As a follow up to my previous review, the Gallos (now almost four years old!)are going incredibly well. For those of you who want to maintain a stable impedance curve but up the sensitivity for low powered amps or OTLs etc., Gary Pelled at Gallo suggests shifting from the Hovland Musicaps (I was using 5 mfd) to TRT Wondercap 6's. You can use the higher value and still get really sweet highs. Best, Richard

"State of the Art" in imaging, soundstaging, high and mid detail, looks.The innovative tweeter is amazingly sweet and detailed.
Wonderful on voices, while providing a very airy, open, but neutral sound.
The Reference version has enough bass and power handling to make any type of music sound good.
Different wiring,setup, placement options makes this a flexible, high performing unit.
Highly recommended to those tired of the limitations of "boxed speakers".

Excellent imaging, soundstaging and high freq. resolution. a little boomy in the bass depending on your room acoustics.Not suitable for low powered tube amps, they need enough power to resolve properly.
Reference System: Gryphon Tabu amp, Jadis JT3 CD player Kimber 8 TC cable.

Soundstage, speed

ulitmate bass extension and power

My 2 channel audio system... sony scd777es, acurus rl-11, odyssey audio stratos, and the gallo nucleus reference(aluminum spheres on barcelona stands) updated with ref II drivers. ICs and speaker cables are Millersound large guage.


These gallos cast a hugh soundstage, deep/wide/tall, with a large sweet spot. The cdt is very fast... transient attack is amazing. Given a good quality source, these speakers manage to be detailed and not harsh or gainy.
I also own the sonatinas which are also great speakers. The gallo have a very good midrange with voice and instruments; however, the midrange of the sonatinas are so smooth and liquid... detail is not washed over...a speaker I can listen to for very extended periods without a hint of listner fatigue. These are the original versions with the beveled upper front edges. Both are beautiful to the eye as well... in a classical formal way for my briarwood sonatinas and in a modern way for my champagne gallos.

Bass extension and power are good for the sonatina and a bit better for the gallos. Compared to the best, both are not up there with Von Schweikerts, Wilsons,... in absolute terms. For me, I enjoy the music with the gallos and the silverlines.

Considering the cost, a very very good speaker.

Similar Products Used:

silverline sonatina

I've owned my Nucleus Referance System for over a year now. I can still say they are someof the best speakers I've ever heard. I've been to some swanky dealers in NYC and not
much comes close,except for stuff costing much much more. I love them. FIVE STARS!

This is a follow up and a new review all in one. My last review was of the original (polyethylene bass enclosure) and didn’t expound on the wonderful sound characteristics of those amazing speakers . Shortly after that review was posted I had my speakers upgraded by the Gallo factory. The upgrade was extensive,and the cost was very reasonable. The upgrade consisted of; New anodized aluminum bass enclosures which are securely mounted to stands of solid one inch curved steel . The stands come with their own threaded spikes, but I replaced them with appropriately sized lag bolts to save my wood floors . A new CDT tweeter which is capped top and bottom by milled aluminum plates, and protected with a steel (more open than not) mesh grill, to replace the open cell foam sock and hot glue mounting of the old tweeter. The speakers are no longer biwireable but still use sturdy gold plated Tiff 5way binding posts. The ability to capacitavly tune the tweeter is gone, the cap is now internal and the value set at the factory. Not so obvious changes are new Nirvana Audio internal hookup wire (double runs are used for the woofers) a new fibrous acoustic damping material and new port tuning length . The over all visual affect is a higher quality and more attractive appearance. As you can see the speaker truly has been up graded.Now for the sound, as with the earlier version, these speakers just disappear. The sound stage is without boundaries and always the right size whether a small Jazz ensemble or a full Orchestra. It sounds as though my room is the performance venue The Blue Note or Carnegie Hall. The earlier version sounded great from the mids up detailed micro dynamics, explosive macro dynamics, warmth, sweetness, air, truth of timbre every thing was there, but in the bass there was a bump in the 60-70 Hz region that muddied it up a bit. I was unable to tame this bass bloat with room placement. The speakers are about 7ft. out from the wall behind them, 4ft. from the side walls, 6ft. apart, and 10ft. from the listening position, in a 23.25 x 12.75 ft. room with 8ft. high ceilings. The new versions have fixed the bass and actually improved every thing else. The bass is now tighter and deeper with greater detail and a flatter response. No more bloat just tight, smooth, detailed, and slamming BASS. There seems to be even more detail in the mids and highs as well, though this could just be an effect of cleaning up the bass. The over all result is one of the best speaker systems available. By the way I listen to all kinds of music; Rostropovich’s "Bach Cello Suits", P.J.Harvey "To Bring You My Love", Dave Brubeck Quartet "Take Five", Orb "the orb’s adventures beyond the ultra world". The Gallo Nucleus Reference System does it all. Highly Recommended.