Gallo 3.1 sounds slow and veiled...why?

Good point about the break-in, Templetech. This is the gruesome
period of Gallo ownership. If I hadn't been forewarned about how bad
they sound during the first 100 hours or so, I would have given up on
mine.

But I wouldn't ignore that tube problem. It can't be helping.

YEs, thanks. I did intend to mention to take break in time into account before passing any final judgement. It may all work out in the end once the system and your ears adjust.

I can't speak to the Paradigm Active 40's but I had Gallos for several years. One of the last amps I used with mine was a Unico Secondo and it was a great match for these speakers so I don't think it is the amp. In fact I liked it better than any other amp I used with the speakers. I had all Acoustic Zen cables when I bought the Gallos. I also had a heavily modded jolida 502b which is 60 watts and I thought it was a bad match too, maybe not enough power. So I started trading amps. A McIntosh 6900, a wyred4sound ST500, Clayton S40, the Unico, and finally ayon Spirit II back to 60 watts a channel and tubes. Somewhere along the way I tried a few other speaker cables including Kimber 8TC which were a better match than the AZ. I ended up with Morrow audio cables. If this had been my first system change I might not have had to go through all those amps. I would try some Morrow cables before anything else. They really opened my system up with the gallos. YMMV. I think you also need at least 400 hours to get them to open up. Good luck.

Alright folks...here's some new info.
A friend came by to audition the Gallos in question and agreed that the Paradigms were far more transparent and 'alive'. We were mystified as the difference shouldn't have been so great...regardless of wires. Now the Unico has been in storage for about a year and a half and it's been moved from Northern Canada to Vancouver Island...what if the amp were faulty? We took the Unico to his house and....it sounds the same (worse) on his speakers (Tannoy)...IT"S the FREAKIN' AMP...probably the tubes. I grabbed his Anthem power amp so now I can use the raw output from the DAC 1 into the Anthem / Gallo and the same output into the Paradigms (also using Anthem power inside) 'Apples to apples'....stay tuned for that test as the house is currently asleep.

Templetech - I don't own the Gallos, but definitely recall reading a review (Stereophile or elsewhere) stating that the Gallos not only needed breaking in, they needed SEVERE breaking in. The reviewer actually placed heavy blankets over top of them for a few days and played them continuously at HIGH playback levels. He went on to say that he believes many people have heard them without being properly broken in, which obviously leaves an "unimpressive" impression... good luck with your amp/situation!