This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below

The speaker was used in a variety of different setups. The first sessions were spent in my secondary listening room to get a feel for relative output capabilities with a wide variety of sources. The room measures 16' x 11' and primarily sees use as a multi-channel home theater. Initial source was a Citizen JCD 4028 portable CD player priced on the extremely low end of the spectrum which has acquitted itself disproportionately well as an emergency backup component. This was followed by the introduction of my Audio Space CDP 8A via both tube and solid-state output connections to see how the speaker would handle a considerably more upscale signal feed. To keep things current, the venerable Apple iPod Nano also made an appearance. A Paradigm PW2200 subwoofer was employed later using the Paradigm X-30 electronic crossover to test integration ability. Finally the M200 Mk III found its way to my writing nook, a small 7' square retreat, and was connected to my Dell PC's onboard Realtek integrated sound card, a real-world test.

As a point of reference, I brought out a worthy alternative multimedia speaker which recently became part of the family stable of components. The Kanto iPair 5 is a 23lb (10.5 kg) pair of self-powered speakers with high quality and high technology. The company employs a silk-dome tweeter and 5-inch Kevlar mid/woofer in an extremely solid gloss black cabinet. The Kanto is designed for a slightly different audience than the Swans and aimed primarily at the i generation. It mounts an iPod (or iPhone) dock atop one speaker and allows for wireless streaming as well as stereo RCAs, mini plug, S Video and (normally) USB. It includes a small remote which also operates Apple i products. As a second reference, I compared the Swans to my current computer speaker, the Creative Labs T20, an overachieving little multimedia monitor which is also aimed at standalone stereo use (although I augment the low end with a small sub) and uses a cloth dome tweeter and a small Kevlar woofer.


Listening tests for the Swans M200 Mk III were done in the home theater room and later in my computer environment. In the  PC listening sessions, the Creative and Swans were employed both alone and in conjunction with a small Yamaha YST-MSW10 powered servo subwoofer. I pulled up a good cross section of CDs and let the listening begin.

Cut 2 "Love Letter" from the CD The Best of Bonnie Raitt [Capitol records CDP7243 S 90491 2 0]: A versatile performer, Bonnie Raitt breaks numerous boundaries of style with this compilation and this cut has a combination of good driving bass lines and exaggerated sound field.


Cut 3 "Flute Concerto No.1 F-Dur La Tempesta di Mare" from L’estro Armonica: Vivaldi by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra [Analekta AN 2 9835]. Another fine performance by Tafelmusik, demonstrating tremendous warmth, detail and delicacy served up in the generous cushion of air and acoustic of the Humbercrest United Church.


Cut 4 "Firelight" from the CD The Four Musketeers: Matt Dunkley movie score [Media Discovery Collection MMS-08010]: As with most soundtrack selections, brief tempting morsels. Dunkley takes advantage of the Czech Symphony Orchestra to wield a hauntingly delicate and detailed romantic piece of music within this CD which ranges from bravura and bombast to somber and dour. All too short but wonderfully sweet.


Cut 6 "Concerto in A major D 91: Presto: Giuseppe Sammartini" from the CD Fire Beneath My Fingers [Music Pacifica, Dorian DOR90704]: Delightful and dynamically expressive with detail and nuance galore. Virtuoso violin and orchestra with trademark Dorian clarity, warmth and unbridled dynamic range.


Cut 1 "You‘re Driving me Crazy" from The Age of Swing: Dick Hyman [Reference Recordings RR-59CD]:  A jazz piece that captures the soundstage, frequency range, subtle detail and wide swelling dynamics of a fine performance. Perfect for exploring the dynamic capabilities and compression in a system while being thoroughly entertained.


Cut 8 Disc 2 "Biko" from Peter Gabriel Plays Live [Geffen GEFD2-25319]: Former Genesis vocalist in a live performance that wraps social conscience in the trappings of poignant music. Excellent clarity and power with a delicately captured venue. Detail, hard edge and air.


Cut 2 "1712 Overture" from P.D.Q. Bach 1712 Overture [Telarc CD-80210]: Pomp and humorous circumstance. Telarc and Professor Peter Schickele bring tongue and cheek alive with a superb recording that borrows, parodies and generally lambasts a multitude of classical periods. Traditional Telarc strong suits of minimalist microphone technique, imaging, detail and wide dynamics.


Noise: The S/N ratio is specified as 85dB. In practice, I had to put my ear up to the driver to hear any discernable level of hiss or buzz at higher levels.


Dynamics & resolution: Mounted on speaker stands, the dynamic range of the M200 Mk III was good but not exemplary. It was bested by the Kanto loudspeaker and came off a little polite. This circumstance had the Swans operate outside its comfort zone. Dynamics improved when the speaker was pressed into desktop service. This took full advantage of the boundary effect and also smaller room dimensions.


The Swans did have practical limitations in absolute volume levels but reached those limits gracefully. While they were not shown to best performance filling a moderate to large-sized room, they were quite good in their intended role as desktop near field monitor in a smaller environment.


Resolution was good too and the Swans pulled up considerable ambient information especially in the midrange. This was achieved by compressing available dynamic range. As a result, the speaker had a forgiving polite character that some may prefer especially at this price and given intended usage. The M200 Mk III managed to sound detailed and refined even with lower resolution sources like MP3 and my inexpensive CD player and showed either to good advantage. The speakers revealed sufficient information to unravel complex material, doing surprisingly well with high-resolution downloads but being never ruthlessly revealing. The Swans paid a small price for this forgiving nature with a slight loss of transparency and dynamic liveliness. In comparison, the Kanto loudspeaker was more transparent, offering higher resolution and greater dynamics but it was also more easily driven into audible clipping. 


Paired with the Audio Space CDP 8A CD player, results on the Swans varied according to output used. The tube outputs emphasized ambient information, midrange authenticity and solidity of images. The transistor outputs gave a considerably sharper transient edge with a slightly higher contrast in dynamics.  The Kanto iPair 5 was most at home with the tube outputs and then gained considerable refinement and intimacy.

Frequency response: The Swans proved to have a distinct character, a tube-like tonal balance. The overall presentation favored the upper bass through midrange, affording excellent density to instruments. This was all the more remarkable because by absolute standards, the extreme low bass fell off fairly rapidly, obviously missing subwoofer territory. The designer of the M200 Mk III has concentrated on maintaining a relatively linear overall decent in response through the upper bass to mid bass. It actually descends fairly low, then rolls off steeply. The result is a sense of weight and volume without penalty in the midrange. Male vocals came off refreshingly free from overt problems and exhibited only very minor coloration in the lower midrange through upper bass where the speaker took on a slightly meaty character. Acoustic guitar and piano were rich and warm but further down the range instruments like electric bass and kick drum lacked impact. To its lowermost limits, the Swans had excellent definition with good solidity and exhibited better focus in that range than the Kanto iPair 5. Below that point however, the Kanto performed more in a Mark & Daniel mould, adding extension with a vigor and punch the Swans couldn’t quite match. The Kanto’s bravado came at the expense of some loss of fine definition as well as lower midrange coloration if care was not taken in the adjustment of bass settings. It could also easily be pushed into clipping on dynamic material.