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Speaker Upgrade Time


RockyJ

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Have been looking for speakers for some time now for my last build.. I have a pair of M-Audio AV 40's which I do like very well on my old desktop but have really put off buying for my big rig for a while.

 

I think I have finally found what I have been looking for.

 

It's looking like a race between the Swan D1080 IV and the Swan M50W's

 

here is a link to all their desktop models. Anyone looking to take their audio to the next level over Big Box store stuff might give this a look.

 

As most of you here are computer type first the Swan brand has been around long time in the Audio field and is well though of in most audio circles.

 

http://www.theaudioi...nd&cPath=21_24

 

(unboxing the M50W)

 

(unboxing the D1080 IV)

 

 

 

p.s. I am not connected in any way with them, just passing along another source ... those M50W's look sweet...

 

And this is for Music only, no gaming here...:)

Edited by RockyJ

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From looking at them I would say the M50W's because it's a 2.1. But AV40's are hard to beat, I upgraded from mine to Triad In-Room Mini Satellites powered by a Marantz Receiver. I think think they sound maybe 10% better if that. So you maybe better off with the AV40's.

Edited by Black64

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From looking at them I would say the M50W's because it's a 2.1. But AV40's are hard to beat, I upgraded from mine to Triad In-Room Mini Satellites powered by a Marantz Receiver. I think think they sound maybe 10% better if that. So you maybe better off with the AV40's.

 

 

Yeah I do like the M-Audio AV40's, I can honestly say I have been more than happy with that purchase, and I might add that I came from a $5000 HT sound setup so I think being happy with the AV40's is no small feat for M-Audio. For near field listening at low to moderate levels they really are a good option . Great definition all over the range imo.

BUT... I use them on a different setup and I do not want to get an identical pair for my "Personal" set up..

 

I did find comparison of the two from an actual user and he felt the Swan M50W's were a definite step up in sound quality. He also liked the M-Audio's but the higher quality of the Swan's was evident to him.

 

As this is for my personal set up the smaller size of the satellite speakers is a bit more desirable as well , as far as the sub that is not an issue as far as placement. But desk space is more limited on this setup.

 

I'll give them a shot with my onboard sound , AsRock Extreme4 Gen3 mobo, and probably look to move to a nice soundcard later.Maybe some kind of Asus Xonar card or the like..

 

Those cards might be over kill for me though , I am a 2 speaker kind of guy...2.0 or 2.1 is what I like. I would never go above 2.1 on this..

Edited by RockyJ

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  • 7 months later...

Hey, it's been a while but thought I would update here..

 

 As far as I can tell the Swan M50W's are vaporware...  I have never seen any avalible at the U.S. distributor site..

 

On the other hand I added a inexpensive Asus XONAR DG PCI 5.1 (25$) to my 5+ year old Dell which my M-Audio AV40's are on and the sound upgrade was really, I mean really impressive.   Had I know how much improvement this card would provide I would have done this several years ago.. 

 

It is (imo) a no brainer..  The improvment over othe onboard sound is night and day... Really makes the M-Audio's sing..

 

Anyone with onboard sound only I would highly suggest this card.  I use it only for 2.0  but the card has a seperate amp on the headset side for gamers.. and it is very inexpensive..

 

Worth a look see.

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The difference is mainly because older on-board audio chips were really bad. Time have changed a lot and currently, there is very little difference between newer on-board audio chips and non x-fi audio card's sound quality.

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