Gallo Acoustics TR-2 Owners manual

ANTHONY GALLO ACOUSTICS TR-2 SUBWOOFER SYSTEM

Thank you for purchasing our Anthony Gallo Acoustics TR-2 active subwoofer system. To help you get the most out of
your new acquisition, please take 10 minutes and read over this owner’s manual to familiarize yourself with the TR-2’s
basic features while learning certain setup tips on how to optimize its installation with the remainder of your present
loudspeaker system. Let’s begin with a well-known subject that still bears repeating:

Break-In: Like any high-quality loudspeaker system that uses superior drivers, the TR-2 undergoes break-in during which
the suspension of its internal spider and the external rubber surround reach their proper compliance. Break-in is simply a
function of x-number of excursions until the springy materials of the woofer soften to their optimum state. Loud low bass
accelerates break-in, lower playback levels prolong it. After 200 hours of optimal break-in, the TR-2 will have stabilized
and perform as intended. Do not judge its performance prematurely and reserve final adjustments to its gain control for
after when the break-in period is over.

Basics: The term ‘subwoofer’ is quite descriptive. Sub…marine: below the water; sub…woofer: below the woofers of
your main speakers. Depending on your main speaker’s bass response, a true subwoofer will be used in one of two ways:
Filter or augmentation mode. More on that below. Let’s start with the externals.

The first thing you’ll undoubtedly notice is the round enclosure. Why round? The answer is simple. A sphere is one of the
strongest geometric shapes known to man. That’s why we employ spheres for our Nucleus speakers. Our subwoofers
move to cylindrical enclosures because we require larger internal volumes and a flat panel for the controls and amplifier
heatsinks. Still, we avail ourselves of the superior strength that round enclosures offer.

Why is cabinet strength so important? Consider the enormous internal air pressures generated by the woofer’s rear wave.
As loud as the TR-2 plays into the room, it plays even louder inside the box. That’s because the cubic volume of the
enclosure is a lot smaller than your room. Simply put, high-performance subwoofers need to move a lot of air. That
demand puts a lot of strain on the cabinet especially if you want to keep it small to avoid designing a visual eyesore.
Small cabinet plus superior strength equals cylindrical shape. Naturally, we also could have made the cabinet square or
rectangular. Most other firms do. To obtain a similar strength ratio to the TR-2’s cylinder, this would have necessitated far
thicker walls. Thicker walls are not only more expensive, they also equate to more mass. More mass means higher
energy storage. Higher energy storage muddies the sound and compromises transient response. Additionally, square and
rectangular enclosures suffer from seams and parallel walls. Parallel walls create internal resonances that interfere with
the music signal. In the end, cylindrical enclosures for subwoofers are best.

Our TR-2 subwoofer is small and housed in a chassis of superior strength yet minimal mass. Can it play loudly?
Absolutely. We use a superior long-throw custom 10” custom woofer and a high-current 250-watt amplifier with up to 6dB
of bass boost.

Why would you need bass boost? Every loudspeaker undergoes what is known as roll-off. Somewhere inside the window
of its frequency response, every driver’s output begins to fade. It no longer plays as loudly as it did in the ‘power section’

of its range. This is true also for all woofers regardless of their size. The audible onset of roll-off is simply a function of
room size. The larger the room, the sooner roll-off becomes audible. The woofer no longer benefits from the acoustic gain
of boundary reinforcement and can’t reproduce the lowest bass notes as loudly as the higher ones.

The TR-2 offers 0, +3 and +6dB bass equalization settings to become uniquely adaptable to room size. A small room
probably won’t require any boost. A large one might benefit from full boost. A medium one might prefer medium boost.
You’re in control. Also, you no longer need to update your subwoofer when it comes time to move into larger quarters.
Simply change the EQ setting. Do you prefer slightly goosed bass for Home Theater but flat bass for music? A flick of the
switch let’s you have it both ways.

The TR-2 can play loudly even in larger spaces. Can it be subtle and musical though? Yes. The TR-2 is no mere boom
box. Remember the cylindrical enclosure – it’s not a box at all. How about boom? The TR-2 does not suffer from the
common cabinet resonances of rectangular boxes. That’s why it doesn’t exhibit the usual smear, fuzz and uncontrolled
muddiness of inferior subwoofers. What’s more, we use a sealed acoustic suspension design without a port. The air
trapped inside the box becomes the restoring force that prevents woofer overshoot and maximizes self-damping. The TR­2 suffers neither port noise chuffing nor the driver ringing endemic to ported alignments.

In conclusion, the TR-2 combines air suspension; a superior long-throw driver; a minimum mass enclosure of superior
rigidity; a high-current 250-watt Class A/B amplifier instead of an inferior Class D switch-mode plate unit; powerful bass
equalization; and a massive motor system of overbuilt magnet and voice coil with a strong spider and high-excursion butyl
rubber roll surround.