Boston Acoustics --> Gallo. help me get the best sound

[dman4383]

History:
So the wife wanted some speakers that "didn't look like a garage band". But sweetie, I said, "these are decent and I've had them since the 80's." "What!" she says, "OMG they will not be coming with us when we move!"

So... I shopped and on advice and a short listen I decide on Anthony Gallo. I listened to the micros and they sounded surpassingly good to me considering my Bose jaded opinions of tiny speakers. I picked up 4 A-Diva TI's and one Horizontal Reference Strada. I was told their sub wasn't anything special so I stick with my Boston 300watt unit.

--

Well, I replaced my Boston Hd7's and CR8 center with the gallo stuff and I'm "adjusting" to the change. I'm not sure what I hear yet. It's not a "holly sh! these are so much better" change. I've tweeked my Denon's Sub crossover settings, there are three 80,100 and 120. I settled on 100 for now. There is also a setting for sub mode - standard or standard +main. I believe standard is correct and +main is for a pass-thru speaker wiring. The sub power dial has pretty much always been set around one.

I feel like what I'm hearing is "less clear" maybe "muddled" in comparison to the old speakers. I the speaker placement of the FR and FL is a bit low but the center is about the same and the rears are sitting on the same stands as the old stuff for now too. The sub is also in the same position.

Maybe I just need time to adjust or something. But, if anyone has any ideas I would be very appreciative. If you need more equipment details I'll added that too but the A/V receiver is a Denon AVR-1603 (also a bit old)

D

 

[j_garcia]

If you had some big ugly boxes before, chances are they may have been a bit boomy (even for Bostons, it was the 80s after all), so what you may be hearing is a lack of bloom/boom in the lower midbass. The Gallos aren't that bad at all, but they probably would't be my choice for critical music listening; they are more for WAF as is the case here because they only extend down to 75Hz - that to me is not low enough to properly blend with most subs. What I mean by that is, your lower midbass is now coming from the sub and not the speakers and if you have response issues with the sub (which is common) it will not sound quite as good as if your mains were playing that sound.

 

[rnatalli]

Gallo's are great small speakers; especially the Diva's. But it sounds like you simply don't like their sound. If you need small, you should also take a look at Orbs, Aperion 4b's, and Mirage Nanosats and see which of these 4 the wife approves Also, I would upgrade the sub to something like an HSU which are flat to about 150Hz. That will help round out the sound as you'll probably have to cross any of these speakers at 100 or even 120Hz.

One other option to check into are on-wall speakers like those Axiom offers. Axiom offers all kinds of real wood veneers so they can be quite pretty.

 

[sholling]

I know I'd find it hard to make the move to any single driver speaker system but my guess is that you're stuck with micro satellites. If it were me I'd much rather have something along the lines of a 2-way bookshelf with a 6+ inch woofer or a 3-way full tower with a pair of them.

Good luck.

 

[dman4383]

That makes sense. Perhaps the better Sub crossover setting on the Denon would be the lowest possible one then. (I think that's 80 or 90hz).

I just read that out of the box Gallo's don't sound so great. That they need significant break-in. Maybe that will help too?

The WAF matters. She now requires the special stands because the rears' look "silly".

She's going to be happy. I fear that I will not. Any other ideas that might help, short stepping up to 7.1 and adding the reference 3.1's? I do enjoy buying new stuff when I HAVE TOO.

D

 

[j_garcia]

Setting the x-over lower will make the problem worse because you will create an actual gap between the speakers and the sub.

No, break in isn't going to make any difference with them.

You might step up to the Neucleus or Strada (or 3.1s) as they all have tweeters to give you better performance up top.

Orb Audio or Mirage would be some other excellent suggestions by rnatalli.

 

[dman4383]

So, set it high? 120hz? Would that send more to the sub? or is that what I want?

It's too late to switch to Orb's or Mirage at this point. Guess I'll keep an eye out for some used Ref 3.1's they look nice. Looks like they have a integrated sub(s).

I do have the one Strada for the center. I figured that if I ever go 7.1 then I'll just move the RF/LF to the side.

Maybe I could ebay all the Boston stuff and start a upgrade fund. 2 hd5's, 2 hd7's, 2 a120s and 1 CR50center(?) any takers ?

Setting the x-over lower will make the problem worse because you will create an actual gap between the speakers and the sub.

Orb Audio or Mirage would be some other excellent suggestions by rnatalli.

 

[sholling]

You'll probably do surprisingly well on fleabay. Just don't try to sell it as a set. Meanwhile start working on the wife to let you get some really nice bookshelf speakers and matched center. Those Gallos will make you really nice surrounds.

 

[j_garcia]

I do have the one Strada for the center. I figured that if I ever go 7.1 then I'll just move the RF/LF to the side.

That's exactly what I would do. 3 Stradas up front and move the others to surround duty.

 

[rnatalli]

I would order a pair of Mod 2's from Orb Audio to try. It's only $8 to ship them back, but I'm betting you'll prefer their sound over the Diva's.

 

[dman4383]

I would order a pair of Mod 2's from Orb Audio to try. It's only $8 to ship them back, but I'm betting you'll prefer their sound over the Diva's.

I might have looked at them if I didn't get the Gallo's. Then again I was working off a few very good recommendations so maybe not. I think I'll be able to tweak the sound enough for now. I really have only had them in use for a few hours to this point. We didn't get them through an official dealer anyway.

 

[darien87]

Upgrade your woman while you're at it.

 

[sholling]

Upgrade your woman while you're at it.

That's usually been my course of action.

 

[FeverPitch]

History:
So the wife wanted some speakers that "didn't look like a garage band". But sweetie, I said, "these are decent and I've had them since the 80's." "What!" she says, "OMG they will not be coming with us when we move!"

So... I shopped and on advice and a short listen I decide on Anthony Gallo. I listened to the micros and they sounded surpassingly good to me considering my Bose jaded opinions of tiny speakers. I picked up 4 A-Diva TI's and one Horizontal Reference Strada. I was told their sub wasn't anything special so I stick with my Boston 300watt unit.

--

Well, I replaced my Boston Hd7's and CR8 center with the gallo stuff and I'm "adjusting" to the change. I'm not sure what I hear yet. It's not a "holly sh! these are so much better" change. I've tweeked my Denon's Sub crossover settings, there are three 80,100 and 120. I settled on 100 for now. There is also a setting for sub mode - standard or standard +main. I believe standard is correct and +main is for a pass-thru speaker wiring. The sub power dial has pretty much always been set around one.

I feel like what I'm hearing is "less clear" maybe "muddled" in comparison to the old speakers. I the speaker placement of the FR and FL is a bit low but the center is about the same and the rears are sitting on the same stands as the old stuff for now too. The sub is also in the same position.

Maybe I just need time to adjust or something. But, if anyone has any ideas I would be very appreciative. If you need more equipment details I'll added that too but the A/V receiver is a Denon AVR-1603 (also a bit old)

D

Hi there,

My name is Micah Warren and I'm the publicist for Anthony Gallo Acoustics. Granted, I'm the PR guy and not the audio genius that Anthony Gallo is, but I'm very, very familiar with their speakers and have them in my home too.

I can't speak for the subwoofer, but I think I know what's happening with the Gallo's. These speakers need to be broken in. That "less clear" description sounds like a break-in issue. Once you play these at decent levels for some 40-60 hours, they will be broken in. I have A'Diva Ti's and love them, but yes, at first they don't sound right. And I am a ginormous fan of the new Strada, I can't imagine you won't like that one. I wouldn't make any final decisions on these until you've put them through their paces for a bit.

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me and I can get some micahw @ feverpitchmedia.com

 

[dman4383]

Thanks, everyone. I'd like to report that based on the input in this thread I have made the following adjustments. I set the sub crossover to 100hz, and set all the speaker sizes to large (they were set to small) In doing this I hope to get a better blend between the speakers and the sub. I also keep the sub pretty low. I was going to post the model number but I forgot the scrap of paper at home. I'll do that later.

I gave the system a few more hours of mixed use and I feel like things a warming up with music at least. TV watching, news for example, still seems a bit muffled. I feel like I need to strain ever so slightly when listening. I'm also pretty sure I need to turn the volume up 20-30 more db to achieve the same volume relatively to the Boston stuff. I have yet to play a game on the PS3 but I know exactly where the volume should be when doing that, so I be able to tell for sure then.

I'll try to refrain from making judgements or any more adjustments for a few weeks until the gallos break in.

D

 

[dman4383]

Ok. I think I've fully broken them in now and what a difference. The out of the box sound... well let's not talk about that any more. Jeez. They are pretty amazing now. Blend down to the sub isn't nearly as bad as it was either. I haven't changed any settings since my last post either. (the sub crossover and the speaker size.) The sub is still the old Boston PV900 Micro, it's a 12inch 300watt down fire. I'd never been able to turn it's volume much past 2. I guess it's a bit if over kill. I'm dealing with a 1,300sqft loft and hardwood floors currently.

Now that breakin is down I can comment on the sound stage. Going from two way mains, a 3way center, and 2way rears ---> the gallo singles plus the two strada center.... i was thinking at first that the sweet spot listening area had diminished. That has expanded now after breakin even considering that the mains are lower now, at the same height as the center. I might like to bring then up a foot eventually, maybe with their stands (which are awfully pricy). The wife doesn't care much for the way the old rear stands look now, so that might happen sooner, at least for the rear.

If I were to upgrade the mains from here I"d consider more stradas or better. I wonder if I could just fill run the B channel mains in tandem with the A ? Would that be a dumb thing to do?

D

 

[sholling]

They are pretty amazing now. Blend down to the sub isn't nearly as bad as it was either. I haven't changed any settings since my last post either. (the sub crossover and the speaker size.)
D

You said you set the speaker size to large? Usually that means no output to the sub.

 

[dman4383]

yeah. I did that a few days back when I was tinkering, and before they were broken in.

I'm planing on setting it back to small tonight. The gallos get down to around 80hz, so I set the AVR crossover to 100hz(i have three setting there-80,100and 120). Even with the Large setting the sub was getting something. It was to my understanding the Denon sent full range to all 5 channels when the speakers large and only the cross over to the sub. I'm probably wrong. Seems the general setting recommendation for any speakers used with a sub is "Small".