[markot86]

And I came out slightly dissapointed to be honest. It's not that the speakers weren't "good", it's just that I wasn't hearing that "midrange purity" and soundstaging that people seem to rave about. The speakers are sexy, there's no doubt about it, but something just seemed off. Perhaps it was the room (acoustically it didn't seem to be the best room anyways), but they were so small sounding. The soundstaging was definitely not up to par and seemed quite disjointed, and overall they just didn't have the richness I have come to expect from the speakers I heard from B&W's I auditioned. One thing I have to say is that the bass was spectacular and thoroughly impressed me; The punch that it had was insane, and it was very well extended, even without being bi-wired to the special gallo sub amp.

And the midrange... well... it was good, but not really the best that I've heard. vocals seemed kind of dry and strident; there was little emotion coming from them, but maybe that's just the voicing of the speakers themselves.

Overall, they were alright, but they definitely didn't stop my search for a great sounding pair of speakers. I think I might see if I can give them another trial sometime in the future when I listen to more gear at this pricepoint.

 

[Jon L]

How can you judge speakers isolated from the rest of the system/room? What was the rest of the system/cables/power conditioning?

When paired with something along the lines of moderately powerful, high-quality SET amp, those Gallos sound almost completely the opposite of what you described, i.e. succulent, wet, smooth-yet-detailed midrange with great soundstaging, but bass that is a bit less than impressive...

 

[rocktboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L How can you judge speakers isolated from the rest of the system/room? What was the rest of the system/cables/power conditioning? When paired with something along the lines of moderately powerful, high-quality SET amp, those Gallos sound almost completely the opposite of what you described, i.e. succulent, wet, smooth-yet-detailed midrange with great soundstaging, but bass that is a bit less than impressive...

welcome to the world of speaker/room interaction. where an excellent speaker can sound lousy and a mediocre one can sound great!

If the shop didn't optimally setup the speakers they are trying to sell, too bad for them!

B&W dealers tends to setup their $$$ speakers alright. Plus they are good speakers to begin with!

Markot86 have fun auditioning speakers! And remeber to move the position of the speakers(one speaker) you are listening to until you feel like you got proper imaging, center fill, and/or soundstage. We all hear differently and the sales person's sweet spot maybot be your sweet spot. A good highend shop will definitely let you move the speaker position.
If you can't get the speakers to sound to your liking then they are just not for you, regardless of whether it got rave reviews and costs $50k/pair

 

[markot86]

Yeah, I realized that the room was pretty bad on second thought; perhaps I should give them another try sometime down the line. Oh the wonders of speakers =D

 

[jumping jupiters]

i agree with the others are saying...but i do feel that even in poor environments one can get a feel for a speakers attributes. i can't say that i've heard a well reviewed speaker sound bad, but i have heard a recommended speaker be not what i was looking for...i've even heard one speaker not attain what i was looking for but another in the same brand's series be exactly what i wanted.

i'm a big believer in getting the signature and scale that you want in a speaker and then tayloring the sound with surrounding components and wiring. that is why i recommend to any friend to get the speaker first and then build around it.

 

[skullguise]

Agreed with all the above. I owned the 3.0's, and they lacked a lot of life in my system - in a 14 x 14 room loaded with junk!

Kept them in the basement for a while, then took them out to sell as I knew I wouldnt listen a lot.

I had a 3-4 hour listening session with the buyer, and these things pumped out BEAUTIFUL music. This buyer had heard the issues of dry mids and harshness, but the first thing he said after the first songs we played: "This is NOT dry or harsh at ALL."

I miss my Ref 3's; someday I'll have the room for another speaker like that. For now, I use monitors at pretty much nearfield listening distance....

 

[markot86]

Eh, it's not that the speaker sounded bad, don't get me wrong. It was a very good sounding speaker, but something about it just seemed off to me. I'll see if i can demo the same pair soon, once I get a better feel for speakers.