Anthony Gallo TR-2 Subwoofer

We find ourselves as unimpressed with Anthony Gallo’s A’Diva Ti satellite speakers as we are bowled over by the performance of the company’s TR-2 subwoofer. Since you can buy one without the other, we’ve decided to base our verdict on the subwoofer alone.

We care much more about performance than price, and we’ve never hesitated to lard praise on pricey components—as long as they get the job done. But in our book, these satellites just don’t earn their $300-each price tag. The hefty stainless-steel orbs look impressive enough, but we’ve heard plenty of less-expensive speakers that sound better.

The A’Diva Ti’s are not powered, so we connected them to a Denon AVR-3805 A/V receiver for our tests. Our disappointment stems primarily from their inability to deliver punchy highs. The satellites are tight and responsive, but we’re just not impressed with their dynamic range.

Gallo’s TR-2 subwoofer, however, could turn sweet cream into butter. Unlike most subs we’ve tested, which feature square wooden, vented cabinets, the TR-2’s 10-inch long-throw woofer is sealed and acoustically suspended in a barrel-shaped shell fabricated from sheet metal. The TR-2 features a 250-watt class A/B amp, so we weren’t surprised by how loud it could get, but we were blown away at how tight it sounded. Listening to the nasty bass lines in Betty Davis’s “Your Mama Wants Ya Back” (from the funk diva’s absolutely brilliant CD They Say I’m Different), we couldn’t detect a puff of wasted air. Easily the best subwoofer we’ve ever tested, it justifies every penny of its $700 price tag.

Acoustic suspension never looked so good.

Anthony Gallo TR-2
www.roundsound.com

E.&J. Gallo

Good looks, unparalleled sound - loud and tight.

Vincent Gallo

Pricey. But not necessarily overpriced.