Swans vs Audioengine

I haven't heard any of these, but there has been quite a lot of interest regarding the Audioengines.

Stereophile
Enjoy The Music

first thing that I will concern if the speaker is placed on desktop will be the size.

I personally own audioengine A5 and they sound very neutral, detailed and have a good soundstage.

I think A2 will be a good choice if the size is a concern.

I was in the same situation up until a few days ago. I ordered a pair of the Swan M200mkII after looking long and hard at the D1080mkII and Audioengine A2s and so far I've loved them. They are, however, quite large for desktop speakers, but like you I'm a space-limited student and the haven't been a problem. My roommate has the Audioengine A5's and if I had enough money I probably would have gone with those. That being said, the few impressions of the D1080s have been positive, although there is a fairly frequent mention of a humming in one of the channels. From what I can tell both Audioengine and The Audio Insider provide great customer service, but as for reliability the Audioengines seem to be less of a risk, and as you've probably read, sound great.

If it helps at all, The Audio Insider is currently having a special on its Swan multimedia line, with the D1080mkII running $129/pr and the M200mkII at $209/pr. Good luck!

AudioEngines A5 will sound the best, and have front volume knob. Port is on the back.

A2 is the smallest, and has front port, volume on the back. (deal killer for me)

Swans M200 (not the MkII) is back facing port and front volume knob. I have a set, nice laid back speakers. These work well with my vocal and jazz centered music library.

Can't comment on the other Swans, these are 3 speakers I have heard.

I have the A2s. I love them -- detailed and accurate for what they are. They are too heavy on the lower end though, so lately I've been using equalizer settings to trim them to be flatter, especially for classical music. Without trimming, I have to keep the volume down too low to hear the details of the music without pounding my neighbors and housemates out of the house.

--Chris

If the speaker is place on the desktop without proper treatment the bass could be heavy and boomy due to the resonance.
When my A5 is placed on the desktop the sound is muffled, but after placing it on the speaker stand the overall bass is better, and the sound quality and imaging improves a lot.
Maybe place some pads under A2 will solve the problem

The A2's are not bad just sitting on your desk...Front port works well.

On the A5's with the rear port, need something like MoPads if they are sitting on your desk.

The MoPads make a noticable difference by cleaning up the middle and bottom.

Just tilting them up with a DVD case helps tighten up the sound.

If you get the A5's I highly recommend getting the MoPads if you are sitting them on a desk.

what are these Mopads?

I can't comment on the Swans, but have heard the A2 and A5. A2s were very good for the price, but I was surprised from the reviews how much better the A5s were. Far from a slight bump that's sometimes said. Although larger, with a $150 budget I'd look at the M-Audio BX5a (non-deluxe) at B&H Photo down the street.

Be advised the A2s low end is a bit strong and a bit lean on the BX5a.

A5>BX5a>A2

I had the A2's, then sold them because I was ready for a "bigger" sound, with a bigger budget. I got a usb DAC which helped improve the sound of my files, then I tried 3 sets of desktop speakers.

the M-Audio BX5a, the Swan D1080mkII, and the Audioengine A5. All sounded good, At first I was leaning toward the A5's, they had a "big" sound that seemed clearer, plus the flexibility of the hook up to my computer. I also tried the last 2 with a subwoofer. The A5's have RCA outputs for a sub, which seemed to make it easier to blend the volume, but it doesn't really matter, I can hook the Swan's up from the Sub high pass RCA outs.

I re-compared the Swan's and A5's with the same source this time and decided to keep the Swan's as they have a more "natural" sound, the voices come out "sweeter", and they work well with or without the sub. They also cost over $100 less.

Edited by bippie999 - 3/24/11 at 4:27pm

cant comment on swans but I have a5's and i love them. From other threads I've read, people tend to like the A5's more than the swans. read around cnet, engadget, all those places for some reviews, you'll be pleased.

I currently have the A2's and I cannot turn them up even halfway without fears of complaints from the neighbours. I just finished building a better set of wooden tilted stands ( silicone feet ) for them for when I am at the computer desk, but they fill the entire apartment quite nicely. I was struck in particular by how clear they sound even from far away, like when I am in the hallway or kitchen area. The angled stands definitely help with clarity when at the desk.

There is definitely a nice low-end on these, and even though I would love the A5's I would realistically need to be in a better situation for those, as in a soundproofed apartment or one with better insulation, if I can't even go past half on these. When I turn them up the bass is thumping  and it's great but I can also see what a previous poster meant when they used an EQ for toning that down. But that may just be me used to having these at a lower level all the time. There's no loss of quality that I can see at the lower levels either.

 That's just my experience after a year of owning these. I've never regretted purchasing these one bit. For a lower price range they are awesome though just not as many options as the A5's for connections. I have heard that you can use one of the back hookups for a sub though.  I never needed that.

My two cents.

 Only heard the A5's on demo in a store. I need to stay very far away from them :)

 

Edited by nick n - 3/23/11 at 10:21pm

Ive been following the ModMen episodes on Maximum PC and I saw that they used that 3M Mounting tape to tape a whole computer to a window and it has yet to fall (its been almost a month). I was thinking of either setting my speakers up on my dry wall using that or to build myself a set of stands, though I have no idea how to keep the stands bottom heavy enough to not rock or fall over on my carpeted floor....

The loudness thing is never an issue for me. I know that they can play just about as soft or loud as I want. Lately they've been a bit on the fritz, not detecting an audio signal and keeping themselves shut off. I think tahts my cue to set my computer to a higher volume and set the speakers to a lower one rather than the way i have it now. (speakers at 35%, comp at 20)