Swan Owner's Thread - Page 103

Jeeves67,

I would give www.solen.com a call. I believe they are located in Canada but they might only provide Swan parts. I'm guessing they would know a dealer in Canada if there was one.

Kraig

There is some suckout at 128hz in my room. My speakers are room equalised now but more importantly, rta plot using a calibration mic is ok so using something like a DEQ2496 helps.

Normally, you would be most correct. However, in this instance, my HT is integrated with my 2 channel sound system. My main amp for the L/R speakers is a class D 1,000 watt amp. I biwire that connection to the 6.1's in that set up. Eventually, I had planned to biamp those but with an amp with that output, the fact that amp has been completely modified by Cullen Circuits, the fact it is no longer manufactured, it makes it difficult to shell out the cost for locating an excellent used one, having it modified to match the current one and go from there.

Have fun!

Cullen Circuits manufactures some good stuff, I am having good synergy with Wyred ST 500, Dac2, a Cullen PS Audio preamp, MacBook Pro and ESound Platinum CD player driving Swan F2.6 speakers tied together with some great inexpensive Nerve Audio military grade bi-wired ribbon cable. Just added a very good tweak Audioprism Ground Control (it works!). Listening to Sinatra and Jobim, wow! I am quick to grow tired of hifi, this one I am still enjoying very much, the tone of these Swans are good indeed. Recently found out my Dr is an audiophile, I am going over his house to hear his +100K Von Schweikert speakers, will be interesting to see if I hate my system when I return home (doubt it).

On my desktop computer am using to great satisfaction powered Swans.

Which Cullen mod PS Audio preamp do you have? PCA2 or the Gain Cell? I am currently deciding on whether I want to mod my PCA2/HCPS with Rick Cullen or replace with his superb reviewed STP-SE preamp. His Wyred for Sound equipment is really far better than their price indicates. FAR better. I love my completely rebuilt GCA-500 he did for me about 3 years ago. It just is simply well beyond my class D expectations. I would really like to hear what you have to say about the Audioprism's and what they did for your speakers before/after. If you like, PM me and lets discuss.

Have a great one!

Oh..Ok makes sense to me

Hello Swan gang,
I have a finished basement with a dedicated HT section. The basement is 15'w by 18' long and the theater portion is kind of offset to the right so doesn't use up all the space. I'm currently running Axiom M60/ VP150 front sound stage powered by an Emo-LPA1 and are quite happy with it but for some reason Swan has peaked my curiosity as of late. I'm looking for a recommendation from the Swan group of either...

1- Diva 6.1/ C3 center
2- Diva 5.2F/ 5.2C
3- Swan D3.2/3.2c

I probably do more movie watching than music but I enjoy them equally as much and are equally as important. Also, is the D3.2 series kind of a higher up series from the Diva line? Is it made with better drivers? Thanks in advance for your help/suggestions.

I don't have any experience directly with the .2 line but owning four 6.1's and a C3 in my HT along with two JL Audio subs has me smiling every day. The 6.1 C3 combo set up right is perfectly seamless, dynamic, huge soundstage, open, with immense dynamic slam potential. Also, if you are into biwiring or biamping, the 6.1 allows for that where the .2 line does not. I biamp my back channels running those 6.1's full range with the front two 6.1's biwired with an external highly modified Cullen PS Audio GCA-500 amp as those speakers are integrated into my HT as part of my two channel system.

Best of luck and enjoy!

4- 6.1s in a room must be killer! Thanks oddeofile. There's a good deal for some D3.2s so I'm interested in how those compare to the 5.2s. Specs seem good on both.

Great and go for whatever is a good deal. Let us know how you make out and what your impressions are of whatever speaker fills your bill for you.

Yes, the set up like many others can move the room around. On Iron Man 2 at reference volume level I was literally sweating a few times. I think it moved my street address down a few numbers after everything stopped moving. Ha, ha.

Good luck on your search. I am sure others have good responses on the 5.2's as well they can share.

Above all have fun and enjoy!

I have a modded GCP 200 great preamp made better by Cullen Circuits. The AudioPrisms work, I first took a pair of the standard pigtails and installed on the the midrange negative poll, immediately you hear more detail, voices take on a more natural texture and presence. I did exactly what the Music Direct sales guy told me take the cheaper pair first put them in and take them out of the system, you then judge for yourself. After a few days I ordered the reference Ground Control and replaced the standard on the negative mid polls and you get more of everything. Right now I have the reference on the mid panels and the standard on the tweeters. I plan on adding another reference on the mids and putting the standard on the amp side. The only thing I can tell you is try them and see for yourself. My cousin has Nautilus 800s and is trying them in his system. When I go to my Dr's house I will try them on his Von Schweikerts.

So... any other Swanites have some opinions?

I posted this in the subwoofer thread and was hoping someone on here may be able to help.

I have a Swans Subwoofer that I just picked up for a reasonable price from a friend. It appears to be in good condition - but I know very little about what to check to see if all is well with it. I am not very familiar with subs. This thing weighs quite a bit. It says SUB-250 on the back and has the model Swans Sub 200A in red.
The sub is shown midway down on this web page: http://www.swans-europe.eu/subwoofer...087573ab0.html

The trouble is figuring out how to hook it up as I don't have instruction manuals for it.
I checked out the Swans (Hi Vi) website and it has no instructions available for download and no information on my model. They have a similar model sub on the site called the 200A, but the connectors look different and they are on the sides rather than the back.

I will be using the sub with a Cambridge Audio 840A integrated amp and Vienna Acoustic Haydn Grand speakers.
I may switch to using the sub with a Pioneer SC-25 HT rcvr if it works out better with that.


The Cambridge Audio Int Amp has RCA jacks for inputs and one single preAmp output pair on the back.
It has connections for Speakers A & B - I have 2 pairs of Haydn's hooked up to it at the moment but can take one out if required.

On the back of the Sub are the following connectors

1. Input from preamp - these are RCA connections
2. High level input from Amp - these are speaker connections

The sub also has a volume control knob, a sub cut off frequency knob, an audio / video equilizer, and a phase switch.


Question: Does the preamp rca Left and right connector hook up to the sub - seems obvious - just wanted to confirm. What if I have to use the preamp output from the CA 840a to use a power amplifier - how would I hook up the sub using this output ?

Question: What do I need to connect to the High Level Imput from Amp speaker connectors on the sub ?
Is this for when I decide not to use the Input from Preamp ?

Question: I don't recall seeing a pair of connectors on my SC-25 that lead out to a SUB. There is a single RCA output on the SC-25 that says LFE - to subwoofer. So how would I use the sub with the Pioneer SC-25 rcvr ?

Any help appreciated.
TY

I'll 2nd the Swans's

I've had the 6.1's and C3 up front for a couple years now, along with an SVS 13Ultra. The sound is amazing for both movies and music.....in addition to HT, I also listen to a lot of multi-channel music. I've got R-3's in back. I ran the 6.1's for a year or so before I got the Ultra.

I've heard the 6/5/4 .2 series a few years back. The showroom was poor and they didn't sound like I'm sure they could have. For me, I preferred the .1 series for other reasons.

I just fired up my 8 year-old speaker system for a floor-rumbling "Iron Man 2" blu ray.

HSU VTF-3R (rosewood) sub
Diva Swan speaker package (rosewood) (purchased when AV123 carried them)

6.1's (front)
C3 center (top-mounted tweeter)
R3 rears
Single 2.1 rear-center
(total 6.1 channel system)

All I can tell you is that every other component in my system has been upgraded numerous times since my swans/HSU purchase, but I will keep these speakers until they fall apart! Get the 6.1's, you won't be sorry!

ps...My HSU VTF-3R is about equivalent to today's VTF-2 Mk III. Everything except the rosewood and piano black top. It was an absolute perfect companion to the Diva Swan line. It's always impressed me how well they went together without being "book matched". I have no idea why the finish is no longer offered. Here is a link to a review with a photo if any are interested.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...er-1-2004.html

I know that there are better sounding systems out there. But it gives me some pride that while in my 20's, my friends were spending much of their budget on the latest amp or receiver, most of my budget went toward those gorgeous swans. It's the one piece of my system I hope to have for a long, long time!

Thanks guys! I've exchanged a few emails with Jon at TAI and I think the 6.1/C3 combo will be the way to go. Do some more thinkin' this weekend then mabye pull the trigger next week.

You won't regret it! Let 'em break in for a while and then enjoy!! As you can see, there are many 61./C3 lovers here. I have owned my oldest pair of 6.1's since circa 2000 and they still look and sound marvelous. Incidentally, I may be in the stark minority here, but the original light finish, high gloss rosewood finish on the old 6.1's I love far more than the darker rosewood flat finished 6.1's I own. Their gloss still is gorgeous when I use a tad of good quality furniture polish on them and they still elicit the most comments from people who visit our townhome. Besides my JL's and KURO panel, they get the most "I like those" comments.

At any rate, jump in and enjoy the water. It's a blast.

Enjoy!

Cool! I ordered a full set of the reference versions for all 5 of my HT set up and a double set for each bi-wired/bi-amped 6.1 speaker. I plan on adding them first to the upper range post and then to the bass secondarily to see the differences. I figure if I don't hear any improvements I can always send back to my dealer. I hope to have them next week. I ended up ordering the banana version since all of my speakers wiring is spades, I dislike stacking spade/spade on the same terminals (my main L/R speakers spades are pretty big to begin with and I figure they won't fit, either). Plus, the bananas are easy on/off to check differences. IF these work and sound as I expect them to (large improvement as noted by others without soundstage truncation) they stay and I begin my next level quest using the amp ends, RCA jacks on source equipment, etc.

Let us know how they test out at the doc's house.

Enjoy!

Ty,

You should be able to hook up the sub to the Pioneer using a single RCA cable from the LFE out on the AVR to the L input on the sub.

Reference this post for a good overview and discussion.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1045531

Good luck.

I definately will! I just added two reference RCA to the modded PS Audio, I will pick up another pair of RCA for DAC and CD and add spade reference since my speaker cables are bananas. Sound continues to improve.

I'm starting to contemplate a new set of speakers for my new basement HT/media room, and am thinking about the Swans. The reviews, the cost, and the look make them sound like quite the package. I'm WAY out of the speaker game, though, so looking for some input for the more experienced folks, as I have no way to listen to the Swans...

- I currently have a set of v.1 Paradigm Reference Studio 80's and Studio CC, and some ADP v.2 surrounds that I've had since '98. How will the Swans compare to the Paradigms, particularly for HT? I'd be very interested in hearing mains vs mains, and center vs center comparisons.

- It seems like the 6.1 Swans are preferred over the 6.2 - why is that?

- Are the 6.1's considered the sweet spot in the Swan lineup? How do the 4.x and 5.x series compare?

- As much as I love the looks of the Swans, I do have a bit of a question/concern about the reflectivity of the finish. The speakers won't be very far from the edge of a projection screen, and I'm a bit worried about the Swans reflecting some of the PJ light, and being a distraction during a movie. Have any of you with projectors had this issue?

Thanks!

I can speak to a couple of your questions. I prefer the 6.1 over the 6.2 due to personal prefderences. 1) I prefer the rosewood finish on every area of the speaker 2) The height of the 6.1 tweeter is about ear level for me....the 6.2 is about 10-12 inches higher 3) My 11 guage speaker cables would not fit underneath the speakers to connect to the terminals on the .2's 4) I prefer the C3 center over the 5.2C

The main difference between the 6/5/4 .2's is the bass. The tweeters are identical and I believe the mids are very similar also.

I'd refer to my 6.1's rosewood as glossy but not piano gloss....if that makes sense.

In terms of shipped units, today they're about equal. Because it's so tall and because its substantial enclosure air volume tunes the speaker so low, the Diva 6.2 is preferred for very large venues, but the 6.1 was the leader prior to the 6.2 pulling neck and neck with it a few years ago. There are many hundreds of pairs of the 6.1 in the field but it does go back to 2000.


With double 8" woofers and a large 6.5" midrange cone, the 6.1 may be a sweet spot for the most acoustic horsepower in either the Diva X.1 or Diva X.2 lines in a speaker quite a bit more compact then the big 6.2. The 6.1 is sized more like a 5.2 in height, although it packs in more cone area than a 5.2.

The Diva 4.1 (discontinued) was a 2.5-way double 5.25" speaker. The Diva 5.2 is a true 3-way with triple 5.25" drivers.

The Diva 5.1 (discontinued) was a 3-way, double 6.5" system with a 50mm dome midrange. The Diva 5.2 is a 3-way double 6.5" system with dedicated 5.25" midrange.

The Diva 6.1 is a double 8" 3-way with a 6.5" midrange. The Diva 6.2 is also a double 8" 3-way, but with a 5.25" midrange.

Both lines use identical tweeters, which are Swan's hand-selected 28mm Neo ferrofluid silk domes. The two lines also share similar driver sets and the X.2 line was intended to take over from the X.1 line, model for model. The X.2 line has an advantage in its more evolved cone technologies too.

It is too bad the 6.2 is not bi-wireable or bi-amp capable or it would have been top on my list above my 6.1's and I would probably have sold my beloved 6.1's in favor of the 6.2. However, having bi-wired/bi-amped my four 6.1's and the improvements wrought by doing so it is to me a no brainer improvment that makes me sad the 6.2 does not offer that capability. As great of a sound stage and other attributes I loved about my 6.1's in standard single amp set up, when I went to the bi-wire and bi-amp structure they were improved in all degrees and areas.

The 6.2 is a superb speaker, don't get me wrong. And, for anyone who is not considering a bi-wired/amped system they should be on your serious short list.

I own a UPA5 emotiva amp also erc ref. cd player. Can anyone tell me are these good source devices to drive the swan d2 1se monitor speakers? thanks in advance

I've been reading about the Swan Diva 6.1 and 6.2 speakers, and considering them for use in a 2.1 system. Although they will be used for both HT and music, I'm trying to optimize the sound for (two channel) music.

I have some questions:

• Does anyone have any pictures of the Faux Black Cherry finish? Big pictures with other things in the background would be ideal, to get a good feel for their relative appearance. FWIW, all our furniture is dark brown; the TV and media console are black. You could probably call our style "understated". So while the more common Rosewood Piano finish looks great, it really wouldn't mesh with what we have. For reference, I currently have Energy RC-30s in the black ash finish; they blend pretty well, although even more muted/subdued would be better still.
• Is the 6.2 available in any finish other than the Rosewood? OZ Home Theater has the 6.1 in both finishes. TAI has 6.2 in Rosewood only.
• Anyone happen to have any experience using either the 6.1 or 6.2 in a huge room with sub-optimal placing? In other words, it seems like some speakers are really sensitive to placement, and others, not as much. Our ground floor, which contains the living room, is basically completely open, and practically the whole footprint of the house. I posted a rough drawing of the floor plan in the 2 Channel Audio forum.

Thanks!

There are quite a few in this thread, and there are some in the TAI site in the photo galleries.


The X.1 line comes in both finishes, the X.2 line comes in the rosewood finish only. TAI features all three variations.


The 6.2 is quite a bit larger than any of the other models, the 6.1 included. This gives it deeper bass, which may affect placement a touch more. It's also much taller than the other models and is therefore recommended more for dedicated theater rooms than mixed-use living areas.

I have a 6.1 system in rosewood (I bought them 8 years ago before black cherry was an option.) My father bought the 6.1 system in black cherry about 5 years ago.

If I had the option, I would have saved the money and gone black cherry.

I've sifted through this thread and seen a few pics... in some pics, the Black Cherry looks black, but in other pics, it looks like it has a distinct amount of red. That's what I was trying to determine, are they closer to black or red.

Can you provide a link to the TAI photo galleries? I couldn't figure out where they are.

Also, is the Black Cherry finish a real hardwood veneer, or vinyl? I'm guessing from the use of the term "faux" it's vinyl, but just to be sure...


Ok, that rules out the X.2.


Can you expand on this a bit? Why is height a factor in dedicated theater rooms vs mixed-use living areas? I actually feel that in my case, taller is better. At least, taller than what I have now (current speakers are only 33.5" tall).