A Bundle of Extreme Musical Happiness -- A Review of the Swans M200 MKIII - Page 3

I had them on an Ikea bookshelf (very sturdy) and I now have them on Sanus speaker stands.  No resonance issues.  Definitely with desks, there could be these resonance issues but that is also common other speakers as well, not just the Swans.

At the price of the Swans I'm not sure what else is in their league for active monitors.  Or will you be going higher end actives?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma 

Hmmm, I think I found the issue, they just don't play well with my desk. Taking them off the desk solved the resonance issue but ugh, this isn't how I'd like to run my speakers at all.

 

Also, they're new. I don't think I can return them unless they're defective, but I've asked whether I could swap them for something else... which hopefully won't have the same issue.

The dealer I bought the M200mk3 from has Swan H4s too, so I'm considering those. But yes, I'm worried that there is no real solution besides taking the desk out of the equation (not possible, I live in a dorm).

Proper stand-alone active monitors that dispense with the clumsy piggybacking arrangement of the Swans, provide shelving equalization and accept balanced inputs.  None of these, of course, have the fancy wood side-paneling, and treble/bass controls, but then no person looking for the most precise and revealing sound reproduction would care for those features.

Active monitor

$400/pair:

Yamaha HS50M

KRK Rokit 6 G2

JBL LSR2325P

Too late for me then but I guess you guys still have options.  The Swans are perfect for my small room.  The only negatives are that each Swan monitor is not independently powered (one power cable) and they do not accept balanced inputs.  Maybe these are not negatives.  The Swans are only my 2nd powered monitors.  1st being Bose Companion 5.    

Quote:

Originally Posted by WNBC 
  The only negatives are that each Swan monitor is not independently powered (one power cable) and they do not accept balanced inputs.  \

I can see a few other negatives from afar.  If the manufacturer claims are true, the one powered speaker houses four separate amplifiers, one for each driver in the system.  Instead of putting a power supply and two amps in each speaker, they chose one power supply for four amps in one speaker.  This was probably done in order to cut costs.  Did the savings go to consumer or to the manufacturer?  If Yamaha, KRK and JBL can put two, higher powered amps in each box with their own power supply for $400/pair, I don't see why Swan chose to cut corners and give you less for the same money.  Unless the money went for the fancy wood side-paneling and treble/bass controls, of course.

I wonder what impact this system design decision has on the quality of the amplifiers.  Also, I would read with keen interest a report that compared measurements in the response characteristics between the right active and the left passive speaker, being that their cabinets are filled with different volumes and the cabinet resonaces and coloring are likely to be different.  Of course, none of this occurred to 6Fools or to those who are otherwise fastidious about their components. 

Mauricio, I'm sure you're right but on the other hand, does it really, really matter? These aren't studio monitors, they're just computer speakers. Swan has the H4 if you want those features anyway, and they cost roughly the same too.

In the end it may not matter.  It's a fantastic desktop speaker system to my ears and has won many awards.  Albeit awards do not mean much but at the very least it has undergone some level of scrutiny.  I don't know about measurements but I don't hear an imbalance from the left to right.  The power is clean to each speaker, nothing harsh or unsettling.  Swan has been making speakers for a while so lets hope they have considered the things you bring up.  These are my 2nd pair of actives, maybe my last, maybe not.  With so many active speakers in the $200-500 range one eventually just has to bite the bullet and try one.  I feel my $400 was well spent.   Somebody suggested the MKIII to me.  When we move to a house I may say goodbye to active monitors and hello to a dedicated power amp and passive speaker rig.  

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauricio 

 

I can see a few other negatives from afar.  If the manufacturer claims are true, the one powered speaker houses four separate amplifiers, one for each driver in the system.  Instead of putting a power supply and two amps in each speaker, they chose one power supply for four amps in one speaker.  This was probably done in order to cut costs.  Did the savings go to consumer or to the manufacturer?  If Yamaha, KRK and JBL can put two, higher powered amps in each box with their own power supply for $400/pair, I don't see why Swan chose to cut corners and give you less for the same money.  Unless the money went for the fancy wood side-paneling and treble/bass controls, of course.

 

I wonder what impact this system design decision has on the quality of the amplifiers.  Also, I would read with keen interest a report that compared measurements in the response characteristics between the right active and the left passive speaker, being that their cabinets are filled with different volumes and the cabinet resonaces and coloring are likely to be different.  Of course, none of this occurred to 6Fools or to those who are otherwise fastidious about their components. 

You might want to look into a pair of Auralex Speakerdudes, found here: http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_speakerdudes/speakerdudes.asp

I bought a set for my T200b and it helps greatly with resonance issues. $40 is a lot for foam, but it's very dense and much cheaper than stands if you don't need the height adjustment. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma 

Hmmm, I think I found the issue, they just don't play well with my desk. Taking them off the desk solved the resonance issue but ugh, this isn't how I'd like to run my speakers at all.

 

Also, they're new. I don't think I can return them unless they're defective, but I've asked whether I could swap them for something else... which hopefully won't have the same issue.

I tried lifting the speakers off the table with my hands and the resonance was still there, so I don't think the foam will help. The only way to get rid of it was to take it off the table entirely, although putting them at the very edge of the table does seem to reduce it to manageable levels.

Fair enough.  By the same token, people should think twice before saying things to the effect that nothing can touch them at that price point.  I am fairly confident in saying that many people here are looking for high-value products.  There's a lot of noobies and impressionable folk who can be easily led astray by such facile, off-the-cuff pronouncements.

Finally, this separation between "computer speakers" and monitors is ultimately an artificial one.  If the primary objective is the most precise and faithful reproduction of the input signal, this artificial market (and mental) segmentation and labeling is besides the point.  Accurate sound reproduction is accurate sound reproduction no matter whether you are mastering a record, listening to a CD in your home or streaming music via your computer or playing a video game.

Agreed and until people actually own the Swans they can't say there are better or worse products at this price range.  In the end there is no way for people to hear everything out there so they speak of what they own.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauricio 

Fair enough.  By the same token, people should think twice before saying things to the effect that nothing can touch them at that price point.  I am fairly confident in saying that many people here are looking for high-value products.  There's a lot of noobies and impressionable folk who can be easily led astray by such facile, off-the-cuff pronouncements.

 

Finally, this separation between "computer speakers" and monitors is ultimately an artificial one.  If the primary objective is the most precise and faithful reproduction of the input signal, this artificial market (and mental) segmentation and labeling is besides the point.  Accurate sound reproduction is accurate sound reproduction no matter whether you are mastering a record, listening to a CD in your home or streaming music via your computer or playing a video game.

I don't have to own a car with a carburated engine to know that fuel injection is more efficient and precise.  I don't have to have flown in a helicopter to know that an airplane typically flies faster.  This idea that one cannot analyze systems and their potential outputs without owning the system smacks of a willful desire to bury one's head in the sand.

It's more than that.  It's not only the quality of the amplifiers, but also where the amplifiers are located along the signal chain.

Those KRK are not powered.  They are active.

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlie0904 

Very nice.
I'm very interested to get a pair.
Looking to see if I can find them locally in my country, singapore.

You can find the KRK, Yamaha and possibly the JBL at SimLim.  In Singapore your choices are far from limited.