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CES, Day 3: A New Reference from Gallo Acoustics

CES, Day 3: A New Reference from Gallo Acoustics

Improving the breed is part and parcel for the high end. Few are as successful and original as the sounds and shapes that stem from the imagination of Anthony Gallo. The new, evolutionary Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.5, based on the popular and critically well-received Reference 3.1, is like its forebear a four-driver, three-way. Like the original Ref 3 it still performs crossover-less from 125Hz on up. It employs Gallo’s patented CDT tweeter, a pair of 4-inch carbon-fiber midranges and new for the 3.5, a custom 10-inch woofer improved with a ceramic-coated aluminum cone. It’s also a smidge easier to drive at 87dB sensitivity and a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. An all new aluminum “outrigger” style base not only improves stability but impact and image focus as well. It’s sonics are tighter, more open with knock-out coherence. It’s virtually baffle-free design creates a stunning soundstage with even greater realism thanks to the improved image height and superb vertical dispersion for what remains a relatively short floorstander. It’s slated for debuted in the 3rd quarter and should price out in the estimated $5800/pr range.

By Neil Gader

My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.

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