordon and would gladly buy something that they recommended without listening to it myself.
 
I dont for one moment argue that they may be wonderful. What i argue is that they wont be beating set ups of multiples of their cost.

I dont mean to sound as if i am telling anyone that they are wrong, cos im not saying that! But if you read the various threads on them, the only conclusion would be that every other speaker company will go out of business. In fact, why bother making any new designs? The gallos are the best that there can be....... It just to my mind is over the top. Why sell the M&K pro range.....the gallos can do it........ surely that isnt what everyone is trying to say!?

I havent heard the full set up, nor have i heard it in a system i can guarantee to have been optimised. But even without that, i'll eat my own hand before i accept that the gallos will outperform all other solutions.

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Originally posted by buns
I'll eat my own hand before i accept that the gallos will outperform all other solutions.
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Put your hand (or hat) away ad. At no time has anyone ever said that they outperform ALL other speaker solutions.
 
Originally posted by uncle eric
Put your hand (or hat) away ad.

I disagree Eric. I would like to see Buns eat his hand (preferably both) for obvious reasons ;) :D.
 
I have a couple of balls, I like them but still they have something missing, they sound not quite full. The wife agrees.
 
It does seem that quite a few people "blindly" trust opinions on here.

At the end of the day, everyone's ears are different, everyone has different opinions and priorities.

It does frustrate me when people immediately discount reviews because people on here say they're good.

I'm not saying the Gallos aren't good, I've heard Jeff's and they sounded reasonable, but people PLEASE....don't ALWAYS believe the hype on the boards...go listen for yourself if you can.

(saying that I bought my Servo 15 blind and it is one of the best AV purchases I've ever made.....and I'd probably buy a HGS-18 blind if I had the money;) )
 
I reckon i'd pass out before i could start on the second hand, so that causes me difficulties! :D

I wasnt suggesting that it had been stated that the gallos were better than anything else, i just meant that the comments they get might lead people to believe that to be true. A newbie will come on, read the gallos posts and be in little doubt that they are the only speakers he will ever need. All the posts talk about the good points, i cant recall one thread which properly outlined the limitations. I just feel the hype is turning to overhype.

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ps. im trying to persuade my parents to buy a few gallos for about the house! ;)
 
Originally posted by Jeff
They sound not quite full.
Jeff,
Your floorstanders have many more times internal volume and will therefore go lower which is why they would sound more full. However, I'm of the opinion that the Gallo's are more neutral than your floorstanders as their small steel enclosures effect the overall reproduced sound many times less than the much larger enclosure of your floorstanders

The Gallo's are designed to be part of a sub sat system and once partnered with a good sub, and set up well (meaning seemless integration with the sub they are partnered with), they will indeed provide a great deal of "body" and yes "fullness".
 
Originally posted by Smurfin
It does frustrate me when people immediately discount reviews because people on here say they're good.
I think some of the guys on here who have said the Gallo's are good (Nic Rhodes, Gordon Fraser etc) have gained a reputation by being dead on most if not all of the time. I (and anyone else in their right mind) would rather have their view on the subject of anything audio/video than some chap over at Home Entertainment mag that reviews Electric Toasters most of his time.

If you are going to take magazine reviews seriously, I suggest you pick up copies of legendary "Heavyweight" American publications such as, Widescreen Review, The Perfect Vision, and Stereophile Guide to Home Theatre.
By the way, The Perfect Vision loved the Gallo system. Sadly, they dont test electric kettles.

Lastly, the HGS-18 is all hype.......... :rolleyes:, or is it?????
 
So I'm not making a valid point Eric?
 
Originally posted by Smurfin

but people PLEASE....don't ALWAYS believe the hype on the boards...go listen for yourself if you can.
[/B]

Funny you left this out of the quote Eric....
 
You mean like when you listened to the Paradigm before you bought? :D
You shouldn't believe all the hype mate :rolleyes:
Nighty night.
 
LOL:D

Yes and I mentioned that in my post also:D

Sleep well;)
 
perhaps the hype is produced by those who have the things and simply believe the word of others that they are fantastic, thus they can't give proper comparisons.

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I listened to them in Manchester and London Stuff live. They sounded ok but not spectacular to me. I don't know if they were setup correctly ( I would hope so as it was the Gallo people showing them )

Two things I noticed. The treble was getting a bit shrilly when playing star wars pod race and Monsters Inc. ( Was the volume too high? ) but I never had that problem with my AM15. Also when playing music they were too neutral for me. Compared to something like Dynaudio the Dynaudio I prefer ( seems to have more life and character )

I would recommend people listen before buying also
 
Originally posted by buns
perhaps the hype is produced by those who have the things and simply believe the word of others that they are fantastic, thus they can't give proper comparisons.

The whole Gallos hype, as you like to call it, was started by Nic Rhodes, closely followed by Gordon and as far as I am aware neither of them have bought the speakers themselves.

There was an interesting follow up article posted by THX 1138 who is going the M&K / Velodyne route.

These are all people who know what they are talking about and have no vested interest in whether the things are any good or not.

Your quote may return to haunt you when I next see you telling someone how good your kit is.

I didn't go to the London show but I did go to Manchester (specifically to hear the Gallos) and their people did themselves a great disservice by not setting them up properly. They asked Eric to do it for them but they had tucked the subwoofer away behind some heavy furniture and as anyone who has met Eric knows, Manoeuvring in confined spaces isn't one of his fortes and he couldn't reach it without dismantling the whole display.
 
Nic Rhodes
I could probably bore for England on the teccy stuff here but the bottom line is I hear no difference between my now balck ones and the original silver SS finish ones I had.

Maybe Nic got them free?;)

Also, I have seen a number of posts from Uncle Eric stating how easy they are to set up but every time someone points out that they have heard them sounding less than brilliant the defence is always that they have not been set up properly:confused:

And yes, I have heard them in a dealer who, I belive, has the necessary expertise to set them up properly.
 
Originally posted by whoami
I could probably bore for England on the teccy stuff

Very rare for a female :D

I don't suppose that the Gallos are significantly easier or more difficult to set up than anything else but it is surprising how many systems in dealers and people's homes are not set up properly anyway.

If anyone is interested in shortlisting or buying these speakers there is an Authorised dealer in North London with a properly set up pair who would be delighted to give a demonstration of what they should sound like.
 
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