A n00b Review: Swan M10 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

blackburn · 02-21-2008, 03:04 AM

Hey guys,

I just I got into audio like last week when my cousin showed me his Denon D100s. I was amazed and sold...so he told me to go join Head-fi to get more information.

Somehow I read about the Swan M10s and figured that I needed desktop speakers first because my Klipsch 4.1 system died on me. So I ordered a set from theaudioinsider.com for $120 (plus shipping) and literally 2 days later they came.

I'm just a first-year college student at UCI so I don't know too much about audio but there's so little out there about the M10's that I thought I might post and share some pictures and my experience with these desktop speakers. I'm gonna let them break in a bit with some Chopin, Guns n' Roses, Bone Thugs n' Harmony and, to top it off, Norah Jones before I say anything about sound quality. But so far by the sound and fidelity of these Chopin piano sonatas these things blow the klipsch's clean out of the water. I've never heard such rich, clean, crisp sound coming from a set of desktop speakers.

Speakers and sub are in cloth bags...oooh the excitement..:

Desktop setup:

Sub (had to go under desk):

Speaker- very well built and very light:

Speaker:

It comes with cloth gloves!:

My rig (Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS):

blessingx · 02-21-2008, 03:17 AM

Looking forward to your further impressions. I agree we need more M10 info. Also like the clean desktop look.

One question - how is the build quality?

blackburn · 02-21-2008, 06:47 AM

thanks!

Build Quality:
Overall build quality is excellent. The enclosure is primarily made of your typical black, hard plastic-type material with a white glossy, smooth front. Speakers are a lot lighter and smaller than I orginially thought, but the quality materials make for a tight, solid package. I found that volume nob on the sub to be a bit loose though.

First Impression of Sound Quality:
When I first put in the Chopin CD I was blown away by the clarity of the sound. Each note was pronounced and crystal clear. With awesome mids the sound quality of these two satellites are superb. Acoustics and vocals sound amazing too. For classical, jazz, guitar etc, these speakers are a no-brainer.

However, when I started listening to rock I found the bass lacking a bit. Supposedly, the sub is meant to go on top of the desk rather than the ground, which may account for the weak bass on a lot of rock songs. I think that if you're gonna play rock, metal etc, you'll definitely need to put the sub on the desk. Before, my Klipsch's could produce lots of bass from the 2 satellites alone, but without the sub, the M10's lack in volume and presence. Pink Floyd's "Time" just doesn't feel as strong...

I'm working on an essay right now so I barely have time to write quality stuff....

warrior05 · 02-21-2008, 01:00 PM

The M10s are a terrific bang-for-the-buck 2.1 computer speaker system. I would think due to the design (re: the volume knob) the sub is meant to go on the desk. I found the sub really needs burn-in time. When I first tried mine out the bass was kind of overpowering and bit of a mess. But it really settled down over time. The imaging on them is very nice but limited to a small sweet spot. Detail is pretty nice too.

Congrats on a set of little gems.

blackburn · 02-21-2008, 01:41 PM

Thanks! I'm very satisfied in my investment. I think these are a great value and it perplexes me why these aren't very popular! Leaps and bounds better than the Logitech Z-2300's

It's 5:35AM in Southern California and I have an essay due in 6 hours. I've been in front of my computer for quite a while and so far after about 10 hours of burn-in the bass has tightened up noticeably more. I put the sub directly on the ground instead of on a shelf right under my desk and so I'm enjoying them a lot more now. Classical music never sounded so good on desktop speakers! Once the sun rises and everyone's awake I'll blast Guns n' Roses and Snoop Dogg to get a better idea of the bass...

back to work...

btw warrior05: is your sub on your desk?

LostOne.TR · 02-24-2008, 04:25 AM

That's not the desk they give u at UCI is it? It's drastically different from the one I had 3 years ago at Mesa.

Ah, seems hard to burn in the sub. Can't just let it crank 24/7 without disturbing people. Good luck. Maybe you could stuff a sock in the opening? (Don't know...could blocking the opening crate more air pressure in the sub and cause damage?)

MrKazador · 02-24-2008, 05:14 AM

You might want to make or buy some stands so the tweeter is at ear level.

cscamp · 02-24-2008, 07:59 PM

Looks well built...i just bought the Audio Engine A2's but these looks like a good deal as well. For $109 this is really cheap! i'm kinda skeptical about it's performance

Can you post the back pictures of the speakers and the sub???

What are the audio inputs on the back if the sub? RCA (L&R)or 1/8" audio? or both. Are the speakers terminals spring clips or binding post?

Sorry for asking too much info coz the swan website doest have this info

Operandi · 02-24-2008, 08:33 PM

Swans is division of Hi-Vi, a relatively new Chinese company. Their primary market is raw drivers and it seems like completed speakers (Swan) is more of a afterthought, at least in North America. I think they would do a lot better with some real marketing push.

It looks like the sub is probably crossed pretty high and is really more of a woofer given that it only plays down to 100HZ, it's size and that the volume nob is placed right there on the front of the cabinet. It would probably sound much better placed on the desk. Stands for the sats are also not a bad idea.

Mysteek · 02-27-2008, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by cscamp

Can you post the back pictures of the speakers and the sub???

What are the audio inputs on the back if the sub? RCA (L&R)or 1/8" audio? or both. Are the speakers terminals spring clips or binding post?

Sorry for asking too much info coz the swan website doest have this info

Actually I too would like to know these details.