Great testing!
This should be done more often on all kinds of audio equipment.

The speakers look nice and most people who can afford them would buy them on their looks - not their performance.

Probably only one person in a thousand has the technical knowledge to objectively determine the quality of electronics hardware, be it speakers, hard drives, CPUs, video cards, PSUs, or whatever.

That is why most "reviews" are really just shilling for the product maker. If all reviewers actually did a quality objective review of most products and of product support, many a product and company would be gone in a hurry. Instead with fanboy reviews by most websites, the clueless rush out and buy crap products based on a bogus review because they simple have no technical knowledge and they want instant gratification.

Very informative , good one.
Thank You
Cuggie

Good Review!
But for the price of this "HiFi"-speakers (or even much cheaper) you can get a pair of entry class or middle class active studio-monitors - for example Fostex PM-1 Mk II or PM-05 MkII, Yamaha HS-50 or HS-80, Behringer B2031A, Event TR-6, ESI nEAR 05, M-Audio BX-8a,... Test some of these! I bet they are all much better regarding sound as well as technical aspects.

The reviewer thinks QTS is transient response which is true but only for bass and designing the box. The port that the reviewer named it as "phase inverter" does not invert or change the phase. The port is a resonator that extends bass extension and in some cases allows the woofer or speaker driver to handle low frequencies at high levels. The port has the same phase and the same signal that the woofer is producing. The distortion that the reviewer is talking about at high volume levels is the port because it is too small to allow a lot of air to flow through in and out. Probably if Swan flared the port, it will do a better job. If Swan added a compensation network to the woofer, the filter will do a better job and the impedance of the woofer will not rise as frequency increses. The woofer that Swan picked is too slow because Kxm (Lvc I think) is at 7.768 mH. For two or three way loudspeakers, woofers with 1 mH or lower are better.

The Exodus Audio Kit 61 at Acoustic Visions (http://www.acoustic-visions.com/)is several times better because the frequency response is flatter and it has lower bass extension.

pricey, low end spec, low end construction and component for this price, so-so performance, much better alternative exist.

Most commentators here failed to realize S200A is not designed to be a heavy performancer for its price range.

Acousticially S200A is more or less the same as Swans' own M200MKII (identical drivers and similar amplifier modules), which sells for a good 200$ cheaper. Quoting The Audio Insider (Swans' online distributor), 'The next-generation Swan S200a adds deluxe touches to the M200's successful performance and features'.

Because S200A is a visually glorified 499$ version of a 299$ system, the comparison to featureless black box studio-monitors or do-your-own-enclosure speakers kits completely missed the point -
S200A is tailored for appearance-minded buyers.

Will I buy a pair of S200A? Not a chance. Does it suck because it's more about looks and less about performance? I dont think so. There certainly are people who would perfer a classy looking system with so-so performance to a dull-looking system with better performance. While do not want to sound sexist, I'll say S200A won a CES 2006 TechGirl award for a reason.

Anyway I felt XBL was reviewing the wrong product, in the sense the intended audience of S200A typically dont read XBL, and XBL readers most likely will not share S200A's design philosophy.

Hate to play devil's advocate, but I have Swans S200a, and M200, and they're quite a bit different, especially at louder volumes. S200a is capable of more volume and is more resistant to resonation. Personally I think even forgetting completely about appearance, they were good deals. I will also note that the prices have gone up considerably since I got mine. M200 was $160, S200a was $380 shipped.

XBL saying the sound is "average" is confusing. I've heard tons of $500 speakers that sound very inferior to both of the aforementioned swans sets. To further combat this assertation of averageness, I will point to the audioholics review of S200a where it is pitted against several multithousand dollar bookshelf speakers and wins against most on performance merit.

XBL's SPL vs frequency graph seems to conflict a bit with othes I've seen for this set. I also get the feeling that the review seems to focus more on finding technical flaws in the design than comparing its sound on actual musical recordings.

I still love my Swans and recommend them to all.

Ed, with respect, as the US importer for these products, the S200 is indeed designed for excellent sound quality, which it delivers, as Cartossin can attest.

While I genuinely appreciate the detail the reviewer went into, please bear in mind that his standard is considered arduous even for $50,000 loudspeakers from the high-end. In other words, acceptable deviations in such systems can and do run to fifteen dB or more (search up a pair of Wilsons or a pair or big martin Logans at Stereophile) while the S200 is being held to a standard of one to three dB.

That's a pretty rough row to hoe, wouldn't you agree?

Again, our compliments to the reviewer for not failing XBit's legendary high review standard. However in terms of listening to music, an experience all loudspeakers must ultimately provide us with regardless of the simple fact that as electro-mechanical transducers they naturally have an order of magnitude more distortion, they are in our experience and that of our customers definite winners.

Add to that another hundred thousand HiVi customers, one of the very largest and most successful loudspeaker brands in the Eastern Hemisphere, and it's clear that interpreting a set of simple measurements in a meaningful context is always key to deriving satisfaction from the better audio gear.

They don't say let your ears decide for no reason...

Did you actually listen to the speakers?

As the owner of ProAc said...(specs)," does any of this really matter?" it all boils down to sonic performance.

Most informative review, better than some of the "HiFi" press !