Swan Owner's Thread - Page 22

Guys, looking for some advice, I have a very small room that I am looking to spend about 1500 dollars on some speakers... Im talking about 15x wide by 10 feet long. It then opens up behind the rear speakers to the kitchen/dining behind it. The sofa would be about 6 feet from the Center channel.

Im looking at a pair of Swan Diva 4.2's for the L/R a Swan 4.2c for the center and a swan 4.2R for the rears, and likely an SVS PCi20-16 sub. I love dipole surrounds especially for a 5.1 system. These are out of stock at the moment, but Im waiting on a bonus check at the end of January to buy them, so that should be taken care of by then.

These will be powered by either an HK247 or an Onkyo 605. i need something that can handle True HD for my HDDVD player.

A couple of questions.

1) Are the front speakers overkill for this enclosure? I love big tall towers, but I have a feeling that they may be a bit much. Would I be better off with some Swan Diva 2.1 bookshelves instead for this space, or one of the Dana bookshelf speakers? They arent very much cheaper, so cost isn't a concern for me, and those Diva 4.2's sure do look nice (and match my hardwood floors, for the girlfriend factor)

2) Are these two recievers enough to power these bad boys? Im leaning towards the Denon out of fear that the Onkyo popping issues cropping back up. I really dont want to go with seperates both out of convinience, girlfriend and price factors.

nmcnair I would recommend going with the 4.1s or get the 5.1s on clearance. With the 5.1s on clearance I would recommend those the dedicated midrange on these speakers is pretty sick.

Which Center/Surrounds would you recomend with those The C3/R3 or the C2/R2. Bearning in mind this is a smaller space I'm trying to fill. The bonus check will cover either, so if you think the 3's would be significantly better, by all means.

Also, why the .1's and not the .2's, I think the .1s actually look better.. so if they sound better to, by all means.

There's supporters of the .1s and .2s I was told by numerous people that the .1s were more musical than the .2s so I chose the .1s.

I'd go C3 if you can.

definately get the C3

I keep seeing this comment but it's always "I was told" or "I heard" and not actual 1st hand reports. Have you actually talked to anyone who has actually heard both lines to give a real comparison? All the time I've been here I can't seem to recall hearing from more than 1 person who's really heard both. Jon Lane seems to disagree, he has said he feels the .2 is more musical. I'd love to hear some .1s to compare but I can't imagine how much more musical they could be than my 5.2s. The new dedicated midrange driver is wonderful.

BTW I ran my 5.2Fs and 5.2C in my 11' square room for about a year before I upgraded to Dana 930s and put the 5.2Fs up for sale (I'm keeping the 5.2C at least until a matching Dana 900 series center comes out, it's a great center) and yeah they're huge and it's overkill but they still sounded fantastic. They would sound even better with more space, but your room is longer than mine so I should think the 4.2s would be just fine (as would any of the .1s I'm sure).

Yes I talked to several which did in home tests

Ah, well that answers my question then.

But keep in mind everyone's ears are different.

nmcnair, ideally you want the center channel and fronts to be as identical as possible and as close as your going to be sitting its's critical. The 4.2s & 4.2c were designed to work together as was the 5.1s with the c3. The 2.1s might match the c2, but I'm not sure. I think you'd notice the difference between the c3 and the 2.1s as I did.

I always do -- as a sound engineer, it's my job to keep that in mind.

Thanks, sarg. I'm still deciding though, I've to fit this center in a TV stand hence the need for dimensions. Their site has some weird dimensions!

- nik

Hello Swaners!

Would the following swan setup be able to "fill" my HT room of 14 x 22 x 9 dimensions:

2 Diva 5.1BC
1 C3
2 (or 4) R2

Distance is about 11 ft from TV & speakers with the wall about 1 ft behind sitting area. I'll have a sub or two, too.

Swan's have such a good WAF!

Thx!

Just got a pair of Diva 5.1BC's. They sound amazing! I was wondering if anyone around here has purchased a set of floor spikes to replace the included feet? I'm assuming the threaded insert in the speakers are 1/4-20 threads? I need to get these bad boys stabilized on my carpeted floor.

FYI, mine are on carpet and I was also worried about the same thing after letting them sit overnight, making a couple of minor adjustments they have stablized quite well. I'm still thinking about spikes but the feet are doing remarkably well

I'm looking for a low cost speaker stand for my 4.2R's until I perminently mount them to the wall. Any recommendations for a cheap stand that can support the weight with a big enough platform?

They'll certainly fill your room, but it sounds from your description as though you're planning to put the TV and speakers on the long wall. This isn't really acoustically advisable unless you have no choice. It's always preferable to have the front speakers on (well, in front of, to be more accurate) a short wall with more front to back distance than side-to side.

Thanks, einsteinjb. We did consider putting the whole setup along the short wall, unfortunately windows/entrance/aesthetics were undesirable

I'm in the same boat with my condo.. wide but shallow soundstage. Really no other way to do it with me either.

Thanks for the info, so I should go with the C2/R2 if I get the 4.1's. Makes perfect sense. Like I said, money isnt the concern, its making sure I get the most bang for my buck.. and if C2/R2 sounds better, than by all means.

Hi Guys; the maple and black D2.1se are both inbound...

Hey Jon, hopefully in the next 6 weeks I'll be purchasing either the regular 2.1s or the actual rear surrounds and a center channel. Do you have a recommended stand for the 2.1's or the rear surrounds? Also do you have a recommendation or preference between the two?

It's a tricky question because there are so many variables, 6Speed. The first is at what height you want them (effects/surrounds typically install at over 6') the second is how much deflection are you willing to tolerate (really tall stands topple easier) and the third is if you're willing to drill the bottom of the speaker cabs to attach the stands.

We've used tall camera-style tripods with knurled, threaded screws for high temporary or semi-temporary surround/effects speaker installations where the base of the speaker can be drilled and fastened. On the other hand, if you're just needing conventional stands for average-height "gravity" placements, the matching Swan Diva stand works just fine...

I don't have a preference for either speaker model over the other: Use a dipole for diffuse-field fill and a monopole for a more direct multichannel effect. We thereby furnish about equal numbers of R3 and Diva 2.1.

Yeah, at this point we just want them closer to the floor on fairly short stands, our dog is about 90lbs and kinda rowdy. Mounting on the wall isn't an option for the wife. So I'm thinking something that keeps the speaker between 30 and maybe 42 inches or so off the ground should be fine. They'll also be in the back corners of the room.

Jon,

I have a few questions for you.

1) With the dipole surrounds (probably the R2), do they match well with the Dana's if I decided to go bookshelf (but greatly prefer dipoles for rears). I want the floorstanding variety, but the girlfriend factor may not allow for them.

2) Right now I have direct firing rears, and have them mounted about 7 feet high, at 110 degrees from listening position, facing each other (not pointed at the listening position). Do you suggest this for the R2's or would you suggest having them "face" the listening position?

3) The website seems to indicate that piano blacks versions are cheaper than the rosewood, but the price in the cart doesnt reflect that. Are they cheaper? I have a feeling the girlfriend will override the black boxes in favor of the natural wood either way, but just wanted to know. Edit: Nevermind, I just saw it was black cherry, and are very nice looking. So, I really want to know if they are cheaper.

Nikbert - I had the same problem for a while and then found this stand at Best Buy of all places. It fits the C3 with a little over 2 inches to spare on top. Plus it has a very clean contemporary look. I posted pics earlier on page 14 of the thread. -----> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...857183&page=14

Thanks, Tyson. I guess I shoulda mentioned that I already have the stand (StudioTech U22T)!

- nik

Well that causes a bit of a problem huh?? A friend of mine just got that stand and loves it! He ended up wall mounting his TV and just put the center channel on top.

Hi, can you kindly drop us an email?

*posted something similar in the emotiva forum


So i finally got to really test my new Swan Diva 5.1's and new Emotiva LMC-1/LPA-1 combo. And this setup rocks my socks off. I have been finding my swans to lack alot of lower end...but after properly calibrating my setup and making some minor tweaks, this set just f*cking rocks. I listened to a bunch of random music in my collection (Pete Murray, DMB, Dave Grusin, Pink Floyd, HIM, OneRepucic, Counting Crows, and a couply others) and i was really impressed. Now im no expert by any means, but i think this sounds really really good. I got the Swans for $550 and the pre/pro and amp for another $550. And its just way better than i expected buying into all this stuff. I was hoping to get some good equipment, but it just blew my mind how much i really like this setup. The clarity is amazing, and i can actually sit back and listen to these babies at high levels with no fatigue!!!! Just thought i would share my experience so far, and im a very satisfied customer.