A Tale of Two Stand Mounted Monitors: the NSMT 15SE and Galion Audio TS Voyager TL by John Hoffman

Terry London, a fellow Stereo Times reviewer, suggested I review the Galion Audio TS Voyager TL stand mount speakers. Galion Audio is the creation of Thomas Tan, an audio reviewer and YouTube creator of the Thomas and Stereo channel. Terry had the NSMT model 15SE stand-mount speakers in-house and thought a comparison would be interesting to readers, as they represent two different approaches to achieving sound. I agreed because I’ve always been curious to hear stand mount speakers in the larger room of my new house.

The Galion Audio TS Voyager TL is a transmission line design that creates bass frequencies by guiding sound waves through a path in the speaker cabinet. The NSMT 15SE takes a different design approach, named acoustic suspension, which is a sealed box without ports. Acoustic suspension designs utilize air pressure in the speaker cabinet to help control the driver’s movement. Interestingly, NSMT also designs Transmission Line speakers.

Galion TS Voyager TL

The Voyager TL is a two-way speaker with a 1-1/8-inch Dayton Audio RST28F-4 silk dome tweeter and an SB Acoustics 5-inch paper woofer. The speaker is rated at 84 dB sensitivity with a nominal 8-Ohm impedance. Dimensions are 14″ x 14″ x 7.5″ and weighs 13.45lbs. The Voyager TLs retail for $1,195 at the time of this writing.

The Voyager TLs utilize Aluminum Jupiter capacitors in the crossover. Thomas states these give the speakers a lush midrange and add air to the soundstage. Thomas designed the Voyager TL to utilize the cabinet’s resonance to enhance tonality, noting, “Cabinets are thin, and interestingly, the resonance from the cabinet makes the speaker more musical and fun.” I appreciate this approach to speaker design, as it avoids the effort to make speaker cabinets absolutely inert with materials like granite, which adds a lot of weight and makes them cumbersome to move around. Utilizing the resonance of materials to create a pleasing tone is how string instruments like violins are created. There is still an ongoing effort to determine why a Stratovarius violin has such a desired tone compared to other violins.

The fit and finish of the Voyager TL are excellent, featuring high-quality speaker binding posts with a sizable knob for spade-ended cables. Overall, the Voyager TL is well built and pleasing to my eye. The speakers come with two foam inserts to place into the front port. One insert fully blocks the port, and the other blocks half of it. I preferred the sound with the half inserts in place. Without any insert, the bass had a down-the-hallway sound in my room.  The whole insert took too much bass away, but the half-width insert was the Goldilocks choice.

Room Size

I first tried both speakers in my large room, which is 19 x 27, using two NSMT band-pass subwoofers to supplement bass response. The subs were needed to augment the bass on both sets of speakers due to the volume of the listening space, and even with the subwoofers in the chain, both the NSMT 15SEs and Voyager TLs struggled a bit to fill the large space. Moving the speakers into a smaller room (12 x 14) removed the need for subwoofers as both speakers effortlessly filled the smaller space with sound.

Voyager TL Sound Characteristics

I suspected the transmission line Voyager TL speakers would provide substantial bass, and that is what I heard. The bass was palpable, clear, and without bloat. A great feature of transmission line designs is that it has excellent bass response at low volumes. The Voyager TLs sounded open and spacious with an airy midrange and highs. Thomas characterizes the sound of the Voyager TL as “smooth,” meaning it’s easy to listen to without becoming harsh or analytical, and I agree. While smooth-sounding, these speakers are not lacking in transients and dynamics. The Voyager TL’s tonality is on the warm side of neutral. Think open, airy, with a wide, full soundstage, and that is the Voyager TL presentation.

The Voyager TL played well with my reference 35-watt EL34 Audio Note Kit tube amplifier, especially at low volume, but I wanted to hear if more power would change the speaker’s performance. I connected my Plinius SA-50-watt high-current solid-state amplifier, and the increased power presented a noticeable improvement in dynamics and overall aliveness. With the ANK tube amp, the bass, while present, was not as full, fast, or powerful as with the solid-state amp at the same dB level. The midrange and highs became more open and liquid with the increase in power.

NSMT Audio 15SE Sound Characteristics

The NSMT 15SE is a time-coherent, first-order, two-way acoustic suspension design. The drivers consist of a 1-inch soft dome tweeter and a 6.5-inch paper cone woofer. The woofer is crossover-less, featuring a 6 dB (first order) crossover to the tweeter, which includes a polypropylene capacitor and a non-inductive wire-wound resistor. Internal speaker wiring is multistrand OFC copper to woofer and tweeter. The cabinet is a satin black 1-inch anti-resonant MDF board baffle and 3/4-inch veneered MDF panels. The speakers are 8″ x 14″ x 9.5″ and weigh 19.5 lbs. each and are rated at 87 dB at 8 ohms and retail for $1,995 at the time of this writing.

I have heard NSMT models over the years, and the NSMT house sound is a rich and natural timbre with intense colors. The NSMT 15SEs present these qualities along with a three-dimensional palpability and plenty of micro details. Bass is full, fast, and clear, and the midrange is lush. Highs are clear and airy, and like the Voyager TL, the NSMT 15SEs do not fatigue your ears.

The NSMT 15SEs sounded good with the 35-watt ANK EL34 Tube amplifier, but dynamics and bass control increased significantly with the high current power from the Plinius solid state amp. The speakers disappear and provide a wide and deep soundstage with great instrument placement and separation. The review pair had gorgeous cherry wood sides and back. The fit and finish were without a flaw. I love natural wood on speakers, so these were a joy to have in the house.

Test Tracks

Tracy Chapman’s “Mountain O’ Things,” off the album “Tracy Chapman,“ has some interesting sonic attributes to listen for. This track was brought to my attention by Harley Lovegrove’s YouTube channel on an episode discussing songs to assess the quality of a system. Two things I listen for on this track are the amount of bass present in the second stanza and Chapman’s subtle guitar strumming in the refrain. This track will show how much bass and resolution your system has.

Both the Voyager TL and the NSMT 15SEs are resolving enough to hear Chapman’s guitar clearly. Neither speaker produced the low bass frequency well in the track, but the Voyager TLs produced more bass volume than the NSMT 15SEs. The NSMT 15SEs require a moderate volume to produce bass, unlike the Voyager TLs. Another difference was the thicker substance and higher image density produced by the NSMT 15SEs, which creates a more realistic presentation. The Voyager TLs were thin in comparison.

Next up was the track In Your Own Sweet Way, off the album “And Then Again“ by the Bill Charlap Trio, recorded live with excellent ambient sounds from the venue. The Voyager TLs and the NSMT 15SEs were transparent and dynamic enough to hear the ambient sounds and the difference in symbol strikes without sounding harsh or analytical. Both speakers were engaging and imaged well.  The audible difference was a denser, thicker substance to the tone and spatiality from the NSMT 15SE, producing a realistic three-dimensional experience that puts you at the venue.

I wanted to compare how vocals would sound, so I played the track Najmati by Renaud Garcia-Fons from the Album titled “Blue Maqam.” Najmati is a room-filling, expansive recording with a Mediterranean vibe and female vocals. The Voyager TLs shone with their full bass and open, airy sound that filled the room. Vocals are clear, full, and very realistic with an engaging balance between lows, midrange, and highs. The NSMT 15SEs presented similar qualities, along with more color saturation and three-dimensionality, to the female singer’s voice and all the instruments. The NSMT 15SE’s sound is more realistic in every manner, creating a more lifelike soundstage where instruments and space are clearly separated around the listener.

While both speakers are well-built and produce an engaging listening experience, the differences are easy to hear. They have two different price points, with the NSMT 15SE’s costing $800 more, which is 67% more than the TS Voyager TL’s at the time of this writing. Both speakers produce quality sound and will give you an engaging listening experience. If you’re looking for open and smooth sound with bass at all volume levels, the TS Voyager TLs deliver. If you prefer a more intimate, realistic, and refined sound, the $800 difference in price is worth paying for the NSMT 15SEs.

Specifications: 

NSMT Audio Model 15SE
Price: $1,995.00
Dimensions: 8 X 14 X 9.5 (W x H x D)
Frequency Response: 55Hz-20kHz, +/- 3.5 dB (quasi anechoic)
-10dB referenced to 1kHz: 44Hz.
Sensitivity: 87dBs 1/watt/m
Rated impedance: 8 ohms
Minimum impedance: 4.5 ohms
Weight: 39 pounds per pair
Recommended amplifier: 20-200 watts

Galion Audio TS Voyager TL
Price: $1,195.00
Dimensions 14″ x 14″ x 7.5″
Frequency Response 43hz – 22khz
Sensitivity 84 dB
Rated Impedance 8 Ohms
Weight 13.5lbs each
Recommended amplifier: 50 watts

JH’s Associated Equipment
Grimm MU2 Music player (Streamer/DAC/Preamplifier)
Plinius SA-50 Power Amplifier
Audio Note Kit EL 34 Amplifier
Pine Tree Audio ISO-Twist SPC (Silver Plated Copper) RCA interconnects
Pine Tree Audio Visceral Speaker Cable
Devore Fidelity O/96 speakers