Galion TS Voyager TL Speaker
The TS Voyager TL speaker had three design goals:
- Non-fatiguing: The treble of the TS Voyager TL was carefully tuned to be not harsh and not sibilant
- Solid foundation: Bass is the foundation of a good-sounding system. The TS Voyager TL uses a transmission line design, allowing it to excel at low frequencies compared to speakers of a similar size
- Pleasant to listen to: One of the key strengths of the TS Voyager is its buttery smooth midrange
Transmission Line Advantage
In a transmission line speaker, sound from the back of the speaker is channeled into a pathway inside the cabinet lined with damping material. The benefit of such a design is excellent high-fidelity and great low-frequency responses. As a result, the bass is big and enveloping. In addition, the strong low end bleeds into the lower midrange, giving the vocal extra body and warmth. Finally, thanks to the transmission line, you will hear more information in the midrange area.
Flexibility
The speaker comes with two foam sets, allowing you to experience different bass outputs. With the full foam completely closing the port, you will experience a tighter bass but with less output, which is ideal for desktop use. With the half foam, you will experience the best balance between bass tightness and punch. You can remove the foam completely if you want maximum bass output. You will need to experiment because not using any foam might give you the most balanced bass if you sit close to the speakers in a small room.
Musical
Suppose we define analytical speakers as speakers with a detailed presentation, where you can hear all the nuances and "analyze" everything in the music. In that case, the TS Voyager TL is not an analytical speaker. Instead, the TL is a musical speaker. It is musical because it is smoother, with no hard edges in the treble area. Instead of analyzing the music, you will simply enjoy the music. There is no harshness, nor is it sibilant. You can easily listen to them for hours with no listening fatigue.
Great for low volume listening
One of the key advantages of transmission line speakers is their ability to generate strong bass with lots of texture at low volume. This is ideal for anyone who enjoys listening at low volumes.
Breaking the rules
Usually, one of the criteria for good-sounding speakers is to eliminate resonance. The TS Voyager TL, unconventionally, embraces resonance. The cabinets are thin, and interestingly, the 'resonance' from the cabinet makes the speaker more 'musical' and fun. The bass has a certain elasticity thanks to this design.
8 Ohms Nominal Impedance
Built with high-quality film caps, and custom-made air and iron core inductors, only 6 components were needed in the crossover. By having fewer parts in the signal path, despite only being rated at 84dB, it is not a difficult speaker to drive thanks to its 8 ohms nominal impedance. A simple 50w integrated amplifier is all you need to bring these speakers to life.
Exotic Components
Aluminium Jupiter Capacitors were used in the crossovers to give these speakers a lush midrange. These are rarely used by any speakers in this price range due to cost. Not only did these Jupiter capacitors level up the midrange, but they also added 'air' into the soundstage.
From Jupiter's website
"Jupiter Vitamin-Q Aluminum Foil Paper in Oil Capacitors"
Authentically built to the original construction, housed in a solder-sealed true hermetic case.
Jupiter Vitamin-Q creates the ultimate lush tone with mysteriously warm juicy midrange and excellent musical flow, with a slightly softer top and bottom end than the Comet Type."
Magnetic Grills and 5 Way Binding Posts
The TS Voyager TL includes a pair of black magnetic grills for extra protection. Fortunately, the tweeters are already protected by a metal mesh cover, so grills are optional for these speakers.
The TS Voyager TL also comes with five-way binding posts, allowing you to use all types of connectors.
Birchwood Instead of MDF
Unlike most speakers, birchwood was used instead of MDF. The satin brown stained natural birch finish has a deep and lustrous bronze-like tint with a hint of purple heartwood. The tinted wood is then sealed with multiple coats of hand-rubbed lacquer to achieve a deep and rich finish that is truly heirloom quality.
Measurements
Please note the bass bump in the measurements is due to the incomplete anechoic chamber. Measurements above 200hz are accurate.
Purple line: Port fully open
Green line: Port half open
Red line: Port fully closed
ThomasAndStereo
Galion TS Voyager TL Transmission Line Speaker ($1195 for a pair)
Specifications TS Voyager TL
| Value | |
| Impedance | Nominal 8 Ohms |
| Sensitivy | 84dB |
| Dimensions | 14” D x 14” H x 7.5” W |
| Frequency response | 43hz (F3) - 22khz |
| Weight | 6.10 kg each |
| Tweeter | Dayton Audio RST28F-4 1-1/8" silk dome |
| Woofer | 5″ SB13PFC25-8 woofer / Paper |
| Power Handling | 50 Wrms |
Customer Reviews
I want to know something about your products before placing an order but the email address takes me more than 30 minutes. Yes, Ｉ ａｍ ａ ｈｕｍａｎ！
Is TS Voyager MK2 SE discontined?
Sorry to hear you are having issues reaching us. You can email us directly at thomas.tan@galion-audio.com or call 5146186377
For years, I have been using the Nirvana speaker cable from a company that unfortunately died in an East Coast hurricane. I kept it anyway, as I could clearly hear the difference in the weight and speed of music played through it compared to all other cables. Even at that time, the Nirvana was an expensive cable, but so worth it. After many years, the Nirvana met with its own demise, so I tried a pair of Galion C100 speaker cables. Certainly, the price point couldn't compete with the Nirvana. Certainly, the Galion wouldn't exhibit the same weight, speed, and clarity as the Nirvana. Fortunately, I was wrong; the Galion was every bit, if not even more, worthy, and I am again a satisfied audiophile, having found my reference set of speaker cables. Thank you, Thomas. Oh, I almost forgot, the packaging is first class. I'm keeping that also.
At first, they sound very neutral to me, not that different from my Tekton Design Dynamites. I knew that eventually, I needed to do an A/B comparison. Many of the Voyager reviews said that they were on the warm side of neutral.
My Setup:
Power Amplifier - NAD C 298
Preamplifier - Benchmark L4A
Source - Inuos Pulse Mini
DAC - Denafrips ARES 12th-1
I usually listen at no more than 80db high, my room is 11 feet by 14 feet and the speakers are like 12 feet from my ears. The Voyagers sounded great nonetheless. I thought they would be warmer on the highs. I kept evaluating with other sources, the Sim Audio 260 D CD transport via a Geshelli JNOG2 [J2] DAC with an AKM chip and Sparkos Op-Amps.
They did not sound bright; I was expecting a very warm sound (based on reviews), but they still sounded neutral like my Tektons, so I thought based on memory. It has been said that they can sound warm or neutral; I assumed it depends on the amplifier feeding them.
I tried with no foam and full foam. I thought no foam might be less fatiguing as more bass will come into play. Or maybe I just have super sensitive ears as I am in my early 60's now .
At one point throughout the evaluation, I thought I needed to listen to some Wharfedale Diamonds or Revel Concerta2 M16's again, as in the past (7 years ago?) I auditioned those at home and they sounded veiled to me and I sold and sent them back to the retailer.
The imaging and soundstage of the speakers were great by the way, holographic. I played around with toe-in and out (off axis and on-axis variations) with the speaker placement.
Obviously, the longer I listened to them, the more I got used to them.
Then, I listened to the speakers with the half foam for a while at low volumes (an average of 65 db) and it was pleasant. I still could hear all the details and I did not get tired/fatigued. I thought that I still needed more sessions like that to come to a final assessment.
I finally did an A/B comparison and the Voyager was much warmer when compared to my Tekton Dynamites. It is amazing how much an A/B comparison can reveal.
After this, I purchased the speakers. I have become fond of them.
I purchased both the TS A75 amp and the Voyager TL speakers as a secondary setup to contrast my HT setup that has sub-par musical fidelity (because it was focused on cinema sound). The Galion speakers and amp are totally different in a great way to that setup. These products are build really well, musical, and smooth with a nice fun character that is pleasing to my ears. They are true winners at a very reasonable price to performance ratio. They work great independently and even better together. This purchase has been a real positive experience thanks to Thomas and the products he is bringing to market.
Listened to it for six hours before doing this quick review... sounded like at the 5th hour, it had been broken in as the imaging sounded much better than ever.
Voices and instruments sound more real (I have it paired with the TS a75 amp. Have the Anti-Cables 5.2 i/c from Schitt Freya+ (with NOS tubes) pre to the A75 and Nordost (Chinese) Valhalla speaker cables hooked up to the TL speakers. The Nordost sounds fuller and cleaner than my previous ClearDay (all silver) speaker cables that I have had since 2016. For me, a great combo for the amp and speakers !
The combination of the amp with the TL speakers makes playing music at night at a softer level more enjoyable since the mid 1980s when I got into hifi systems ! This is my first entry into listening to transmission speakers...
