Bookshelf Speakers — Galion Audio TS Voyager TL

The TS Voyager TL is a transmission-line two-way speaker for stands, made by Galion Audio, the Canadian company led by Thomas Tan of the Thomas and Stereo channel. The price is USD 1,195 per pair. It takes its name from the sealed TS Voyager, but uses a folded transmission line in place of a closed box.

Key specs that matter

A Dayton Audio RST28F-4 silk dome tweeter of 1 1/8 inch sits behind a metal mesh guard, and the woofer is an SB Acoustics SB13PFC25-8 paper cone of 5 inch. Frequency response runs from 43 Hz at the -3 dB point to 22 kHz, sensitivity is 84 dB and nominal impedance is 8 ohm. Power handling is 50 W RMS. Each speaker measures 356 mm high, 356 mm deep and 191 mm wide and weighs 6.1 kg. Connections are five-way binding posts, and the black grilles are held by magnets.

Engineering and use context

In a transmission line, the output from the back of the woofer runs through a long folded path inside the cabinet, lined with damping material, before it leaves through the port. The damping absorbs the higher frequencies, and the line reinforces the bass near the bottom of the woofer's range. The deep cabinet gives room for the folded path. The crossover uses only six components, with film capacitors, custom air-core and iron-core inductors and Jupiter aluminium-foil paper-in-oil capacitors, so the signal passes through few parts on its way to each driver. The cabinet is built from birch plywood rather than MDF, with thin walls that are allowed to resonate, an approach that differs from heavily braced boxes. The finish is a satin brown stain on the birch with hand-rubbed lacquer. Two foam plugs are supplied for the port, one filling it fully and one halfway, so bass output can be reduced when the cabinets are placed near a wall. The metal mesh in front of the tweeter protects the soft dome from fingers and objects. The SB Acoustics woofer uses a paper cone, which is light and well damped, and its small size keeps the front baffle narrow.

Pairing

The low sensitivity calls for an amplifier with reasonable power, kept within the handling limit, and a room of about 20 m2 or smaller suits the compact woofer. The speakers need stands, and their depth should be allowed for. Galion's own A75 power amplifier and TS P75 preamplifier are partners from the same maker.

Alternatives

The Galion TS Voyager is the sealed two-way model with a crossover inspired by the LS3/5A.