How do I setup Swans M200?

[RichardCory]

Here are some pictures of what it looks like from behind:

http://www.pbase.com/eightyone/swans

Both speakers have those knob things, and they twist off a bit, but not completely. I can't figure out how I am supposed to connect the two speakers together.

Anyone know how? Thanks in advance.

 

[insomniac]

If you bought them new, there should be a single speaker cable in the box. Or you can use your own. The two speakers connect via a single standard speaker wire. If I remember correctly, the binding posts on the Swans will accept both spades and banana plugs. And bare wire terminations too of course. Which is what the included stock cable has.

EDIT: those "knob things" are speaker binding posts. You need some sort of single speaker cable.

 

[episiarch]

RCA cables to the amplified (active) speaker, and speaker wire from that speaker to the unamplified (passive) one.

In other words, the big speaker-wire binding posts on the active speaker are outputs, not inputs. But on the passive speaker they are inputs, as they are on most speakers.

 

[RichardCory]

The cable you see in the FIRST (not fouth, sorry) picture is the only cable I have that can be used to connect the two speakers together. The only other cables are the power cable, and the cable to connect the source to the right speaker. And I don't understand what binding posts, spades, or banana plugs are.

 

[RichardCory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by episiarch RCA cables to the amplified (active) speaker, and speaker wire from that speaker to the unamplified (passive) one. In other words, the big speaker-wire binding posts on the active speaker are outputs, not inputs. But on the passive speaker they are inputs, as they are on most speakers.

Sorry, this is all going over my head. There is plastic surrounding the metal knobs. Am I supposed to pull the plastic off?

 

[RichardCory]

Wait, sorry, I have another weird looking wire. Let me post a picture.

 

[insomniac]

If that is the only cable you have than you are missing a cable.

The cable you have is an RCA cable for connecting your source (i.e. computer, CD player, etc) to the Swans. It should be pretty clear where you plug one end of that cable into the Swans. The other end goes into your source.

To connect the two Swans speakers you require an additional different cable which you don't seem to have. You can pick one up for pretty cheap at Radio Shack. Or you can try something more expensive. If you go to Radio Shack, just ask for speaker cables. You just need only a single run.

The speaker wires (like the RCA cable) splits at each end. Those ends plug into the binding posts (knob things). Perhaps plug is a bad word. With the speaker wire from Radioshack, you have to expose the bare wire at each end. Then you insert the bare wire into the hole into each post (or knob). If you unscrew a post you'll notice there is a hole going through it. Shove the bare wires in and the screw the post back to secure the wire.

Do that on each speaker.

The only thing you have to watch out for is that when you attach the cable, remember the cable splits into two sides at each end. Make sure you are inserting the same end on each speaker. For example if you have one half going into the red post, make sure that same half on the other end of the cable is going into the red post of the other speaker.

I'm not sure if I've done a good job making this clear. You might just want to google wiring or hooking up speakers. It's very standard and you should be able to find plenty of instructions.

 

[episiarch]

No - do not pull the plastic off of the metal knob. (At least, you shouldn't need to.)

The cable you have in photo #1 is an "RCA cable." Theoretically you'd plug one end into the active speaker* and the other end into your music source: CD player or the like. But if you are connecting to a computer sound card, then the sound card probably has a single mini jack** instead of dual RCAs. So you would need either a different cable ('1/8" stereo male to dual RCA male') or an adaptor ('1/8" stereo male to dual RCA female').

That just gets the signal from your source to the active speaker. Now you need a cable or some wire to go from that speaker to the passive speaker. You have two options.

One is a pair of plain old insulated wires***, stripped at both ends. You take a wire, twist the strands together to tighten them up a little, and wrap it around the metal post shown in your photo #4, then tighten the knob down to hold it in place.****

The other option is a pair of cables with the aforementioned "banana plugs" on them. (A web search should yield plenty of pictures of these.) Costs more, but saves you the trouble of stripping wire, etc. You just push the plugs straight into the holes in the ends of the posts, as seen most clearly in your photo #2.

Either way, it sounds like a trip to your local Radio Shack or other electronics outfitter is in order.


*(The red cable into the red jack and the yellow cable into the white jack. There's no difference between the cables - we just use colors to keep track of which jack goes to which jack.)

**(The size you'd plug earbuds or portable headphones into.)

***("lamp cord" or "speaker wire")

****(There may also be a sideways hole in that post, though I couldn't see it in your photo. If there's a hole, you can thread the wire through that for extra grip.)

 

[insomniac]

Yeah that's the speaker cable.

Agreeing with episiarch, I'd say pick up some cheap banana plugs from Radio Shack. Doesn't sound like you'll want to deal with stripping the speaker cable ends. But if you do, it's not too difficult. Plenty of instructions online.

 

[RichardCory]

New pictures are up. I will read your replies now. Thanks a lot for helping me out here.

 

[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCory Wait, sorry, I have another weird looking wire. Let me post a picture.

Aha. That's the one that's supposed to go from one speaker to the other. You will need a wire stripper, or else decent skills with a knife. At each end, separate the last couple inches of the two wires.

Like this: (pardon the ASCII art) >================<

Now strip off the insulation covering the last half inch or so, exposing bare metal. Then wrap one wire over each post at each end, and tighten the nuts down so it's secure.

Note that this cable too is color coded: one side is marked red and the other clear. Hook the red side to the red connector and the clear side to the blue connector. (If you reverse them it will still work, but you'll have the wrong polarity which tends to harm your bass response.)

 

[RichardCory]

Okay, thanks, I see now. I'm going to try cutting it myself, and we'll see what happens.

 

[RichardCory]

Do I need ALL the wires to be intact? When I was exposing them, I cut six, but there's still plenty of wire in there. Does it matter?

 

[RichardCory]

They're working now, and sound phenomenal; however, I just want to know whether or not I needed every single wire intact. Anyone know?

 

[episiarch]

You mean all the individual teensy little strands? No. It is just fine if you lose a few.