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Gales : how good can they get ?

Stage 4 - isolation of bass section Rating ** vfm 10/10

It might have been Lynn Olson's build notes on his Ariel transmission line speakers where I first came across the notion of independent wiring to each section of a crossover and independent returns to ground for each driver and parallel component. Seemed like a good thing to try, the more so since the circuit board was scheduled for elimination anyway.
A couple of pieces of wire later, and it was apparent that there was no obvious increase in bass punch, but a cleaner, tidier and less muddled sound. Even up into the mid and top, which was strange.
Bass weight and punch improved gradually over the week. This burn-in thing is a right pain, but I'm grateful for the final result. Give me another week to get used to this pleasing ( and free ) upgrade and I'll do the mid and treble sections.
 
Stage 5 - isolation of MF and HF sections Rating **** vfm 10/10
So now there are three (fat ) wires leaving the positive terminal to feed each section, and eight (fat ) wires returning to the negative terminal,
making what I think is termed a star earthing arrangement.
The last vestiges of original wire have gone, and so has the circuit board. It doesn't look pretty - yet- but I'm too excited to see what it sounds
like to really care.
And it sounds confident,assured and composed. Music has a consequence.
Better definition and texture to HF ; a beautifully detailed and delicate string tone.
Overall impression is of authority, coherence and power. A fundamental, root and branch improvement.
 
If you run your "star earthing" arrangement back to the amp o/p terminals you have tri-wired speakers.

There are some technical advantages to this... if your amp is happy to drive the extra capacitance of the cables.
 
If you run your "star earthing" arrangement back to the amp o/p terminals you have tri-wired speakers.

There are some technical advantages to this... if your amp is happy to drive the extra capacitance of the cables.
The Naim 140 being used is apparently not happy with bi/tri wiring. Somewhat ironic since JV was so keen on the star earthing thing...
I did run some Ruark Talismans bi wired with it for some years before a local dealer expressed surprise that it had survived for so long - yet
it never felt warm. He talked me into some nac A5 and this was indeed much better. Now I think about it, the 140 has always run cool - even
with the Gales - but I shouldn't be pushing my luck I suppose.
 
Stage 6 - swapping ceramic sandcast resistors for Jantzen Superes
Rating * vfm 8/10
Often castigated and described as 'nasty', yet there were 5 of these things used to replace the originals and pots in each of my speakers.
I changed the single one in the hf section first, and on the jazz quartet playing at the time was having difficulty hearing any difference
at all. Hmmm.
It was a different story with orchestral material - smoothness, timbre and low level detail were the main beneficaries, making the previous
sound a bit coarse and brash. But it wasn't a big difference, and with some programme material you could easily miss it altogether.
Swapping the midrange resistors gave similar improvements in smoothness and easy detail.
Sandcast start from about 24 pence.
Jantzen Superes are 3 quid each.
My inner Scrooge baulks at the cost ( a resistor? How much ? ), but I think their contribution is well worthwhile and actually good value for money.
 
Stage 7 - swapping original Erie paper-in-oil caps for Jantzen Superior Z cap in HF section.
The previous stages were just the preparatory groundwork for this. This was the Big One, the bit I'd been looking forward to all along. They weren't leaking or bulging, but at 50 years old, replacement seemed prudent.
( Wifey has concerned look )
But two nagging doubts here ; firstly, those original caps were very exotic back then, and I would have to go a long way up the boutique ladder to better them. Copper foil was the obvious choice, but 790 quid made them
out of reach. Not sure if the chosen Superior Z caps would be sufficient.
Secondly, folk revitalizing Celestion 44 and 66's had discovered that replacing their old caps with modern polyprops had disrupted phase angles/slopes/roll offs due to the lower ESR. Compensating resistors after the cap was
a fudge that didn't work. Allegedly. What has this got to do with Gale 401's you ask ? Well, it seems that Ira G 'borrowed' both the tweeter and Celestion's crossover for it for his design. And the midrange driver - despite being a different
unit - shares a very similar circuit too.
In fact, three nagging doubts really...that the HF 2000 tweeter just isn't good enough to warrant any great expense on exotica upstream.

So it was with equal measures of optimism and apprehension that those monstrous red Z caps went in.
To find a silky, round and creamy quality. Making the previous seem raspy and gritty in comparison. Wonderful. But wait a minute - it's also very small sounding, subdued and terribly 'shut in'. Oh dear.
That small sound is a deal breaker for me, and I was on the cusp of taking them out, but there was one unexpected quality that kept me listening for a bit longer. The ability to show real group dynamics - instruments would keep
playing even when something else had the melody line. It was apparent with every type of source material, and because it was such a novel phenomenon ( for me, anyway ) I stuck with it.
And it was a good thing I did, because over the next few weeks the round and creamy nature expanded to fill a huge soundstage with detail,delicacy and 3D layering. I had no idea that those HF 2000's could be this good.
Did it change the character of the Gales ? No. Just made them more revealing and capable of a greater range of expression.
The sales blurb states that no burn-in is required with these caps. Don't you believe it.

Verdict **** value for money 6/10

Forgot to mention that the perceived volume level and brightness was very close to the original - so no thoughts of altering pot levels ( or fixed resistor values ). So presumably the ESR values were similar, and those Erie's were not out of spec after all.
 


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