Loudspeakers, to one degree or another, always have some sort of coloration (i.e., they change the timbre of the sounds being reproduced). The best loudspeakers are so subtle in their coloration that you can't put your finger on exactly what they are doing. The Reference 3.1s don't really have a "sound" as far as I can tell. They are one of the most neutral loudspeakers I have ever heard. The sound is smoothly integrated from the bottom octave all the way through the upper treble, with no clue as to the transition frequencies between the drivers. The music just seems to flow freely from them, without any sort of sonic fingerprint. This trait is not an immediately noticeable one, but is very important and difficult to achieve. The clarity and purity of sound created by the midrange and tweeter drivers was so remarkable that it is difficult to describe, because the major trait is what the sound lacked. There was no trace of the handoff between the midrange and the tweeter, nor was there any noticeable change in timbral presentation between the two drivers. There was no hardening of the midrange at the upper part of its frequency range, nor did the tweeter create any excess coarseness or sibilance.

The loudspeaker designer has a much more difficult task than the designer of a purely electronic component. Once the electrical signal is turned into the motion of the driver, and then pressure waves in the air, surprisingly complicated interactions start to take place. It amazes me that any loudspeaker can achieve the level of neutrality of Reference 3.1's. They are not the only speaker in this category, but it is fairly safe to say that they are one of the least expensive. They are certainly the least expensive that deliver real full-range performance.

A full range loudspeaker can make more demands on setup and the room than many of us have ever had to contemplate. With a separate subwoofer and frequency limited loudspeakers as I had before, placement and tuning of the subwoofer can control room modes. A full range speaker is much more likely to excite room modes, demanding careful setup and/or room treatments. A separate subwoofer has an advantage here, but a satellite/subwoofer system can never, in my opinion, deliver the top to bottom integration and timbral accuracy of a full range speaker.

I was never really aware of my room modes until I lived with the Reference 3.1s. Even without the Reference 3 S.A. amplifier, the flat frequency response and power of the 3.1s were able to energize modes at 40 Hz and 80 Hz in my room that made the low frequencies almost unlistenable, with notes at the resonant frequencies being ~10 dB louder than other frequencies. Since the lowest mode excited was at 40 Hz, the addition of the amplifier did not really make the room mode issue worse. Dramatically altering the setup of the speakers was not in the cards, so I decided to go the room treatment route. I built four cylindrical bass absorbers, similar to ASC's Tube Traps, based on information found on several DIY audio websites. The absorbers are based on 13" diameter, 3 foot long compressed fiberglass pipe insulation tubes, with MDF endplates. The components are glued together with construction adhesive to make a hollow, air tight tube that forces any air movement to go through the compressed fiberglass. A layer of reflective material (the foil heat insulation over the fiberglass) is left on 180⁰ of the tube's surface to reflect high frequency sound to retain room ambiance.

Mine are covered with colored burlap fabric that matches the carpet in the room. Not as nice as the ASC versions, but mine were cheap. Materials to build five of them cost me less than $150. And they work extremely well. After putting these stacked two high in each of the room's front corners, the bass resonances in the room were almost completely eliminated. There is still some trace of the modes at 40 Hz and 80 Hz, but I am undecided on how to use the materials for the 5th absorber. I have no doubt that with careful deployment, maybe as two wall mounted half-round absorbers, I can kill all traces of the 40 and 80 Hz modes.

An aside on how these absorbers work. The primary room modes are caused by standing waves being formed between the floor and ceiling, front and back walls, and left and right walls. All these modes have high pressure deviation (both above and below the average pressure as the sound wave goes from peak to valley) at the walls. The only places where all three mode families have high pressure zones are in the room corners. The bass absorbers turn acoustical energy into heat by forcing air to pass through the compressed fiberglass as it flows from high to low pressure areas. They actually damp out a wide range of bass frequencies, with larger absorber diameters working better at low frequencies. Placing the absorbers in the room corners, with the high frequency reflective surface facing out results in the best resonance control. Since the room modes are particularly energetic in the room corners when compared to the rest of the audio spectrum, the absorbers end up preferentially killing the resonances while affecting the rest of the band very little. By placing the absorbers in strategic locations (places where the amplitude of the standing waves are large), resonances can be controlled at will.

With the absorbers in place, the bass was totally transformed. I have never heard such well-defined, agile, tonally accurate, powerful bass in my listening room, from any loudspeaker. The Triad Platinum system definitely had the edge in the power department, but the agility and accuracy of the Reference 3.1s with the Reference 3 S.A. were unmatched. Without the supplemental amplifier, the bass of the 3.1s was still very well integrated and agile, but the last octave of extension, plus the iron fisted control added by the amplifier took the bass to a world-class level.

As I had learned with my REL Strata II, having deep, extended bass improves the presentation of music at all frequencies, and with the presentation of sounds you would not expect. Even with male vocals, the addition of flat response to near 20 Hz adds a timbral accuracy and physical presence that cannot be otherwise duplicated. The bass is perfectly integrated with the midrange, with amazingly flat frequency response and timbral accuracy. On electronic music, the subterranean extension delivered by the 3.1s, combined with the agility, transient response and lack of bass coloration made for breathtaking music. On Orbital's classic In Sides, the soundsatge stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and the tonal presentation was fully integrated, with no change in the presentation of timbre from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Crystal Method's Vegas at high volume had me going around the listening room to combat rattles and buzzes from the room's contents, but the room and the loudspeakers delivered seamless bass. More subtle material, like Paul Chamber's bass on Miles Davis' iconic Kind of Blue, were so totally integrated with the rest of the presentation, that the idea of "bass" as some separate part of the musical illusion created by the speakers became ridiculous.

For all the talk about gigantic kW powered subwoofers and surround speakers by the dozen, the center channel speaker is the single most important part of movie soundtrack reproduction. Virtually all of the dialogue in a film comes through the center channel, and even the most explosion laden action thriller would be almost worthless without it. It is always worth remembering that the center channel is the last speaker you want to skimp on in a home theater. With the same midrange and tweeter as the Reference 3.1s, the Reference AV center delivers the same perfectly integrated and tonally accurate presentation. The low height of the speaker (8") allows it to be placed very close to the display, tightly integrating the dialogue with the image. This is a very important trait for a center channel.

With the fantastic $6300 Triad Platinum Center channel, the sound reproduction was indeed stunning. Because of the large size and extreme weight of the speaker (33"x20"x13", 147 lbs), it had to be located far enough away from my display that the immersion in the movie experience was compromised. For a home theater of the type the Triad Platinum was designed for, with a large front projection screen and 20ft viewing distance, this would not be an issue, but for my 37" LCD panel and 7ft viewing distance, it was an issue. The Reference AV center, mounted on its adjustable stand, is able to sit directly in front of the display without blocking the screen, bringing the sound as close as possible to the image. The 120⁰ dispersion of the tweeter delivers uniform sound to all listeners, while being directional enough to avoid room reflections, adding to dialog intelligibility.

The incredible clarity and timbral accuracy of the Reference AV Center, combined with frequency extension to 55 Hz (even lower than the quoted response of the 147 lb. Triad Platinum Center), makes for an effortlessly natural presentation of the human voice. So many home theater loudspeaker systems sound unrealistically bombastic when presenting dialogue, like all the actors are speaking through bullhorns or wireless stage microphones. The Gallo just sounds real. Natural. There is no higher praise than that for a center channel loudspeaker.

The A'Divas did an especially admirable job as surround speakers. Their very small size and flexible mounting options allow virtually anyone in any room to mount the speakers in the optimal locations for surrounds, and the very reasonable price allows surrounds for even 7.1 systems. The limited frequency extension, 80 Hz-18 kHz, (at least when compared to a full range speaker) is perfectly sufficient for surround applications for home theater. Their small size makes their installation unobtrusive, and the in wall/ceiling brackets allow for even custom installation.

Taken as a whole, the system's home theater performance was competitive with any system I have heard in smaller rooms. While gigantic megabuck systems like the Triad Platinums will deliver more power, slam, and majesty in a large theater, the Gallo system was the perfect complement to my room. The speakers matched perfectly with each other, never compromising the film with their own artifacts. The combination of the Reference 3.1s and Reference AV Center produced a soundstage that wrapped seamlessly around the listeners, well past the left and right speakers. The super wide dispersion of the Reference 3.1 tweeters made them exceptional at reproducing spatial sound cues far from the speaker positions, while the limited dispersion of the center channel tweeter kept the dialogue focused and clear. The subterranean bass extension was truly great, but some home theater bass nuts might want more raw power. I set the gain of the Reference S.A. amplifier for optimal reproduction with music. For those who want certified "home theater" bass power, replacing the Reference S.A. amplifier with a pair of TR-2 powered subwoofers would be just the ticket.

Conclusions

As you can see, I was completely blown away by this Gallo system. The idea of allowing them to leave my listening room was unthinkable. It took me only a few weeks to come to this conclusion. Usually, at the end of a review, I re-install my Platinum Audio Solos and Rel Strata II to do some control listening. I have absolutely no desire to do that this time. I am buying the review sample, and my trusty Platinum Audio Solos and Rel Strata II will be up for sale. I do not replace components unless I find a replacement that can outperform the one I have in every way, and do it at a reasonable price. Reasonable here is defined as "I can afford it AND it is well worth the money." The Gallos fit that order completely. I have a hard time thinking of a loudspeaker system that would be better for my room and my needs for any price.

I believe my modest sized room and desire for musical truth is not that unusual. I encourage anyone who has a chance to audition these speakers. You might find the answer to your hi-fi quest like I did.

 - Chris Groppi -

Associated Equipment:

Audio Source:
Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD-SACD Player
Bel Canto DAC 1.1
Linn LP-12 Valhalla/Ittok LvII/Grado Reference Platinum turntable
Lehmann Black Cube phono preamp
Amplification:
Plinius 8150 integrated amplifier
Acurus A100x3 3 channel amplifier (center, rear surrounds)
Home Theater:
Rotel RTC-965 Surround Sound Processor
Oppo Digital DVD-HD971 DVD Player
Panasonic TU-HDS20 ATSC Tuner
Philips/Directv TiVo
Display:
Westinghouse LVM-37W1 1080p LCD display
Cables and Power:
Nordost Red Dawn speaker cable
Nordost Super Flatline II speaker cable (second voice coil)
Nordost Blue Heaven and Kimber PBJ interconnect (audio components)
Wireworld interconnect (home theater components)
Better Cables Dual Link DVI cable
Homebrewed AC power cables
OneAC 16 amp isolation transformer
Tripp Lite Hospital grade rack mount power strip

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