gallo nucleus 3.1 vs. vandersteen sig 3a

Ok, I finally had a listen to the gallo 3.5. The room was a 15' square with minimal treatments. Also industrial carpet over concrete. All in all not the most perfect environment. The associated gear was all rotel.

My setup consists of audible illusions pre and dual mono 200w b&k. Very laid back not bright at all. I noted some edge to the gallos. It was probably a combination of room, electronics and limited break in of the gallos.

All in all I was fairly impressed. They are indeed open and the soundstage was enormous. I now understand the various comments regarding the bass. The bass notes were there, there just wasn't much weight. I don't know how much the sa helps as it wasn't hooked up. My vandys have far more weight and punch.

I think they are worth a try as the price point is really good even new. I don't get the 6000.00 retail though when everywhere is selling them in the mid to high 3k range. Weird.

Thanks again to you all. I will keep my eyes peeled for a used set and probably go that route for now.

For what it's worth, I have A/B'd the 3.1 vs the 3.5, and while the 3.5 are more transparent and clear sounding, the 3.1 have a significant amount more weight in the bass.

I think driving those speakers with Rotel electronics is a non starter and probably a big contributor to the edge you heard. The bass weight thing probably has a lot to do with being on a concrete floor. That said, the Gallos may also take some getting used to as older Vandys have sounded pretty laid back at least to my ears. Maybe the dealer would let you take them home for a day or two? That would answer a lot of your questions I'd think. Then again maybe the Quattros would be well worth a listen.

Now that I realize it, you've never mentioned exactly what you're looking to improve. Maybe we should start there, and if you're not sure about that I'd suggest going out and listening to several other brands to create a better frame of reference. Best of luck.

Guys thank you all for your input. I ended up buying the 3.5. I am amazed by the slash in retail on the 3.5. I picked up a brand new pair for 3200.00 shipped from a gallo dealer. They were delivered today.

The wall of sound that these little speakers create is pretty impressive. In my 12x15 room I have them 2ft out from the front short wall and about the same off of the side walls. I did not spend a lot of time setting them up just yet. I toed them in about 10 degrees and listened to them straight ahead. They imaged better in my room toed in.

There were three distinct things I was looking to improve on my old vandys. 1. Female vocals and string quartets always sounded amazing. But as music got more complicated, the vandys would get congested, as if they closed in on themselves.
2. Bass was great, but a little woolly
3. More volume. Sorry, but I sometimes listen to music pretty loud. In my new office I have done four 4x8 acoustic baffles on the walls and found I was turning up the vandys until occasionally I would see the red LEDs flicker indicating that I was overdriving them.

My initial impressions of the gallos is positive. The proverbial veil has been lifted. I can hear triangles shimmer where with the vandys they were muted. They are slightly bright to me, but its what I assume is the speakers being new. It's not as bad as in the store so I think there is room for improvement.

The soundstage is wider but not necessarily taller. A set of maple stands may be in order with a slight amount of tilt back. Although its not awful as they are now. Amazing to hear vocals coming from a foot above the top of the speaker.

Lastly is the bass. I honestly didn't realize how loose the vandys bottom end was until tonight. I have a revel sub, but left it off for a while to listen to what the gallos had to,offer. It was as I suspected from reading the reviews. The bass is there just not a lot of weight to it. I turned my sub on, brought the crossover down to 50 hz and turned gain down so that it just filled where the gallos sounded somewhat thin. It seems to be a good initial setup.

The best news of the evening came when my wife stopped by the office for a listen. Her comment was that the gallos actually sounded warmer to her. She complained that the vandys had always sounded bright to her. She even started pulling out CDs to listen to tonight. That's something she hasn't done in years.

So far I am very happy. I think that as they break in I will like them more and more. But, for what it's worth I wanted to say hats off to richard vandersteen. My 2ci vandys are at least 20-25 years old and still sound great. They were just getting long in the tooth and the upgrade bug had bitten me pretty hard. I ended up going with the gallos based on the reviews I read and the help,from this thread in particular. The deep cut off of retail is what ultimately swung me in favor of the gallos.

Thank you all again.
Brad

I just wanted to update this thread as I have about 75 hrs on the gallos now. I am very happy with this purchase. The speakers open up a little more each time I sit to listen. The slight brightness I heard initially is gone. They are simply amazing. The only hi fi friend I have came over and sat near field listening for over 4 hours. He loves them. We both agreed that they even make poor recordings enjoyable. Thank you again for everyone's input. It certainly helped me find what has to be one of the best bargains in hi fi.