aakaash
Broken In
Brief intro: I bought the the Swans d1010mkii 2.0 and had them for a week. But unfortunately I had to return them due to technical issues and finally bought the Swans M10 2.1 speaker system. I have had the m10's for one week today- the same time I had the d1010mkii's for, so I think I can now give a decent comparison between them.
Look and feel: Looks wise, I like the d1010mkii's rosewood finish and overall solid build quality. I don't have any issue with the build of the m10's(they too are made of MDF). The only thing that bothers me is that the blue LED on the front of the woofer is too bright for me. The knobs on both the speakers are well build, however the bass knob on the d1010miii was a bit stiff on my unit. Size wise, the d1010mkii's are quite big in comparison to the satellite speakers on the m10. But the m10's also have a woofer module due to which they end up taking up more space. Besides, you have to put the woofer on the desk for optimum sound quality. So d1010mkii's have the advantage in this department.
*i.imgur.com/ZKwEkay.jpg
*i.imgur.com/or0l5wB.jpg
Sound quality: Both the speakers have excellent mids and highs, a rarity in this price segment. If I were to pick up among these based on the mids alone, I would go for the d1010mkii's. The d1010mkii's have stereo bass, which means that the bass in not always coming from the same direction as is the case with the m10's. Speaking of bass quality, the m10's definitely have the edge due to the additional woofer. But quantity wise, both are equals- do note that the m10's are a 31W system compared to the 34W d1010mkii. The pure stereo effect on the d1010mkii's is total musical bliss while the m10's are more of an all rounder(losing out only on the stereo bass).
Issues: I think I have alread written about the popping issue, having talked to the nice people at HifiNage(authorized dealer of Swans in India). They say that this is due to the class AB amplifier used in all the Swans speakers(whcih by the way are very good) and is not going the harm the speaker in any way. To avoid any damage they recommend turning all the knobs to the minimum before switching the speakers on/off or removing the 3.5 mm cable. Between the two I would like to point out that the popping on the d1010mkii's were louder than that on the m10's. Besides, that the amount of heat generated on the d1010mkii's was in my opinion a bit too much. I could hardly touch the back panel of the active speaker after around ~5 hrs of usage(I am a very heavy listener). Similar usage of the m10's hardly generated any noticeable heat(This is one of the reasons why I returned the d1010mkii's). It did become warm to the touch, which is reasonable in terms of the heavy usage. So from the issues point of view, the m10's is the clear winner.
Final thoughts: I like the sound signature of the m10's, now having got used to them. Listening to music is a very peaceful experience and movies are a delight to watch. I would highly recommend these speakers to anyone who want an all round entry level audiophile grade and want maximum bang for their buck.
Look and feel: Looks wise, I like the d1010mkii's rosewood finish and overall solid build quality. I don't have any issue with the build of the m10's(they too are made of MDF). The only thing that bothers me is that the blue LED on the front of the woofer is too bright for me. The knobs on both the speakers are well build, however the bass knob on the d1010miii was a bit stiff on my unit. Size wise, the d1010mkii's are quite big in comparison to the satellite speakers on the m10. But the m10's also have a woofer module due to which they end up taking up more space. Besides, you have to put the woofer on the desk for optimum sound quality. So d1010mkii's have the advantage in this department.
*i.imgur.com/ZKwEkay.jpg
*i.imgur.com/or0l5wB.jpg
Sound quality: Both the speakers have excellent mids and highs, a rarity in this price segment. If I were to pick up among these based on the mids alone, I would go for the d1010mkii's. The d1010mkii's have stereo bass, which means that the bass in not always coming from the same direction as is the case with the m10's. Speaking of bass quality, the m10's definitely have the edge due to the additional woofer. But quantity wise, both are equals- do note that the m10's are a 31W system compared to the 34W d1010mkii. The pure stereo effect on the d1010mkii's is total musical bliss while the m10's are more of an all rounder(losing out only on the stereo bass).
Issues: I think I have alread written about the popping issue, having talked to the nice people at HifiNage(authorized dealer of Swans in India). They say that this is due to the class AB amplifier used in all the Swans speakers(whcih by the way are very good) and is not going the harm the speaker in any way. To avoid any damage they recommend turning all the knobs to the minimum before switching the speakers on/off or removing the 3.5 mm cable. Between the two I would like to point out that the popping on the d1010mkii's were louder than that on the m10's. Besides, that the amount of heat generated on the d1010mkii's was in my opinion a bit too much. I could hardly touch the back panel of the active speaker after around ~5 hrs of usage(I am a very heavy listener). Similar usage of the m10's hardly generated any noticeable heat(This is one of the reasons why I returned the d1010mkii's). It did become warm to the touch, which is reasonable in terms of the heavy usage. So from the issues point of view, the m10's is the clear winner.
Final thoughts: I like the sound signature of the m10's, now having got used to them. Listening to music is a very peaceful experience and movies are a delight to watch. I would highly recommend these speakers to anyone who want an all round entry level audiophile grade and want maximum bang for their buck.
