Swan 6.1 Floorstanding Speakers
Swan 6.1 Floorstanding Speakers
USER REVIEWS
[Dec 02, 2020]
mkiv808
Strength:
I've owned these speakers for over 15 years. Every time I'm tempted to buy something else, I sit down to listen to some music on them and am really moved by their performance. It's hard to risk spending the money on something else that may not compare. I liked them so much, that I bought a 3rd to use as a matching center channel behind an acoustically transparent screen in my new theater system. So far, it sounds fantastic. Certainly the best center channel I've ever heard! They truly produce a massive wall of sound behind the screen, and it's nearly impossible to localize the speakers. What's most impressive on these is the soundstage. It's deep, three dimensional, and instrument placement is incredible. It WILL make bad recordings sound bad. Garbage in, garbage out. But great recordings sound incredible. They are pretty neutral sounding speakers. Swan had published some on/off-axis graphs and they are pretty flat throughout the frequency response, if their charts are to be believed. They actually match very well with the rest of my surround speakers, which are all in the Triad Silver line. The only speaker I may consider replacing these with are the Triad Gold LCR's, but I'm not even sure about that. Would they be an improvement, even though they cost several times more? Maybe not. Weakness:
My only complaint on them right now, I believe is a room issue. When played loud, some dialog sounds "boxy". Especially male dialog. This may be due to mid-bass room reflections, but I've also never used one of these as a center channel. I am adding more acoustic treatment and hoping that will help. Price Paid: 1500
Purchased: Used
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[Dec 05, 2016]
William
AudioPhile
I purchased my Swan Diva 6.1 for $700 from a poor fellow going through rough times. After having demoed many speakers from my local (Amazing!) Audiophile shop here in Portland, Echo Audio and having owned several speakers from Klipsch La Scalas with Bob Crite mods, KEF LS50s, Magnepan 1.7s, and others near this range -I can say that these speakers are an incredible deal at twice what I paid for them.
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[Sep 18, 2010]
Mustermark
Audio Enthusiast
I took receipt of my Swan Diva 6.1s a few days ago. I had been nervous about ordering $1000 speakers on the internet without actually hearing them. I have to say the reviews I based my purchase on were correct - these speakers are very, very good. My thanks to those who have posted here before me for the sound advice (pun intended).
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[Sep 16, 2010]
Mark Wilson
Audio Enthusiast
I took receipt of my Swan Diva 6.1s today. I had been nervous about ordering speakers on the internet without actually hearing them. I have to say the reviews I based my purchase on were correct - these speakers are very, very good. They are better than most of what I auditioned in the stores. I think the only thing that was better (and it's hard to tell) were the Martin Logan Vantage speakers.
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[Jan 13, 2010]
Keithfromcanada
Audio Enthusiast
I've owned the 6.1's for a little over 3 months and I continue to be floored. They replaced my old PSB 800's and are a significant upgrade. I was originally demoing Paradigm Studio 60's, and a pair of Canton's with a built in sub but found that both were missing something. Paradigm gave a great soundfield but lacked the really present yet tight bass of the Canton's. The Canton's were too directional and didn't offer the wide soundstage that i was looking for. The Diva's managed to do both. They offer a great soundfield where musical instruments get the separation that they need; great mids and highs; and the bass is spot-on, deep and tight. I absolutely LOVE listening to music with these speakers!
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[Sep 16, 2007]
Michael Raes
AudioPhile
Strength:
Overall bass, open, clear, solid made.
Weakness:
Finish is not full wood Bought a pair around last Chrismas. At first listening I thought ' crap', but they needed a few days to break in and now I am really satisfied.
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[Oct 10, 2006]
Dseanm
AudioPhile
Strength:
Highs are very neutral
Weakness:
None.
The review is for Swan Diva 6.1 Full range, tower speakers. Colombo-Sri Lanka, California-USA.
Customer Service I dont know Similar Products Used: B&W
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[Apr 27, 2005]
ssabripo
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Immaculate Finish Audiophile sound Heavy, Robust Packaging PRICE!!!
Weakness:
Why did I not find these before! I am just completely blown away by these speakers (they arrived yesterday)... **Packaging** As soon as I got home, I knew this thing was up to a good start, because the 3 boxes arrived on top of a wooden Palette, each box made of really thick carton, and the whole thing wrapped in plastic so it doesn't get wet, etc.... I started to open the center channel box (which was huge for the size of the center channel iitself) and removed all the foam bricks and corners just to realize there was another box inside! :) I took the inner box out, and again, there was plenty of foam bricks and corners, and the foam molds holding the thing in place! I pulled speaker out (it was HEAVY!) but it was wrapped in an anti-scratching white fiber bag. There were two small gloves made of thin material on the top as well, so I used them to handle the speakers and remove the bag. When I pulled it out, my jaw dropped at the finish of this thing....I did the same thing with the mains, which were much bigger, and needless to say, the packaging on them was even more impressive than the center...it took me about 20 min to take each freaggin thing out! **Visuals, Finishing** If you are in the market for a $5000 speaker look at sub$1000 prices, this is the speaker for you! When I took these speakers out, the first thing I stared at was the Lacquer finish (truly it was Grand Piano quality) and the details. The floor studs where heafty, the connectors in the back where [B]HuGE[/B] and solid...they are bi-wire capable and they have a solid plastic cover so that they don't get dinged or anything. I thought I had pretty thick IXOS speaker wires, but when you connect them to these speakers, they look tiny. Once the speakers were setup around my TV, they are just a BEAUTY to look at....truly, I looked at them for about 10 min before I even turned them on, because they were such an impressive and fine looking piece of furniture.... During the last few months, I was able to see several speakers, some at much higher price as well....I saw the B&W 603s, 704s, Nautilus 804s, as well as auditioning the Rockets 750 (in South miami....Thanks Enrique!), the Energy veritas 2.4, and some Paradigm Studios.....In true honesty, I can sit here and tell you that they don't come Close to the finish and look of these Swans! The Nautilus was the only one that I was equally or more impressed by than the swan 6.1s. **Musical Sound** These speakers need about 100 hours to break in, so this is not an accurate assesment, but if they are going to get better with time, I cannot fathom how much better they can sound!!! I started by playing a mozart CD, a Jazz CD, then some MP3s from my iPod, followed by Norah Jones SACD, Pink Floyd, and then my AIXrecords' DVD audio sampler (all of these thru my Denon 3910 player, except the iPod). The musical accuracy was [B]AMAZING![/B]....these speakers produced sounds I have not heard on my CD's. I still have my Infinity IL10's as my surrounds, and they are overshadowed big time by the mains...they are just stunning and so clear. The 3 things that surprised me the most are: very tight yet musically deep bass, crispy highs (perhaps too much for some, but I love them), and just astounding depth and acoustic resonance in the mids and voices. I will let them run for a couple of weeks, before giving my full review, but they are off to a blazing Start! **HomeTheater Sound** I started by testing the levels using THX tests on the incredibles....the center channel had a louder level, but I left it like that for now. I then played LOTR-ROTK battle scene, Shark Tale 2 chasing scene, and Fifth Element Ultimate Edition last fighting scene....one word: WOW! he voices coming off that center channel were life-like, with depth and strenght! They had like a 3D spacial effect on them...wierd to explain....just like in the theaters! The mains did a Superb job in doing the effects and the sounds when needed...but the Center channel here was the one who stole the show. **CONCLUSION** With the exception of B&W 704s, which were very close in sound quality, and the Nautilus 804s which I think did sound a little better, there is no speaker out there that has the combination of Sound, finish, and quality that the Swan 6.1s have, specially at this price range. My colleague and neighbor has a set of B&W 603 S3 paired with a Denon 4803 Rx, and he came over to the house to check them out last nite... he was amazed at them as well, and told me that although it hurts to admit it, these bad boys are the better speakers musically (he didn't stay for the HT tests I did). To all of you considering upgrading your mains (or your center channel) to something $2000 or less, I will tell you to give the Swan Diva 6.1s a test and I will guarantee you that it will be the speaker you end up choosing, specially when you realize they sound better, and are cheaper than a lot of speakers with much higher prices. Similar Products Used: B&W 703, 603 S3 Axiom M80ti Rockets 750 Energy Veritas 2.4 |