6Moons writer Glen WagenKnecht has penned a substantial listener review of the Swan M200MkIII active desktop monitor.  Some of Glen’s high points follow. 

The Swans M200 Mk III are a class act. They live up to expectations imposed by history and push pedigree yet further upscale.  As a computer monitor, they offer a phenomenal level of sound quality and have a visual aesthetic of decadent luxury.

The review is located here and the Swan M200MkIII is found here.  Thanks Glen!

It’s not often that a self-powered monitor of this quality costs less than the great majority of unpowered premium monitors. The SwanMkIII is one of this rare breed, and users are discovering that great sound, unexpected value, and user convenience can go hand in hand.

Jason Parker loves his M200MkIII and enthused about them at the AVS forum recently. His capsule review appears here as well:

“I just got my Swan M200MkIII. In short? They KICK A**!

“Plug them in, connect them together, and with the supplied cable hook up your iPhone/iPod, and YOWSA! These suckers are clean, and LOUD! They are so loud that the limitations of the recordings via the iPhone can cause quick ear fatigue, so be careful out there. I moved them into the living room next to my MacPro where all my music has been ripped Apple Lossless. I can quickly move the mini-plug back and forth between the M200MkIIIs and an Arcam 300 feeding my tremendous Swan 6.2s. And?

“Yeah. Swan and Jon know what they are doing. I have two favorite songs I jump right to when auditioning. Song one, is the Talking Head’s “Slippery People”. Song two is Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo A La Turk”. First up the M200MkIIIs. I’ve listened to my Arcam/Swan6.2 combo for a long time now. Press play (from my iPhone remote application — that is SO COOL!) and… I was at home immediately. If I had been led into the room blindfolded, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference at first blush. To me that’s impressive! What great songs! So I switched to the Arcam combo. Now, to be fair, the Arcam/6.2 combo wins. It wins at every point. But, it IS a contest, a good one at that. Anyone thinking between the 6.2 and 6.1, even though I haven’t heard the 6.1, I would just say trust Jon and Swan. The 6.2 is an amazing speaker. Especially when paired with a top quality amp like an Arcam. That’s my $0.02.

“Comparing the M200MkIII, the Arcam/6.2 wins in every category, crystal clear, nuanced highs, smooth deep and satisfying bass, and a “you are there” immersive soundstage. But the thing is — the M200MkIIIs are only a half step, maybe only a big toe, behind in every case. Given that they are in a much smaller enclosure, with its own amp (that is not a $1500 Arcam) they are outstanding. The M200MkIIIs are clean and even with no coloration, just like the 6.2. They simply trounce a pair of Energy C-100s I have upstairs (which I consider a pretty good speaker for the money BTW). Now one big reason I could tell the difference between the M200MkIII and the 6.2s was the soundstage. But I can’t attribute that entirely to the smaller speakers. See my 6.2s are set quite wide, about 14 feet. Which brings me to my only knock on the M200MkIII package, the speaker connect cable. The cable itself is a high quality 4-pin cable. But it is only 6.5 feet in length. I couldn’t move the M200MkIIIs 14 feet wide for an even comparison, and I wasn’t going to haul the big 6.2s closer together in my room. Further, at 6.5 feet, even in a small office, you might find it hard to place the speakers with the cable out of the way. I’m already looking for a longer cable (Jon, any suggestions?). I mentioned fatigue earlier. I want to reassure you. First, I was using an iPod. Second, I was trying to see how loud they can go… which is VERY LOUD! When played at reasonable volumes in rooms like a good sized living room, or an office, the M200MkIII play astoundingly nice. For an active set of speakers you can just hook up the iPod or computer to, I can’t recommend them enough. If I was going to college, this and an iPod/laptop is what I’d want to bring to blow everyone else on the floor away. Look no further.

“I can’t wait for this years work X-mas party. I’m going to cause some major raucous!

Cheers!
-jason”

The Audio Insider just negotiated our first shipment of the exciting new Swan M200MkIII (yes, that’s Mark 3, as in the 3rd generation of this venerable studio monitor.)  We’ll be stocking these premium self-powered speakers the first of September and will allocate our first deliveries from a reservation list.  Preliminary pricing for this MSRP $599 speaker is only $399 exclusively from The Audio Insider, but will rise to $479 sometime before 2010.

What’s new in the M200MkIII?  Double the power, bi-amplification, all new electronics, deeper bass, and solid milled hardwood side panels.  Not a bad few months work from Swan.  Click on over to the new M200MkIII product page and read all about this new model and drop us an email to reserve yours.  (Preorders also accepted from the product page.)

Major PC/IT technology site AnandTech’s Gary Key shares his thoughts about the sound of Swan on the PC desktop. At TAI, we’ve found ways to offer Swan studio monitors at high-end multimedia speaker prices, and Gary finds the economy studio monitor Swan D1080MkII an excellent performing value.

The Swan M10 takes honors as his choice of compact 2.1-channel multimedia speaker system.

Gary also favorably commends the globally-popular Swan M200MkII reference desktop speaker system. Click the headline to travel to AnandTech and read the detailed analysis he provides there.

Excerpts:

I have always been a big Swan fan and someone will have to pry the M200MkII from my cold dead hands before I give them up. The new M12 units probably would have been perfect, but knowing my daughter would not really notice the difference I saved some money and bought the Swan M10 setup for just a few dollars more than the Logitech Z-2300. While the Logitech speakers win the battle of the bass, the Swan’s provide just an incredible clarity with superb mids and highs for the money. The soundstage comes across as being larger than it actually is and instrument separation is excellent.

[...]

The M10 units would have suited me perfectly and I probably should have gone that direction for saving money also. However, being the one to try something different, I decided to look at the Swan D1080MkII series after understanding them to be an inexpensive M200 substitute.

[...]

The high frequency definition and transient response is very good along with smooth and clear highs after the break-in period. The midrange is close to the M200 series and is the greatest strength of this speaker set. I would grade it somewhere between very good to excellent with sharp transients, stable imaging, and a very open but neutral sound stage. The upper bass is very good and provides a seamless transition into the midrange.

Audioholic’s Tom Andry gets his hands on a pair of brand new S200′s.

And lives to tell about it.

The S200 uses the 28mm “Diva” dome and some smart new power amps. Desktop sound never sounded like this.

After nearly a year of waiting for this highly ancicipated model, the all-new S200a studio monitor is shipping.

This model features on-board amplification, the top-of-the-line Swan 28mm dome tweeter, and a phenomenal piano black lacquer cabinet. Other colors may become available.

What’s different than the standard-setting M200? Same midbass driver, but the rest is all improved. The S200 actually has balanced inputs, so all your MIDI guys and home studio operators won’t have to either hunt up adaptors or defeat your balanced system’s noise cancelling characteristics.

The S200 uses an enhanced tweeter — HiVi’s 28mm dome, the same tweeter used in the T200. And the S200 is about twice as powerful as the M200. Like it loud?

For those style-sensitive users, we can get you either the piano black or “merlot” finishes. Both come with black knit grilles. Want more info? Click through to our store’s S200 pages.

Mark Muschett takes on the classic M200 active desktop loudspeaker system. At $219 the pair, and with thousands shipped, the M200 is perhaps the best value in Internet-direct sound I’ve seen yet.

I’m not sure there’s any point to poor sound from a PC (or any other device with a stereo line-level output) when M200′s are as affordable as they are. Mine are playing as I write this (thanks to my SlimDevices Squeezebox) and they do just about every day from 6am to 10pm.

Anyway, you be the judge. If you are looking for inexpensive yet high-performance stereo sound, this may be your choice too.

Apparently the hardcore PC gamers from the Firing Squad love the Swan T200a high end studio monitor for, well, gaming. I can’t blame them — this is probably the cleanest, hardest-hitting desktop monitor I’ve ever used myself — but I tend to think it’s more than just a very high-end PC speaker.

HiVi developed it as a studio monitor. It’s natural that some enthusiasts would then hook a pair to a tweaked PC just to see what they’d do.

What I like about the T200a is its dual-mono configuration — two completely identical speakers, each with its own dedicated inputs (single-ended and balanced) and internal power supplies.

I think this has much to do with the T200a’s very credible channel separation, and with it, its image, which is pretty darn impressive.

HiVi selected the “Diva” alloy coned-midbass driver for great impact and drive, and their 28mm dome (with German silk diaphragm and some other tricks) with its low crossover point to join with it.

While a rare, expensive bird in the US, the T200a is available on special order. We’ll be bringing some limited quantities in before summer 2007. Click thru for more high-res pictures in our online store.

Srajan Ebaen, Editor in chief for 6Moons, reviews the Swan M200 for Enjoy The Music.