Gale GS301

[istari_knight]

Bloomin' good aren't they !? :eyebrows:

Just put a pair back together after refoaming yesterday... I'm impressed for the price of a decent curry.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/istari_knight9/DSC01158.jpg

*Please excuse the shocking blue decor, my "hifi room" used to be a little one's nursery & I haven't got 'round to sorting it yet :rolleyes:

[StanleyB]

There was a sort of metallic finish cabinet from Gale ages ago. Lovely looks and sound. Highly undervalued manufacturer.

[bobbasrah]

... I'm impressed for the price of a decent curry.

that would be Gale force 2 then....;)

[Rare Bird]

I used to have a pair with perforated black grills. They sounded good but i couldnt live with the cabinet quality/look.

[istari_knight]

I used to have a pair with perforated black grills. They sounded good but i couldn't live with the cabinet quality/look.

Cabinet quality is rather flakey being nothing more than a chipboard box with the thinnest veneer available... Perfect if you do most of listening in the dark :D

I was expecting metal grilles, AR mid/bass & pcb xover but it turns out these are the mk.2 which have fabric grilles, Peerless mid/bass & hardwired xover.... Cost cutting in evidence ? Regardless, I want to find some 401's now !

[DSJR]

The original 301 was ripe for a fettling and would have got it had the company not had the rug pulled from under it :(

In absolute terms, the 301 isn't much cop in all honesty. Lightweight box, overly simple crossover and the most hideous tweeter one can imagine, fizzy and spiteful despite the hole punched in the dome on original samples. The holey metal grille worked despite the ringing when rapped too. They cost peanuts to make as well, as evidenced by the wholesale prices offered when the remaining stocks were sold on, along with the fun 210 and 220 models. We had around 30 pairs of each model and I think a Totty Ct Rd discounter had the rest.

The cloth grilles were an option I think from memory and not a definite model change. The cloth came unstuck within months of purchase...

Having done such a hatchet job on them, I should add that given a pair of perfectly fitting Heybrook HBS1 stands (tubular steel ones preferred here), sited fairly close to a wall and a good few feet listening distance (they sounded awful played close-up at home), they could sound incredibly good, the acid treble being tamed by the room into a pleasant sparkle. We sold loads of these during and after their life and they had little competition (Royds of the period were coloured and fierce and the HB1's were all fur coat and no knickers on better systems) until the original TDL RTL2 came along (another gem in tatty clothes).

I suggest the crossover gets a decent capacitor and the tweeter may sound better replaced with the un-pierced version. The cabinet would have been improved had Gale continued as they were and I dare say the sting in the tail may have been tamed too.

An interesting relic but I hope you didn't pay too much for them :)

[istari_knight]

Thanks for the history Dave. They are currently rigged up to a Myst tma3 & sound... greater than the sum of their parts is the best way to put it I think :)

Play some rock & the treble is splashy & the bass fruity but they really come on song with choral & chamber music, very enjoyable.

Oh, the price paid ? £25 including new surrounds.

[istari_knight]

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/istari_knight9/01-gale3011.jpghttp://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/istari_knight9/02-gale3011.jpg

[DSJR]

Just the right amp and choice of music :) I suspect good 50's jazz would be great too.

A VERY long time since I took any apart, but the tweeter cap if there is one would almost certainly be a bipolar electrolytic I reckon. Changing this for a poly type would make the sound clearer I think and a quarter-ohm resistor would pad the levels back down.

I chatted with Robin Marshall (Epos fame) and it was he who suggested the stock unmodified tweeters, which weren't pricey at the time. I'm sure there are modern tweets that would take it further and possibly some bitumen on the inside cab walls?

[istari_knight]

I like your thinking :D

Cant deny I've been toying with the idea of getting some new cabinets built with a decent veneer to bring them into this century looks wise... I had a look at the crossovers when I did the refoam to record the values ready for replacement :eyebrows: 2 bi-polar caps and 2 really crappy ferrite inductors which is surely a good thing 'cos if they sound this good now what will they sound like after ?

The tweeters are Seas 19TNF as used by Mission extensively at the time. Off the shelf replacements are limited to the Seas Prestige 19TFF1 which is identical but 2db less sensitive so that might sort the slightly splashy treble out.

[Mr Kipling]

Jimmy Hughes reviewed them in Hi-Fi Answers and quite liked them.

Always fancied a pair myself, although I've never heard them.

[DSJR]

I like your thinking :D

The tweeters are Seas 19TNF as used by Mission extensively at the time. Off the shelf replacements are limited to the Seas Prestige 19TFF1 which is identical but 2db less sensitive so that might sort the slightly splashy treble out.

If I can find the objective 'Choice review, I'll send it over...

[istari_knight]

Would be much appreciated if you can find it :)