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!

The D1.1seC is in-house.  Here are two test shots intending to show the quality of the finish – this speaker sample has a 100% gloss over the Khaya Crotch veneer, which is also referred to as African “Rosewood” Mahogany.  Obviously, snapshots won’t do this superb finish justice as this is the finest look we’ve ever seen in a Swan product.  These are quite remarkable in person.

One of the perks of working on new models is approving a fun new speaker.  We’ve just unboxed a pair of brand new Swan D1.1 mini-monitors in Khaya Crotch (African “Rosewood” Mahogany) and have some snapshots to share.  They measure 11-1/2″ tall, 7-3/4″ wide, and 8-1/2″ deep.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we are.

Compact but powerful: The new Swan D1.1se.

The D1.1se is also the perfect compliment to the D2.1se.

High-output drivers for a surprisingly authoritative sound.

Finished in Khaya Crotch, European Birdseye Maple, or Gloss Piano Black.

The D1.1se is designed by and built just for The Audio Insider.

The D1.1se includes a removable black knit grille.

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”

MacFeed offers some follow-up thoughts and FAQ’s to their review of the Swan M10.  Thanks again, guys!

To get to the point, we love the Swan M10s more then we did when we first plugged them in. Age has treated them well and the sound has become richer and deeper as the speakers have fully burned in. Crisp highs are accompanied by deep lows as beauty exits the black tweeters and gold woofers.

The M10 earns 5 of 5 stars at MacFeed.  Thanks Charlie!

Sound is all relative in the end. When reviewing products that deal with the performance of sound, we have to come to a general consensus and with the Swans there was a consensus that we needed no consensus. These things are not perfect, in the world of high-end audio nothing could be – ever. But these things are going to be as close as you are going to ever hear so we are going to give it the label anyway. When we turn the chrome knob on the Swans up we are reminded why we love music so much and reminded how good music can sound. We given the Swans a perfect 5.0/5 rating because they are that good.

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.)

Don Lindich writes the Sound Advice blog and is a national syndicated writer whose opinions appear on a variety of publications.  Don recently had some kind words for the Swan M200MkII, the current iteration of the long-term M200 line of studio monitors priced inexpensively enough to offer premium desktop sound for the daily computer or other music source.

Don says:

“I was expecting something good, but they exceeded my expectations.  Midrange detail was extraordinary.  I listened to Broon’s Bane from Rush Exit: Stage Left from my iPod and the guitar sounded full, rich and natural, with every pluck of the string rendered gloriously, every resonance finding its way to your ears.

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“…the M200 MKII’s slanted cabinet design does its job to enhance stereo imaging as I experienced a precise, holographic soundstage that seemed like a 1/50th scale version of my Ohm Walsh 5000 speakers, presented in front of me on my desk instead of filling my room.   At close range with the volume set lower due to my proximity to the speakers, they sounded even more natural and effortless than they did when I first fired them up as whole-room speakers.

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“The beauty of the M200 MKII is they work so well in so many ways.  With their excellent sound, built-in power and the common RCA connection you can use them with lots of different components.  I hooked them up to an iPod in a spare bedroom in my home, placed them about 6 feet apart and listened to them from about ten feet away.  They sounded like a pair of fine quality bookshelf speakers hooked up to a clean-sounding receiver.

[...]

“Connect a DVD player or CD player to the RCA inputs and you have a stereo with high-end sound, perfect for an office, a dorm room, bedroom, a garage, anywhere you may want to enjoy good sound.   You could even connect them to the output of a phono preamp and use them with a turntable.  Just be sure to use a long RCA cable and locate the turntable some distance from the speakers.

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“With the M200 MKII’s fine sound quality, even if they didn’t have built-in amplification they would be a bargain at the price.  Given they are essentially an audio system out of the box, the value equation becomes extremely compelling.”

Writing in Enjoy The Music, Clarke Robinson finds the Swan D2.1se an interesting listen.  Excerpts from Clarke’s summary:

The D2.1SEs are quite an achievement. They redefine what is possible for a small-box two-way, delivering beguiling sound at a scale I don’t know that you can touch for anywhere near their asking price.

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This is another one of those speakers (and there aren’t very many of them) that should be making manufacturers of speakers sold through traditional dealer networks very nervous, and for that I heartily applaud Swans’ efforts.

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.

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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.

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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.