gabedamien
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2004
- Posts
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Hello all,
Half a year ago (in this thread), I looked for the best $100 2.0 system I could get for my computer. A few hours and $200 later (
), I had ordered the Swan M200 "multimedia" speakers (i.e., white/red RCA inputs and integrated internal amplifiers). I figured some kind of feedback was in order, so here's a mini review.
First of all, the build construction is great. The materials are great, the aesthetics are nice, the adjustment knobs rotate smoothly and with a very weighty feel. They look great without the grills (a bit imposing too!); I keep the grills on since I have a lot of dust, and they are very tasteful that way as well.
I've actually been running them from the line out on my iPod dock, and recently the universal dock. They have 27" of space between them on my desk - which due to how my room is set up, is the only place I can really put them.
My first listen was shocking - shockingly bad. No warmth or detail at all - "this can't be right," I thought. I quickly discovered that the treble/bass dials, which as shipped were set full counter-clockwise (and which have no indicating line or detectable neutral setting) are actually supposed to be set at 12 o'clock, which makes sense. Ah... instantly far better.
With no subwoofer, I tend to keep the treble at neutral and rotate the dial clockwise to about 1-2 o'clock. I do like a little bit of warmth yet am not much of a basshead, so this "solution" is fairly acceptable to me; for gaming, or for people into more aggressive rock/rap/dance/electronica, jury-rigging a subwoofer would probably be preferable. (I listen to a ton of classical and pop/rock, some a cappella and soundtracks, and just a little bit of classic rock.)
So here's the part that actually matters: how do they sound?
Speaking entirely subjectively, I think they sound great. I think the value, for one thing, is absolutely outstanding. For $200 these sound far better than tons of big-name high-price mass-market consumer speakers. They sound full, with an excellent midrange; black between the notes, capable of getting pretty loud (for most recordings I keep the volume at about 20-30%), good detail overall, decent treble. The bass is a little light (which is acceptable by my taste). Turning up the bass dial more than would be considered "just fiddling"
will give a lot of midbass for the amount of bass it adds, so those looking for true kick (rather than a boomy sound) should add in the price of a sub. But for music listening in a dorm room, I'm more than satisfied. Since I'm sitting right at my desk, with the speakers below me and close together, I'm not sure how critical/generous I ought to be with their soundstage and separation, but they sound good to me in that department too. They're angled up, suggesting that this is about the sort of arrangement that they are supposed to be in (in keeping with their "multimedia" status).
A note: after half a year I feel like I know them pretty well, but I've also been using them with just 192kbps VBR AAC files through an iPod dock line out, so I also wanted to give them slightly better treatment as an experiment. I have no good DAC right now to run a CD through, so for testing purposes I loaded my iPod with some lossless files. The difference was obvious, with the speakers easily yielding up the extra detail and clarity. They are certainly not limited enough that they don't dramatically illustrate that wide gap.
I feel confident that at this price I can safely recommend them without fear of getting shot down later by some disgruntled customer
.
Half a year ago (in this thread), I looked for the best $100 2.0 system I could get for my computer. A few hours and $200 later (
First of all, the build construction is great. The materials are great, the aesthetics are nice, the adjustment knobs rotate smoothly and with a very weighty feel. They look great without the grills (a bit imposing too!); I keep the grills on since I have a lot of dust, and they are very tasteful that way as well.
I've actually been running them from the line out on my iPod dock, and recently the universal dock. They have 27" of space between them on my desk - which due to how my room is set up, is the only place I can really put them.
My first listen was shocking - shockingly bad. No warmth or detail at all - "this can't be right," I thought. I quickly discovered that the treble/bass dials, which as shipped were set full counter-clockwise (and which have no indicating line or detectable neutral setting) are actually supposed to be set at 12 o'clock, which makes sense. Ah... instantly far better.
With no subwoofer, I tend to keep the treble at neutral and rotate the dial clockwise to about 1-2 o'clock. I do like a little bit of warmth yet am not much of a basshead, so this "solution" is fairly acceptable to me; for gaming, or for people into more aggressive rock/rap/dance/electronica, jury-rigging a subwoofer would probably be preferable. (I listen to a ton of classical and pop/rock, some a cappella and soundtracks, and just a little bit of classic rock.)
So here's the part that actually matters: how do they sound?
Speaking entirely subjectively, I think they sound great. I think the value, for one thing, is absolutely outstanding. For $200 these sound far better than tons of big-name high-price mass-market consumer speakers. They sound full, with an excellent midrange; black between the notes, capable of getting pretty loud (for most recordings I keep the volume at about 20-30%), good detail overall, decent treble. The bass is a little light (which is acceptable by my taste). Turning up the bass dial more than would be considered "just fiddling"
A note: after half a year I feel like I know them pretty well, but I've also been using them with just 192kbps VBR AAC files through an iPod dock line out, so I also wanted to give them slightly better treatment as an experiment. I have no good DAC right now to run a CD through, so for testing purposes I loaded my iPod with some lossless files. The difference was obvious, with the speakers easily yielding up the extra detail and clarity. They are certainly not limited enough that they don't dramatically illustrate that wide gap.
I feel confident that at this price I can safely recommend them without fear of getting shot down later by some disgruntled customer
