AudioNervosa

Systemic Development => Speakers => Topic started by: Barry (NJ) on February 20, 2010, 11:11:51 AM

Title: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on February 20, 2010, 11:11:51 AM
Well, I guess being one of the first to purchase a set of speakers from an unknown manufacturer, and keeping in-touch, and becoming friends with the head of the company over time, has its dividends ;) I got to be a beta tester for the 3.x to 3.5 upgrade process :D But better still, I was able to be involved for part of it. I say part of it, because while Anthony and I started on the process mid morning on a Sunday, we were unable to complete the process working well into the evening. I had no idea how complex these speakers are. There are a lot of parts that need to be assembled, just so, in-order for the things to work, and the interior of these speakers is far more confined than a typical box is. So while Anthony and I nearly completed the upgrade of one speaker that Sunday, he had his assistant complete the second during the week and I was able to pick-up both upgraded speakers the following weekend. This upgrade is a very labor intensive process; I'd say it's probably 8 to 10 man-hours per speaker.

As far as the sound goes, well I've now finally had a chance to listen to the Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system, and I can say with confidence that they are a game changer! After I sold my original aluminum sphere Nucleus Reference system, and replaced them with the Reference 3.1s, I was never 100% sure I'd done the right thing. In my system, I feel there was an immediacy and liveliness, that I felt I'd lost with the change. The sound stage was there, accuracy was there, but I think the PRaT and dynamics were somewhat missing. So reading about peoples' experiences with high powered amplifiers started me thinking in that direction, but I never pulled the trigger. With the 3.5 in my system that "life" is back in spades! These things are amazing; the increased immediacy has also increased the depth of the soundstage both in front of, and behind the speakers. I thought listening to Peter Gabrial's "Growing Up" from "Up", on the 3.1s was pretty impressive, with the sound seeming to come from far behind the speakers and as far forward as half-way into my room. With 3.5s the sound caused my room to disappear, with sound coming from places far beyond all the walls, even seeming to come from behind my listening position. Listening to NIN's album "With Teeth" put Reznor front and center in my room about 2 feet in front of the plane of the speakers with the band spread out behind him. Listening to Filter's "Title of Record" when track 2 "Welcome To the Fold" begins without any pause from track 1 "Sand", the thwack on the Tom-Tom caused me to jump out of my seat. The 3.1s never elicited as strong a response. Listening to  EMI Classics Mstislav Rostropovich J. S. Bach Cello-Suiten 1, 4 & 5 I could hear all the detail as the bow was being dragged across the strings, I could hear Mstislav inhale and take a breath between notes, I don't recall hearing some of these little details as clearly with the 3.1s. Listening to Tori Amos' "Little Earthquakes", the drum on the opening track "Crucify" is wonderful, with an obvious sound of the head of the stick hitting the skin, and then a slow rumbling decay, and all of it can be heard and felt.

I've been listening to more music than I have in a while, because the 3.5s are giving me more to listen to. In my opinion the upgrade from 3.1 to 3.5 is significant, and while the cost difference isn't insignificant, you owe it to yourself to at least audition them. Anthony isn't expecting to sell as many of these due to the higher price, but I think he may be surprised ;)
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: evan1 on February 20, 2010, 12:18:14 PM
Way to go Barry . Sounds like a nice upgrade, when do we get to hear them
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on February 20, 2010, 12:54:04 PM
June ;)
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Deton Nation on February 20, 2010, 01:03:56 PM
Nice review Barry! I was VERY impressed by the satellites we heard at the rave. They saw right through to the music!  Enjoy! :)
Mike
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: richidoo on February 20, 2010, 01:41:35 PM
Nice review. Do they still look the same as 3.1?
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on February 20, 2010, 01:55:21 PM
Pretty much, there are some small details; the screen over the tweeter is different, and the same screen now covers the mids. The woofer now has an aluminum cone, and the bases are different. There are some pictures from CES 2010 here... Click Me (http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/lasvegas2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:anthony-gallo-acoustics&catid=38:standout-demos&Itemid=37). Also there is a new cover that will now be sold as an option, there are pictures of that over at 6moons (http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo9/ref35.html)
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: topround on February 20, 2010, 03:37:43 PM
nice review Barry, looking foward to hearing them.

If you are having a rave in June, you will get lots of toys to try to power those new speakers, Just ask and I can see clearly a pair of Butlers, a few SS amps and a tube amp or two!

Enjoy!

Mike
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: hometheaterdoc on February 20, 2010, 04:22:43 PM
Anthony always tries to demo his stuff at 130dB at shows.... even when you ask for him to turn it down, it only goes down to 105db... I owned a pair of the original balls and really liked them with the gear I had at the time.  I've never been able to fully get behind the new reference speakers, even though there are a couple locals with really nice setups that use them.......

Gallo was the other room I made a point of stopping in at CES to listen to the new speakers...  I'm glad the upgrade went well for you.  I'd be curious to hear them with warmer electronics.  They were too lean for me at CES...
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on February 20, 2010, 06:23:23 PM
Originals? Like these polyethylene Solos...

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2559/4046958915_071552516d_o.jpg)
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Deton Nation on February 22, 2010, 08:24:32 AM
These seem loved!!...
http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/gallo10/strada.html (http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/gallo10/strada.html)
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: hometheaterdoc on February 22, 2010, 09:36:19 AM
Originals? Like these polyethylene Solos...

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2559/4046958915_071552516d_o.jpg)

yup... but I had the stack of balls not the solos, the nucleus reference.... I liked the dynaudio drivers he used to use.  The tweeter is up for debate as to whether or not the more directional new one is better or worse than the old one.  But what I had at the time as far as electronics and such was really good sounding match overall with them. 

I've heard the new reference speakers in show setups, and locally with CJ tubes and Edge NL amps.  The latter setup had all JPS Aluminata.  Still not as good as the sound I got with the old units...  but I've stopped at the Gallo room at every show because I keep thinking I'm going to pick up the line because it should be a big seller....
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on February 22, 2010, 11:45:49 AM
Hey Shane, Well those are the Solos I bought from Anthony back in '94, and I still use them. A month or so after I picked them up I went back to Anthony to pick-up a set of the "Base-Balls" to turn them into a "Reference" set. Later, I think in '98, I went back to have my speakers up-graded to the aluminum spheres. I ended up keeping my original Solos and getting a set of aluminum sphere'd References. Those are the speakers I sold so that I could afford buy the 3.1s. I still miss those speakers but now it's based on sentimentality/nostalgia instead of performance.

Hey Mike, Yeah, Srajan really digs the Strada system. I'm curious to read his review of the 3.5.

edit, well I guess it's already underway...

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo9/ref35.html

and I'm even quoted!
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Deton Nation on February 22, 2010, 12:07:06 PM
ooh Barry Your famous. We must make a baby. Soon!

lol.
No really.
M
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on April 22, 2010, 11:33:22 AM
Well I just finished reading the full 6moons review, and I found it balanced yet highly positive...

Quote from: Srajan Ebaen in 6moons Gallo Reference 3.5 review

"His tightly compacted MTM cluster too gets as close to a wideband point source ideal as seems possible with three drivers."

Comparing the 3.5 to $21K Italian and $6K Indian speaker systems...

"The Reference 3.5 doesn't sound as spectacularly fast as the Italians and Indians because its dynamic response is more linear and its integration of the power region with the higher bands superior."

"The Reference 3.5 adds a bit more air volume to the woofer and builds in perfect bass integration"

"It speaks very highly to integration benefits of Gallo's latest refinements."

"My personal speaker journey has presently climaxed in Franck Tchang's €18.500/pr ($27,750) Tango R. The Gallo Reference 3.5 now turns out to be a true kinsman covering the same sonic bases."

"He probably surprised even himself by how necessity became the mother of invention and how nobly the final result responded. I surely am. The Reference 3.5 should continue to needle pricier competitors. It remains fully worthy of our Blue Moon award, in this rare instance augmented by the earlier Lunar Eclipse distinction."
(http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo9/ref35.html)[/size]


He may not have been blubbering about how absolutely amazed he was, but he sure did sound like he thought they were, as good as, or better than, far more expensive speakers.
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: shep on April 22, 2010, 12:17:11 PM
I like that about Srajan...that he doesn't blubber but chooses his concluding remarks carefully. He's a good reviewer, as are the others on his staff. He's even toned down his English a bit! (for us commoners).
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: _Scotty_ on April 22, 2010, 02:05:36 PM
Barry I don't know if you like The Thievery Corporation or not but the album Cosmic Game has this type of imaging on most of the songs. You might like to give it a try.
Scotty
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: djbnh on April 22, 2010, 03:14:42 PM
At $6K the 3.5s are quite a jump in price from the 3.1s. Still, I look forward to reading more reviews. I wonder if pairs of 3.1s will become more available down the road.
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on April 22, 2010, 06:07:44 PM
Hey Scotty, I'm not familiar with "The Thievery Corporation" but I'm now on the look out for them and "Cosmic Game". Thanks!

dj, if you keep an eye on ebay and Audiogon, you can find the 3.1s for about $2k, but I really doubt they'll drop far below that any time soon.
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: _Scotty_ on April 22, 2010, 09:16:11 PM
Here is the link I should have put in my earlier post.
http://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Game-Thievery-Corporation/dp/B0006ZXJ3E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271996070&sr=8-5
Scotty
Title: Re: The Anthony Gallo Nucleus Reference 3.5s in MY system!!!
Post by: Barry (NJ) on January 03, 2011, 06:23:50 PM
Hey Scotty, I finally picked up a copy of Cosmic Game. Wow, sounds are coming from every where, I keep checking to see if the surround speakers are active. They're not ;) Thanks for the recommendation, I'm really enjoying this album!