Head-fi.org is a place where people are VERY serious about audio gear. So while researching for a 2.1 speaker system, I came across this rather odd looking set of speakers from a company I had never heard of, and I was quite surprised to see that these were rated number 2 on the top speakers list on the website, and coming for around 7000 Indian Rs. or 90 US Dollars people compared these to the speakers which cost around 3 to even 5 times.
So I ordered these Swans M10 Speakers with high expectation, and they were met, which doesn’t happen very often.
DESIGN
Starting with the design, I think this is a very good looking set of speakers. It comes in both black white colors, though I really think that the white color looks better and highlights its aesthetics. The combination of white front, black accents, and tasteful gold color on the drivers along with the subdued branding really gives these speakers a very classy look.
The drivers are exposed, without any kind of grill to protect them. The drivers don’t have a dust cap in the center, so that just adds to the design.
The build is completely plastic, and even though it doesn’t feel very premium, the build is solid, and doesn’t feel fragile. The fit and finish isn’t the best, one of the drivers on my left speaker is a little off-center, the blue power LED light isn’t diffused, and resemble the design of cheaper speakers, but in spite of that, they look and feel very good. I think the looks of these speakers give a really good idea about how they would sound. Which is smooth, neutral, and detailed.
CONTROLS
This speaker set only has a volume control knob in the front, and a bass control knob along with the power button at the back. Both knobs are smooth though I’d recommend using software controls if possible, as there have been some reports of the knob malfunctioning. I really would’ve liked to have treble adjustment too, as the highs on these speakers can get a little too loud in many cases, but I guess they went for simplicity to give better audio quality for the price, which is what I prefer.
The power cable is North American plug with flat pins, so make sure you either have a convertor, or use an international socket.
SOUND QUALITY
I am sure that if you’ve read or watched any review before this you’d have seen how much everyone seems to appreciate the sound quality of these speakers. I think that this is one of the few products that is as good as everyone says.
Starting with the bass, I think it is very balanced and tight, and is much better than the mainstream speakers with their loud but muddy and low quality bass. The quality is really high but the quantity isn’t. Which doesn’t mean that the bass is lacking by any means, it is enough for most situations, but if you’re expecting home theatre level loud bass that you can feel in your chest, you wouldn’t find it here.
Again, there is plenty of bass for most genres of music, you actually enjoy enjoy EDM and other electronic music on these, but these may not be the best kind of speakers for them, or for feeling the explosions in your body physically while watching a movie. These are meant to be listened to by a single person, or a small group of people, so if you’re planning to have a party in a hall with loud music, these wouldn’t fulfill that purpose.
One real disadvantage though is that the subwoofer of these speakers is designed to be kept on your desk, and if you keep it under your table like other speakers, it wouldn’t sound great. So that means that it is going to take up a significant amount of space on your desk, but they go well with my setup, so I don’t mind that personally.
You can also check out Logitech’s similarly priced Z-623 speakers if you want more volume and bass with an almost too-large sub-woofer. They are a very different set of speakers than these, and they aren’t going to sound as clear as these, and they don’t even have tweeters for higher frequencies, but if your needs from a set of speakers are different than what these offer, you can also check those out, preferably in person.
Coming on to the mids, this is the range from which these speakers really start shining. The current trend of a V shaped tuning in the mainstream speakers really makes them lose out in the mids. But these speakers have great mids. This makes music sound great and the dialogues and voices in movies and videos sound very natural.
And finally coming to the highs, they really blow anything by a huge margin in this price range. The dedicated soft dome tweeters produce amazing highs, and any music which has good quality highs will sound breathtaking on these speakers. The violins in classical music really make you feel their presence, and the highs in an electric guitar solo really makes you acknowledge the presence of the high notes. So these speakers are really great for classical and rock music.
The tuning of these speakers may make the highs a little too loud in music which has a lot going on in the higher frequencies. They don’t get harsh at all, but their presence might feel too pronounced, and a little tweaking with the equalizer may be required to make these sound balanced and easy to listen to.
So these speakers are really great for most genres of music, and they are great for watching movies, TV shows,
And of course, gaming is also great on these speakers, as you can hear little details like chirping of birds in environments of games like Witcher 3, or the very detailed mechanical sounds in games like Dirt 4
and even the YouTube videos are very enjoyable, as the dialogues in those are very clear and a joy to listen to.
I’ve also used these with my Fiio E10K, and while they do benefit a little from a dedicated DAC, they’ll also sound good if you have a good on board sound chip.
CONCLUSION
These speakers are really unbeatable at this price point, and are probably the best at a price point double of what these cost too.
If you are looking for a set of 2.1 speakers in this price range, and you wouldn’t miss the chest thumping low quality bass that other speakers in this range have, then you should just go ahead and buy these if you can get your hands on them. These really have no downsides except for the need to keep the subwoofer on your desk, and I’d have liked to see treble control too, and maybe if you have kids, the exposed drivers could be a concern.
But then, these complaints are totally overshadowed by the amazing sound they produce, and every time you listen to your favorite music, or watch your favorite TV show, you’ll have that amazing listening experience that you will make everything very immersive.
Buy from Amazon India: http://amzn.to/2ks2NWR
Buy from Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2jSUUFW