# Review: Swan M200MKIII (UPDATED impressions)



## lordsegan

I just got my Swan MK200MKIIIs.

 The first thing that I noticed was that the box was extremely heavy! Both speakers are heavy, but the speaker with the amp is heavier than my Onkyo AV receiver.

 After opening the box, I found that both speakers were encased in cloth and plastic coverings, and white gloves were included in the package!

 Thus far**, I have not had a chance to plug them into my main transport/DAC setup. Instead I have only plugged them into the 1/8" plug on an HP Pavilion laptop with unknown DAC.
   
  **See update below, and later in thread.

 Initially, I forgot to set the bass and treble controls to their middle point (suggested setting). They were set to their lowest setting. At that setting, the music sounded good, but not really impressive. (Better than your average logitec speakers, certainly, but not amazing). It sounded a little "distant" and "weak."

 After a second with the manual, I figured out what I had done wrong and set the controls appropriately.

 Wow.

 Playing CDs via itunes via this unknown DAC, the Swans sounded as good as any speaker system I have ever heard.

 The tightness of the bass is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of these speakers. There is a "slam" associated with bass notes that I have rarely heard before.

*Overall, these speakers remind me VERY much of Sennheiser headphones*. They are not bright. I would almost say that the treble is very slightly recessed. The level of detail, however, is excellent, and the speakers reproduced the male vocals of Frank Sinatra better than any speaker I have ever heard before.
   
*These speakers are also the most "directional" of any I have ever used. Within in their "cone" the sound is very different (louder, fuller) than outside of the sound cone.* I use these at a computer, and its perfect. They would even be good for a private office. Not what I would pick to fill a room for a party, however.

 These speakers were not especially kind to MP3s. There was an immediate and almost upsetting difference between 128kbit mp3s and CDs. A 192kbit pandora.com stream fared better and was very enjoyable.

 As a final note about sound quality, I would not call these speakers extremely "loud". This could be a result of my source, but even close to max on the laptop, the 2'o'clock setting on the speaker was comfortable.

 These speakers are as good as any I have ever heard.

 Can't wait to pair them with a real source.


*Update:* I still cannot connect these to my DAC because I am waiting for my SPDIF adaptor.

 I did get to plug them into my XONAR D2X sound card (PCM DACs).

 WOW.

 Even better! AMAZING. And LOUD. *At 12'o'clock they are as loud as I would ever want, and my source volume is only at 60% as well.*

 Out of my soundcard they were also kinder to MP3s than out of the laptop and iphone. I still prefered CDs, but the MP3s were not as different.

 These are the best speakers I have ever owned, without a doubt.

 In light of the above, it is hard for me to recommend them for an ipod or iphone, but they are amazing if given a proper source.

 Note also, these speakers seem fairly "directional" at least compared to my Polks. There is a noticeable difference in sound when you are only ~ 30 degrees off axis.
   
  UPDATED:
   
  6moons audio review is VERY similar to my impressions:
   
  http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/swans2/1.html

 "
 Regardless of virtue, no product will be all things to all men. While the speakers performed in exemplary fashion as computer monitors, they were more suited for musical satisfaction than gaming pyrotechnics. Acoustic music lovers will delight. Those demanding peak levels and gut-thumping bass should look elsewhere. These speakers are designed to stir the soul, not rattle the teeth. This is a musically satisfying design for the audiophile seeking a better lifestyle component. Shamelessly attractive and overbuilt given their modest price, it's an easy and enthusiastic recommendation. In America, the Swans M200 Mk III is sold direct through The Audio Insider."
   
  I agree. Personally, I love them.


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## FeiJai

Thanks for the review. There aren't many reviews for these speakers. I was trying to decide between these and the A5 and I think the A5 will suit me better. Some of my older collection of songs are of 128kbit MP3s and the A5 is a bit more forgiving.


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## Francinium

Hmm I was planning on getting the MKII because I heard these were so loud but now I don't know. How big is the room you were testing in?


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## lordsegan

Medium large... 25ft by 25ft or so. I think it was the source, honestly. I will plug them into a real DAC tonight.


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## Francinium

Damn that's about the size of the room I'd have them in, I eagerly await your DAC results


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## Townyj

Damn i hope you dont make me regret purchasing the D1080MKII 08 speakers! I am waiting on them to be shipped.


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## Hansen

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Townyj* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Damn i hope you dont make me regret purchasing the D1080MKII 08 speakers! I am waiting on them to be shipped._

 

I hope you do not regret. I too was thinking of getting the M200MKiii, but I decided to go with the D1080MKii 08 instead and I am very satisfied with my choice. Also, it is $400 versus $159.


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## EphemeralHope

With a DAC, these speakers will definently be loud enough. unless you're in a big room - then two bookshelf speakers would never be enough obviously


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## lordsegan

Update: I still cannot connect these to my DAC because I am waiting for my SPDIF adaptor.

 I did get to plug them into my XONAR D2X sound card (PCM DACs). 

 WOW.

 These are totally different speakers. AMAZING. And LOUD.

 These are the best speakers I have ever owned, without a doubt.

 In light of the above, it is hard for me to recommend them for an ipod or iphone, but they are amazing if given a proper source.


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## JonathanHF

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *lordsegan* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I just got my Swan MK200MKIIIs.
 At 12'o'clock they are as loud as I would ever want, and my source volume is only at 60% as well._

 

Make sure you set the volume to 100%.


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## Francinium

Man I know I don't need anything that loud but I might just have to after your impressions.


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## lordsegan

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *JonathanHF* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Make sure you set the volume to 100%._

 

For analog out? I still dont have my external DAC setup, this is now using the high quality soundcard dac.


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## bumbabeef

I have these speakers and they are plenty loud. I can hear them upstairs at half volume.


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## EphemeralHope

honestly, these speakers are by far the best in its price range(IMO of course) - but people always recommend A5s at this price point... this is SO much better and is actually an upgradeable platform with a DAC, sub, sound card, etc etc.... and yes I have heard both


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## lordsegan

Quote: 





ephemeralhope said:


> honestly, these speakers are by far the best in its price range(IMO of course) - but people always recommend A5s at this price point... this is SO much better and is actually an upgradeable platform with a DAC, sub, sound card, etc etc.... and yes I have heard both


 

 You think the MKIIIs are much better than the A5s? I never did get a chance to listen to the A5s. What is better about the Swans?


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## EphemeralHope

Oops, sorry... forgot about this thread hehe.
   
  Well, firstly - be glad that you got the Swans instead. I personally don't want to get into a detailed comparison as I don't own the A5s and I don't want to make the A5 owners feel bad about their purchase.... but my personal opinion from hearing them 3-4 times for about 2-4 hours each session was that I believe the Swans are in a different league. I am an IEM person so I care very much about weight, clarity, detail but sometimes want a kick for the soundstage that speakers give. Swan MKIIIs have been able to give me that soundstage effect while still keeping up relatively well in the qualities that I like in an IEM.
   
  A5, on the other hand, sounded more like an expensive satellite that my critical habits would just leave me annoyed at some parts of certain songs... it is also significantly less rich and warm than the Swans to my ears. Hope that helps ... this speaker really does deserve more attention that it has hehe.
  
  Quote: 





lordsegan said:


> You think the MKIIIs are much better than the A5s? I never did get a chance to listen to the A5s. What is better about the Swans?


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## kite7

Quote: 





ephemeralhope said:


> honestly, these speakers are by far the best in its price range(IMO of course) - but people always recommend A5s at this price point... this is SO much better and is actually an upgradeable platform with a DAC, sub, sound card, etc etc.... and yes I have heard both


 

 The A5 is slightly overrated. It's recommended a lot because they are more popular at mac stores than any other brand. I'm sure many can find better speakers at a similar price range. I prefer the BX5a over the A5 for music even though they are intended for different purposes.


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## muad

I wish someone would do a side by side comparison between the two. I have the A5's right now and the swans were a significant upgrade I wouldn't hesitate....  Are the swan's more detailed compared to the A5'S?


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## kadath

Hi, I've been considering getting the A5s, but saw this thread and noticed that the OP compared the Swans to Sennheiser headphones. I use Sennheiser IE8 canal buds and absolutely love them and would like a set of speakers that have similar sound. Would anyone say that the Swans sound quite a bit like the IE8 buds?
   
  I'd be using these for both music and movie watching. My sources are a Macbook Pro and iPhone. No DAC at the moment but if that would significantly improve sound quality, I'd definitely look into it.


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## EphemeralHope

I have heard the IE8s for about a few hours. The Swans are pretty good for their bang, but the source matters a lot. If you like the IE8s, let's just say that these will be much better. Because the soundstage that the IE8s try so hard to give will not be hard to reproduce with any decently sized speakers... imagine how much bigger speakers are compared to IEMs! other than soundstage, I would say that the Swans will actually do better in the other parts of the music presentation because it's so much more effortless!
  Let's just say that  Flac -> m2tech hiface/musiland 02/any other USB transport -> decent dac -> speakers will add a lot more to the speakers because good speakers are just supposed to be references: they will give you back what you put in .
  I'm not sure how good it would be, but a musiland 02 could act as an entry level USB transport + DAC for only a bit over 100 (I just sold mine because I'm planning to upgrade) but I never used it as a DAC(only used to transport out the music) so I can't tell you how well it would have worked out
  
  Quote: 





kadath said:


> Hi, I've been considering getting the A5s, but saw this thread and noticed that the OP compared the Swans to Sennheiser headphones. I use Sennheiser IE8 canal buds and absolutely love them and would like a set of speakers that have similar sound. Would anyone say that the Swans sound quite a bit like the IE8 buds?
> 
> I'd be using these for both music and movie watching. My sources are a Macbook Pro and iPhone. No DAC at the moment but if that would significantly improve sound quality, I'd definitely look into it.


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## EphemeralHope

Oh, by a few hours I meant ~20 hours so I did get ample listening time  - my personal opinion is if I had an IE8 and a set of Swans at home then I would opt to listen to the Swans hehe.


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## hermeslyre

6moons has their review of the mkiii's up today,
   
  http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/swans2/1.html
   
  Don't know if it will help  any of you on the fence. I personally opted for the TCA WAF-1/Gizmo passive speaker/amp combo over these. I'll never know how the mkiii's sound, but so far I'm very happy with my purchase.


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## happyxix

How are the low end from the MKIII? And whats the difference between it and the MKIIs just wondering?


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## lordsegan

The low end is strong. The biggest difference between the MKII and MKIII is actually in the low end (new driver, more power in the amp).
   
  I am returning to this thread/forum after a bit of time away just enjoying these!!
   
  I STILL dont have my final DAC setup ready.
   
  But I am currently running them out of a Musiland 02.
   
  They these speakers are even better than my initial review suggested. They are really really good.
   
  The 6moons review clsoely mirrors my impressions:
   
  "As a result, the speaker had a forgiving polite character that some may prefer especially at this price and given intended usage."
   
  I would absolutely agree. This speaker is loud, but it is not going to shock you. Like Sennheisers, there is the *slightest* veil. It sounds "tight" like it wants to be ever louder and more aggressive, but it is holding back a tiny bit.
   
  Personally, I love it. Some might want something a little more aggressive.


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## Stimpy_7

Hi Guys,
   
Sorry to resurrect a thread but I also find myself in exactly the same position as a few people here. I’m weighing up the pro’s and cons in deciding between the Audioengine A5’s and the Swan M200MKIII and I’m just wondering if anyone who has them as tried them with a half decent DAC yet? I guess the primary draw of them is that there is a decent upgrade path in the future.
   
Finally, how much have people paid for them here? Not really sure how much I should be looking at as very few dealers seem to have them here in Oz.
   
Cheers,
   
Adam


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## AhhHoNG

I heard this in a shop and was very impressed with the vocal clarity. Very nice sounding speaker. And the good thing was the price is lower than expected.


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## MikeW

I too would like to see more comparions between these and the WAF-1 TCA gizmo combo. I prefer non-powered speakers, generally, less to break.


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## DaveBSC

Quote: 





stimpy_7 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> Sorry to resurrect a thread but I also find myself in exactly the same position as a few people here. I’m weighing up the pro’s and cons in deciding between the Audioengine A5’s and the Swan M200MKIII and I’m just wondering if anyone who has them as tried them with a half decent DAC yet? I guess the primary draw of them is that there is a decent upgrade path in the future.
> 
> ...


 
  Swans. Do it. The A5 is nowhere NEAR as good. Frankly I don't get the fuss about Audioengine at all, the A2 and A5 really are not good speakers.


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## hermeslyre

The WAF-1 are great. Vocals in particular are just amazing to listen to, I'm coming from a generic Z-2300 setup though and haven't heard much else. Needless to say the logiteks get blown out of the water.
   
  A negative point about the Gizmo amp though, it has a VERY sensitive input voltage allowance. The two DACs I've tried (UDAC and a Hotaudio dac, both with variable outs) all cause a noticeable distortion when raising the pot passed a certain point. This "flaw" has been brought up on the TCA forums and at one point craig even promised a revised design with a more realistic spec, and a trade-in program to boot, but it fell apart awhile ago. Ultimately I opted for a HK 3490 stereo reciever, it has a respectable built in DAC, comparable IMO to the UDAC, and the WAF-1's sound better with the extra power. They love to be cranked.
   
  /Thread jack


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## Stimpy_7

What price are people getting these for in Oz? I've been offered them for $489... is that reasonable? Thinking I might give them a shot but not sure what they retail for
   
  Cheers
   
  Adam


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## ibis99

Quote: 





davebsc said:


> Swans. Do it. The A5 is nowhere NEAR as good. Frankly I don't get the fuss about Audioengine at all, the A2 and A5 really are not good speakers.
> Â


 

 Oh good, so you have had extensive listening time with both the A5 and the Swan's. Can you please give a breakdown of your impressions as to how they compare?
   
  I'm looking forward to your educated view.
   
  Thanks.


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## howc

Hey, i am interested in getting a DAC for my  m200 mkII.
   
  been browsing thru websites and forums for some days but too much infos around. 
   
  Ok so far i've found musiland 02, SVDAC05, Valab NOS DAC #9, Zero dac, Keces DA-131 MKII. 
   
  So far musiland 02 and zero dac are the cheaper dac yet perform really well for their price. 
   
  The Valab cost $60~80 more than musiland but is the performance better than musiland 02? 
   
  i listen to mostly r&b, pop and rocks. some orchestra songs as well. 
   
  Hope someone can enlighten me and guide me along ! 
   
  and sorry for the OT but i assume mkIII owners are equally interested in getting a DAC for their MKIII.
   
  Thanks


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## project86

Thanks OP for the insight, I enjoyed reading it. I would like to hear from whoever it was that has heard these as well as the A5s. Just a general comparison of strengths/weaknesses would be great.


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## dragonball

Are these a good choice for a 10' x 12' room for a nearfield listening?


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## happyxix

I used the Swans paired with a Keces DA-152 DAC. That and my DT880 600ohms are enough for me to stop my audiophile journey.
   
  Unfortunately I have not heard the A5 to compare and I was coming from a Creative I-Trigue so it was quite a large jump. Great for music, not so much for movies but hey thats what a subwoofer is for.


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## prozach1576

I've had a pair of these for about a month now, with my uDAC as a source, and I absolutely love them. They are warm, detailed, and have a huge soundstage for sitting only two feet away. They also fill my (small) living room with sound.


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## Jazz1

Quote: 





dragonball said:


> Are these a good choice for a 10' x 12' room for a nearfield listening?


 

 I'd be real interested in knowing this too. I've got  computer desk set-up that I'd only be able to get 36" away from the speakers with 36" space between the speakers (on either side of my iMac).


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## prozach1576

Quote: 





jazz1 said:


> I'd be real interested in knowing this too. I've got  computer desk set-up that I'd only be able to get 36" away from the speakers with 36" space between the speakers (on either side of my iMac).


 


  Mine sit about 26 inches apart and something like 24-30 inches from my head when I sit my computer. They sound great at this distance and project a three dimensional sound that's very transparent. This is in the living room of my apartment, which is maybe 14'x14'. They easily fill up the room with sound with the volume around 9 o'clock. If I go past 10 o'clock, it's borderline uncomfortable to sit in front of them and I start to worry about my neighbors.
   
  So basically they are good for near-field listening and for sitting anywhere in a small room. They blow away the bookshelf speakers I've been using with my home theater for years.


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## monkuboy

I have the older Swans M200 Mk II and am very happy with them.  I wouldn't consider anything else for my computer. These speakers do not sound like computer speakers, they sound like true hi-fi speakers. Very detailed, no boxy character and they give no hint of being "small" (which I guess they really aren't small.. that's the only negative - they are fairly large).  I normally have the volume set at 10:00.  These are hooked to an M-Audio Revolution 5.1 sound card and it works fine for me. The speakers are lacking in deep bass but the mids and highs are superb - very natural. I got them when they were on sale at The Audio Insider about 2 years ago, for $189. That was a great deal.


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## Audio18

It is fascinating to see how information propagates through the internet.  The Swans are fantastic speakers but it seems as if_ every _speaker has to be asked to be compared to the AudioEngine speakers.  Why is everyone so crazy over the AE speakers?  Anyone that has heard them unbiased and actually compared them knows they sound unnatural, boxy, and are sonic-ly inferior to many speakers in the same price range.


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## WNBC

I've had the Swan M200 MKIII for a little less than a week.  I have them hooked up as such Foobar > W4S DAC-2 > Lyr (pre-amp) > Swans.
  I have also hooked up the Swans directly to my Hifiman HM-601, the combo work well together though I do prefer the Swans + DAC-2 combo overall.
  I will try the speakers directly hooked up to my SACD player this weekend.
  I don't have much speaker experience but I couldn't ask more out of a computer speaker rig.  They don't sound like boxy computer speakers. 
  I haven't heard the AudioEngine speakers.  I do agree with another poster in that there is a slight veil.  Maybe I've been spoiled by the air of the orthos 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





.
  I've been using the stock interconnects but I'll have some Blue Jeans Cables coming in today.
   
  I use the speakers during the day and headphones at night.  It's a great combo for those of us living in apartments that cannot use high-powered amp/speakers due to thin walls.  The Swans do get plenty loud, esp with the Lyr acting as a preamp.  I don't necessarily need to use the Lyr but I prefer the volume control of the Lyr over the stiff small knob of the Swans.  I like to think I'm getting some tube flavor with the Lyr placed in line with the speakers but it's subtle.  
   
  I will post more details later.


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## eclipes

it says that the swans benefit from good interconnects.. What are some good interconnects that you guys use for the swans MKIII?


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## WNBC

I'm using the Blue Jeans Cables ICs.  Haven't experimented with the more expensive ICs because of the length of cable I would need from my DAC to Swans.  They sound pretty good with the Blue Jeans ICs.  
  
  Quote: 





eclipes said:


> it says that the swans benefit from good interconnects.. What are some good interconnects that you guys use for the swans MKIII?


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## eclipes

thats great... how are you finding the w4s dac paired up with the swans.. just curious since the w4s is quite high end and way out of my league.

  
  Quote: 





wnbc said:


> I'm using the Blue Jeans Cables ICs.  Haven't experimented with the more expensive ICs because of the length of cable I would need from my DAC to Swans.  They sound pretty good with the Blue Jeans ICs.


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## WNBC

The W4S DAC-2 does pair up well with the Swans or my headphone amps.  Nothing but love for the DAC-2.  Plenty of detail and great soundstage with no hint of fatigue or harshness.  I have noticed improvements with better ICs connecting the DAC to my headphone amps.  I live in any apartment so I don't listen to the Swans at loud levels.  The WireWorld ICs are less bright than my Blue Jeans ICs so some top-end harshness does not exist with the WireWorlds.  However, for the money, Blue Jeans ICs are hard to beat.  The Swans also sound pretty good hooked up to something like a iPhone or portable player.  
  
  Quote: 





eclipes said:


> thats great... how are you finding the w4s dac paired up with the swans.. just curious since the w4s is quite high end and way out of my league.


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## eclipes

great, thanks.. because right now Im itching to upgrade to higher end dac so dont know if it will make much of a difference. Are the wireworld ICs more warmish, dynamic type ICs? Im looking for ICs that will go well my tube buffer as well, Trying to achieve a mellow and smoothness in the sound. Have you tried any silver ICs?
  
  Quote: 





wnbc said:


> The W4S DAC-2 does pair up well with the Swans or my headphone amps.  Nothing but love for the DAC-2.  Plenty of detail and great soundstage with no hint of fatigue or harshness.  I have noticed improvements with better ICs connecting the DAC to my headphone amps.  I live in any apartment so I don't listen to the Swans at loud levels.  The WireWorld ICs are less bright than my Blue Jeans ICs so some top-end harshness does not exist with the WireWorlds.  However, for the money, Blue Jeans ICs are hard to beat.  The Swans also sound pretty good hooked up to something like a iPhone or portable player.


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## eclipes

Oh yeah WNBC, I have another question. Do you have your better/stronger ICs connecting from DAC to LYR or from LYR to Swans? any noticeable difference of where you connect the better ICs through? very curious because i never have 2 sets of the same rca cables thats why.


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## WNBC

The WireWorld are not warm, their main goal is to remain neutral and faithful to your music, no coloration.  They sound good with my Lyr or V200 headphone amps.  Haven't tried silver yet.  I think the goal of good ICs is to get out of the way and allow your other equipment to have more influence on tone.  The WireWorld just sound natural to me.  
  
  Quote: 





eclipes said:


> great, thanks.. because right now Im itching to upgrade to higher end dac so dont know if it will make much of a difference. Are the wireworld ICs more warmish, dynamic type ICs? Im looking for ICs that will go well my tube buffer as well, Trying to achieve a mellow and smoothness in the sound. Have you tried any silver ICs?


 

 My WireWorld ICs are only 0.5 meter which runs a little over $100 and that's about what I want to spend.  I have my headphone amp right next to the DAC so the distance isn't an issue.  The Blue Jeans Cables are less expensive so I can afford to get longer ICs and that's what I use with the Swans.  I haven't hooked the WireWorld's up to the Swans because I can't physically get them that close to my DAC.  I don't know if putting the DAC in between two speakers is a good thing to do and that's what I'd have to do unless I bought a longer cable.  
   
  In the end, don't get too caught up with the cables.  Spend money on solid equipment and the cables are tweaks that can be done later on.  The DAC-2 is the highest-end I've heard so I can't tell you if a $5000 DAC sounds better than mine.  With higher end DACs one may get other benefits like better USB implementation, multiple inputs/outputs, etc.  All I can say is that my system is dynamic and smooth, no harshness, no fatigue.  If you don't want to buy new equipment then maybe try the WireWorld Equinox 6 to see if you like the results.  They do require some burn-in period as did the Swans.

  Quote: 





eclipes said:


> Oh yeah WNBC, I have another question. Do you have your better/stronger ICs connecting from DAC to LYR or from LYR to Swans? any noticeable difference of where you connect the better ICs through? very curious because i never have 2 sets of the same rca cables thats why.


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## eclipes

okay, thanks for the help WNBC, i'll definitely look into it.
  
  Quote: 





wnbc said:


> The WireWorld are not warm, their main goal is to remain neutral and faithful to your music, no coloration.  They sound good with my Lyr or V200 headphone amps.  Haven't tried silver yet.  I think the goal of good ICs is to get out of the way and allow your other equipment to have more influence on tone.  The WireWorld just sound natural to me.
> 
> 
> My WireWorld ICs are only 0.5 meter which runs a little over $100 and that's about what I want to spend.  I have my headphone amp right next to the DAC so the distance isn't an issue.  The Blue Jeans Cables are less expensive so I can afford to get longer ICs and that's what I use with the Swans.  I haven't hooked the WireWorld's up to the Swans because I can't physically get them that close to my DAC.  I don't know if putting the DAC in between two speakers is a good thing to do and that's what I'd have to do unless I bought a longer cable.
> ...


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## zoossh

u saw that in a shop in singapore? where is that and how much does it cost?
  
  Quote: 





ahhhong said:


> I heard this in a shop and was very impressed with the vocal clarity. Very nice sounding speaker. And the good thing was the price is lower than expected.


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## Furholden

Deleted...................


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## Furholden

Also, can anyone compare this to the Adam Audio F5? They're about the same price here in Singapore.


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## stuck limo

Has anyone run a tube buffer into these? If so, how do they sound? Was thinking about advising my friend to buy these + iFi Micro iTube2 for his (new) budget system he wants to build.


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## legion1capone

I've owned the Swan M200mkIII for some time now. I use them at my PC. Im using an Aune X1S+XP1 as my DAC. I ran them for a long time straight from the DAC and they sounded as good as I've ever heard for the price. I used to own a pair of B&W 705's powered by an Emotiva XPA-2 (300wrms each). I was running those with an Emotiva USP-1 preamp. The room had acoustic treatments and I also ran it with a 300wrms sub. It sounded great. I ended up selling all of that setup when I had a kid and missed my connection with the audiophile in me. So i started getting into headphones, amps, dacs, etc. Starting with cheaper gear and working my way up the upgrade chain (I'm still going). But what I didn't expect was when I took a shot in the dark on a Z reviews recommended product and ordered these. They sounded fantastic from the get go, But once I had them broken in with 80-100 hours they really became musical and so effortless. These sound better than the 705's and everything else I own audio wise. I stand by that! Watching bluerays on these is like being drawn into the movie. The same thing happens no matter what your listening to. They sound so freaking good it just doesn't make sense for the price. They scale well with better dacs and amps/preamp outs. I recently plugged them to passthrough the back of my X7S and liquid spark. I still don't understand how they sound better being passed through a headphone amp, but cranking the volume knob on the headphone amps really makes them sing. Every single person that has a listen is blown away at the sound quality. I can't recommend these enough for PC use. Ok rant over. I love them. If your on the fence between anything else and these. Just buy these. You will not be dissapointed. Just make sure to break them in.


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## leiweiyen

Bringing up an old thread...
I bought my M200mkiii at least 5 years ago. They were so big and I was moving around a lot that they just say in my box until about 6 months ago. Finally have a DAC to go with it and man, these sound great. A great natural sound. Everyone complains on forums that these don't have enough bass but man sometimes the rumble I get blows me away. Can't recommend these enough.


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## JRG1990

Anyone know how these compare to there main competitor the edifier s1000db?.


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