Thanks a million for the review. There are not many Galion TS120 standard edition reviews and the truth is, the standard edition is more fun to listen to.
After watching this review, I decided that I should double check the input tubes on my TS120 SE... I had them mixed up too! I was sure they were right, but nope. In my case I think it was still one each for both channels, but one was reversed? I wasn't getting a volume imbalance. It still sounded great, but the clarity and sound stage weren't what they could have been. Thomas lent me this unit to try out. It is a demo unit that was floating around the US. He graciously allowed me to hold onto it for around a month! At first, I loved it, but thought that it was too much bass with my Tekton Moabs, in my modest room. But I had Townshend Podiums on the way and another DAC breaking in to try out. The Podiums cleaned things up nicely and the other DAC had a slightly leaner, cleaner, faster sound that I thought worked really well with the TS120. I had been going back and fourth, but decided (for about the third time) at the last minute, that yes, I really must keep this amp! (100% this time.) Thomas allowed me to purchase the demo unit, since it was already here. Again, props to the man! Thomas is an awesome guy! I had also acquired a Technics SU-R1000 by chance, to try along side it. I had been curious about the Technics for a long time. I found that, yes, it mostly lives up to the hype. It has very high resolution, it's clean, it's fast, it's pretty, it's packed full of useful convenience features... But with the TS120 in the mix (and even my slightly warmer sounding Parasound Hint 6) I immediately found the SU-R1000 to be sterile and boring. It had kind of a flat, almost nasal tonality. Great recordings could be incredibly spacious and deep, but average recordings fell flat. The TS120 easily lends more depth to everything I listen to and more over, creates a sense of space around the performance that I haven't heard before. It's like, if I close my eyes, the band is still playing where the speakers stand, but I feel aware that the stage they're playing on is bigger and a lot deeper than my actual room, if that makes sense. It's hard to explain being aware of more space, that the performance isn't actually taking place in.. So all that said... Yes. I decided that I had to have the TS120 SE. And I felt that it was flat out more enjoyable than a $10k solid state system with many glowing reviews... And the TS120 did all this with the tubes installed wrong.. Now it sounds even better! There is more clarity, resolution and separation. The bass is faster, tighter and more textured. The overall presentation is more spacious and coherent. It's not an objectively huge difference in the way it sounds. I think the auto-biasing system corrected very well and/or the two tubes really aren't that different. But it was the type of change where the last ~10% of objective performance contains the biggest gains in the subjective experience. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the TS120 is how it can suite every genre of music, as if it was built with that particular style in mind. Stringed instruments have a rich texture, but retain their sense of space in the mix. Snare drums sparkle and hang in the air. Vocals are sweet, clear and always forward in the mix. Jazz, blues, classical, folk, it handles all these as they should be, with texture, dynamics and a delicate sense of air and space. Electronic with deep, pounding bass and fast, intricate synth sounds? The TS120 digs deep, hits hard and easily keeps up the pace. Rock and metal with many instruments, grungy electric guitar and screaming vocals? The TS120 maintains it's composure, doesn't muddy up and lends every instrument the same energy the musician put into it. Rammstein has never sounded better. They are my favorite and my LCD-4 headphone system has been my gold standard for them, for tonality, depth and attack. I am consistently disappointed by speakers because they never hold up the sound stage, or the dynamics, or give the correct sizzling, warm tone to Richard's unique guitar sound, or give Till's voice the right weight and depth. At least, not all at the same time. With the tubes in the right sockets, the TS120 delivers all this through my Moabs, as if Thomas were secretly a metal head and it's the real reason he built this amp for us.
Hello and thanks for the story and comments. TBH, I really miss this amp in my setup. It was really great and I appreciated it more the longer I had it. It really did perform great with a wide variety of music.
@@sidsreviews1110 Thank you! I still stand behind everything I have written here, but since writing this, I have actually traded my TS120 to a friend in exchange for his Audio-gd R7-HE (flagship R2R DAC.) Even with the tweaks and upgrades I mentioned, I still have 12db of boundary gain centered around 44hz, due to the room being a little small for the big Moabs. So even after everything, the TS120's exuberance is a little much on my particular situation. I'm not knocking it, I think it's perfect for most situations to really crank up the enjoyment of any genre. As it turns out, those Townshend Podiums I mentioned made such an improvement across the whole range, I re fell in love with my Hint 6 when I pulled it out after a while for a reality check. As a result, I decided to YOLO and bought a used JC2 and JC5. The JC5 has a similar personality to the TS120, with a little more neutrality and just plain more, of everything else. I am floored by its performance. I'm pretty sure I've reached my end game. For real this time.
Thanks for this review Sid. Always enjoy your reviews. Will take a closer look at this amp for possible purchase in the future. Good review , practical and honest. Cheers John
I love this Galion TS-120 Standard Edition , it surprise me the how nice of the sound , specialty the bass punch 🥊🥊🥊 😮 , I tried many amplifiers in the pass , Price range about $3000 to $8000 , TS-120 is the best sounding and price for me
Thank you for this. I'm watching as many reviews on this amp as I can so every analysis such as yours, helps. For myself this amp definitely sounds like an end-game unit and the fact that Thomas has designed the A to AB flexibility into the amp is, I think, genius. I do notice that the colour/finish of your amp is different than those on the website. I much prefer the lighter metal finish that you have. In any case, I've yet to hear any serious negative comments from across the review-board and for the money, a true value acquisition for Thomas' customers.
I agree on the negative comments. Mine were very minimal and had nothing to do with the sound. The only other slight complaint is sometime it did have an audible "pop" when I switched inputs on the dial. Not a gamechanger for me but it did occur. As for the color, perhaps mine was a review sample so it doesn't come in that finish? I'll ask Thomas that and let you know.
It is the lighting, this unit is the same as the one shown on my website. Having said that, I have discontinued the silver version as I had too many variants due to different voltage requirements. As for the pop sound when changing input, this only happens when going from LINE 1-4 into HT. If you don't go to HT, you will not have that.
May I ask a question Thomas. I didn't understand the reference to the Watts per channel outputs. In AB it's 50 Watts. But can go to 75 Watts. How please. Thanks. I'll check out your Web page.
@@seanoreilly8603Usually, we use RMS to say that the amp can sustain those watts continuously. There will be times when the music and volume are extremely demanding and the amp can go to 75w for a short period of time but not for hours.
Sorry but I do question about how much this review is trustful. How experienced is the reviewer? (….messed up with the tubes…). Just another „reviewer“…Disappointing for me
Развлечения
Thanks a million for the review. There are not many Galion TS120 standard edition reviews and the truth is, the standard edition is more fun to listen to.
Hey Thomas how come some experts say tubes have sound,🙄
After watching this review, I decided that I should double check the input tubes on my TS120 SE... I had them mixed up too! I was sure they were right, but nope. In my case I think it was still one each for both channels, but one was reversed? I wasn't getting a volume imbalance. It still sounded great, but the clarity and sound stage weren't what they could have been.
Thomas lent me this unit to try out. It is a demo unit that was floating around the US. He graciously allowed me to hold onto it for around a month! At first, I loved it, but thought that it was too much bass with my Tekton Moabs, in my modest room. But I had Townshend Podiums on the way and another DAC breaking in to try out. The Podiums cleaned things up nicely and the other DAC had a slightly leaner, cleaner, faster sound that I thought worked really well with the TS120. I had been going back and fourth, but decided (for about the third time) at the last minute, that yes, I really must keep this amp! (100% this time.) Thomas allowed me to purchase the demo unit, since it was already here. Again, props to the man! Thomas is an awesome guy!
I had also acquired a Technics SU-R1000 by chance, to try along side it. I had been curious about the Technics for a long time. I found that, yes, it mostly lives up to the hype. It has very high resolution, it's clean, it's fast, it's pretty, it's packed full of useful convenience features... But with the TS120 in the mix (and even my slightly warmer sounding Parasound Hint 6) I immediately found the SU-R1000 to be sterile and boring. It had kind of a flat, almost nasal tonality. Great recordings could be incredibly spacious and deep, but average recordings fell flat. The TS120 easily lends more depth to everything I listen to and more over, creates a sense of space around the performance that I haven't heard before. It's like, if I close my eyes, the band is still playing where the speakers stand, but I feel aware that the stage they're playing on is bigger and a lot deeper than my actual room, if that makes sense. It's hard to explain being aware of more space, that the performance isn't actually taking place in..
So all that said... Yes. I decided that I had to have the TS120 SE. And I felt that it was flat out more enjoyable than a $10k solid state system with many glowing reviews... And the TS120 did all this with the tubes installed wrong.. Now it sounds even better! There is more clarity, resolution and separation. The bass is faster, tighter and more textured. The overall presentation is more spacious and coherent. It's not an objectively huge difference in the way it sounds. I think the auto-biasing system corrected very well and/or the two tubes really aren't that different. But it was the type of change where the last ~10% of objective performance contains the biggest gains in the subjective experience.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the TS120 is how it can suite every genre of music, as if it was built with that particular style in mind. Stringed instruments have a rich texture, but retain their sense of space in the mix. Snare drums sparkle and hang in the air. Vocals are sweet, clear and always forward in the mix. Jazz, blues, classical, folk, it handles all these as they should be, with texture, dynamics and a delicate sense of air and space. Electronic with deep, pounding bass and fast, intricate synth sounds? The TS120 digs deep, hits hard and easily keeps up the pace. Rock and metal with many instruments, grungy electric guitar and screaming vocals? The TS120 maintains it's composure, doesn't muddy up and lends every instrument the same energy the musician put into it. Rammstein has never sounded better. They are my favorite and my LCD-4 headphone system has been my gold standard for them, for tonality, depth and attack. I am consistently disappointed by speakers because they never hold up the sound stage, or the dynamics, or give the correct sizzling, warm tone to Richard's unique guitar sound, or give Till's voice the right weight and depth. At least, not all at the same time. With the tubes in the right sockets, the TS120 delivers all this through my Moabs, as if Thomas were secretly a metal head and it's the real reason he built this amp for us.
Hello and thanks for the story and comments. TBH, I really miss this amp in my setup. It was really great and I appreciated it more the longer I had it. It really did perform great with a wide variety of music.
@@sidsreviews1110 Thank you! I still stand behind everything I have written here, but since writing this, I have actually traded my TS120 to a friend in exchange for his Audio-gd R7-HE (flagship R2R DAC.)
Even with the tweaks and upgrades I mentioned, I still have 12db of boundary gain centered around 44hz, due to the room being a little small for the big Moabs. So even after everything, the TS120's exuberance is a little much on my particular situation. I'm not knocking it, I think it's perfect for most situations to really crank up the enjoyment of any genre.
As it turns out, those Townshend Podiums I mentioned made such an improvement across the whole range, I re fell in love with my Hint 6 when I pulled it out after a while for a reality check. As a result, I decided to YOLO and bought a used JC2 and JC5. The JC5 has a similar personality to the TS120, with a little more neutrality and just plain more, of everything else. I am floored by its performance. I'm pretty sure I've reached my end game. For real this time.
Thx & good info on tube placement.
Thanks for this review Sid. Always enjoy your reviews. Will take a closer look at this amp for possible purchase in the future. Good review , practical and honest. Cheers John
Thanks for the comments John. Good to hear from you. Hopefully more reviews coming soon!
I love this Galion TS-120 Standard Edition , it surprise me the how nice of the sound , specialty the bass punch 🥊🥊🥊 😮 , I tried many amplifiers in the pass , Price range about $3000 to $8000 , TS-120 is the best sounding and price for me
Glad you like it!
Nice review. I've missed watching your videos. It seems a long time since you last posted.
Thanks Martin. Hopefully, I’ll have more content soon.
Some wood on the cabinet would've been a nice touch. Mahogany or walnut, for instance.
The SE version has piano wood panel on the side.
Thank you for this. I'm watching as many reviews on this amp as I can so every analysis
such as yours, helps. For myself this amp definitely sounds like an end-game unit and the
fact that Thomas has designed the A to AB flexibility into the amp is, I think, genius. I do
notice that the colour/finish of your amp is different than those on the website. I much
prefer the lighter metal finish that you have. In any case, I've yet to hear any serious negative
comments from across the review-board and for the money, a true value acquisition for
Thomas' customers.
I agree on the negative comments. Mine were very minimal and had nothing to do with the sound. The only other slight complaint is sometime it did have an audible "pop" when I switched inputs on the dial. Not a gamechanger for me but it did occur. As for the color, perhaps mine was a review sample so it doesn't come in that finish? I'll ask Thomas that and let you know.
It is the lighting, this unit is the same as the one shown on my website. Having said that, I have discontinued the silver version as I had too many variants due to different voltage requirements. As for the pop sound when changing input, this only happens when going from LINE 1-4 into HT. If you don't go to HT, you will not have that.
May I ask a question Thomas. I didn't understand the reference to the Watts per channel outputs. In AB it's 50 Watts. But can go to 75 Watts. How please. Thanks. I'll check out your Web page.
@@seanoreilly8603Usually, we use RMS to say that the amp can sustain those watts continuously. There will be times when the music and volume are extremely demanding and the amp can go to 75w for a short period of time but not for hours.
How did it compare to the Unico would have been interesting
The Galion and much stronger bass with a warmer sound. The Unico has a slightly better soundstage and instrument separation.
Sorry but I do question about how much this review is trustful. How experienced is the reviewer? (….messed up with the tubes…).
Just another „reviewer“…Disappointing for me
Ya I messed it up at the tube placement at first but I did correct it and my thoughts on the sound are from after it was corrected. Cheers.