Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Just a note on the Swan 6.1 and 6.2 speakers

Now first let me say, i have not heard the Swans, nor the M80's. I posted some questions on the Audio insider board..this was what i got.

First off i got no replys from anybody except the guy that owns the board and is the salesmen for Swan. The question about not doing LOUD well, was...pretty much glossed over, placement or anything else was just givin the..it will work fine for what you want to do. Ok the guys a salesman..what do you expect, but not 1 comment from any user, who supposedly has these??? Maybe not the best site to get real info on these speakers?

The other problem with these speakers is the warranty. If you look on the site of the people that make these speakers HiVi...they say the warranty will vary depending on were you live, and you need to deal with your dealer????
The Dealers site "Audio Insider" say, "manufactures" warranty....double talk if i ever heard it...
No statements about anything being coverd, at all, and no statements about any time frame or anything else...just amazing to me.
OK now a speaker warranty, may not be the end all be all...but you can't even find out what it is from these people.

Just dosen't float my boat at all!

Taking the word of any member of any forum about how a particular speaker will sound to you is problematic at best if you have no common frame of reference with the reviewer. I’ve been reading audio forums now for about 6 years and there are only two people in all of them, jakewash and St_PatGuy, (both here) who’s opinions about how something sounds I can accept w/o reservation. Jakewash because we always seem to hear the same things out of similar situations, and St_PatGuy because we’ve actually sat down and compared speakers together in blind tests.

The only real way to gain any value from opinions you read on the internet be they from paid reviewers or amateurs is to listen to as many speakers in as many different environments as you can to get a broad perspective of what you like. Then you can at least have some common experiences with which to relate to what you read on the internet.

Thanks for the kind words, Dean!

Yeah, audio reviews are tough because there are so many variables--different equipment, rooms, biases, and/or tastes. Doesn't mean there isn't good info to be had from reading them, just that you gotta take some of the hyberbole (both good and bad) with a grain of salt.

Like Dean said, going out and listening to many different speakers (easier said than done) is your best bet to get an idea of what is out there and, perhaps, to learn what one prefers.

I just sold a set of Swan 6.2s. I had the 6.2s for almost a year and personally, I have been very disappointed in them. The mids were good, the highs were OK but in my room, there just wasn't any bass. They did sound like they were beginning to strain at higher volumes but at volumes I couldn't listen to for very long.

My brother just bought a set of 60s. We both think they sound better than the Swans and had much better bass. My brother doesn't know much about this hobby and he thinks his 60s sound a whole lot better than the Swans did. I've had 60s before and just bought another set yesterday. All in all I am glad to be rid of the Swans.

I agree 100% on trying out speakers...I have never bought any that i did not listen too. But i have moved and my speaker choice is now from Best Buy. Nothing i would even consider...LOL

So i'm stuck with the internet. I have nothing against the Swans in fact they look really good, but that, means nothing. The fact that i have read they don't do loud well, plus the fact i can't find really any warranty on these....and the fact that the saleman would just bypass that question..just not great, which would make me run the other way.

My choice is the M80's..which will be put up against my old Polk SDA 1c's. Even with 1 bad driver they still put out some good volume. But I "assume" the M80's will show there worth..pretty much strait out of the box. The Polks are 25 years old, and broke. If the M80's can't just blow them away..then theres something wrong....LOL To be honest, i'll know in a 1/2 hour or less.

cgolf....the Swans have 2 8" woofers and 2 ports on them, yet you feel these speakers could not do bass that you wanted? Is this for HT or music?

No I didn't think they had the bass output that even the M60s put out. At least in my room and setup anyway. But it was more than that. The speakers just didn't do anything for me. No WOW factor at all. They sounded OK but did not have the clarity and preciseness that I have had with the Axioms.

To put it in better perspective, I have a pair of M3s that I have moved to the media room while I wait for the M60s. They honestly sound clearer and crisper than the Swans did.

Weird. They do have a much higher cabinet volume (60L more, if my calculations are correct!) than the M80s. I was initially thinking that might be the factor.

Weak drivers possibly???

What keeps the wolf from eating the baby?