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- Verified Buyer
EDIT (Jan 19, 2023):I've now had much time to extensively listen and tune this great little system. Instrumental separation and imaging and layering in the treble/mid satellites are simply phenomenal! I was able to achieve kind of a 'holographic' effect, where the singer, band/instruments are sonically placed somewhere in 3D space in between the satellites. At that point, depending on the track, the speakers "disappear". It's as if the speakers are not even there, or rather, it's as if the speakers are not the the objects which are making the sound, and seems as if the sound is somehow coming out from 'thin air'.The best way I can describe it to those who don't know what that means is that the singer and all instruments sound sonically 3D, sounding as if they are all performing right in front of you, with each sound/instrument sounding like its own separate entity in space. There. That's the best I can describe it. It's such a cool effect that I seem to never tire of. The music is kind of like its own entity in space. Think of a an ethereal ghost of sound surrounding you sprinkling your ears with the sonic equivalent of sparkling diamond dust. So darned clean.Same could be said with the bass. I cannot pinpoint its source with my ears. The bass sounds as if it's being generated out of thin air. If you place this sytem correctly, you can achieve musical nirvana for such little money and such small footprint. This setup of mine is like a hi-fi 'audiophile' experience packed into a mini form factor. The achieved sound can be described similarly. It doesn't need to get loud, but if you're sitting in the right spot within the 'bubble of sound' (your sweet spot), you can enjoy the full sound without bothering neighbors. Seriously love this thing.The tune on them out of the box is spot on. Currently, I have it connected to an SMSL SH-6 headphone amp through the pre-amp out, which is connected to an SMSL DO100 DAC via RCA.Out of curiosity, and initially to just mess around, I added a Partybox Encore into the chain to act as a pseudo-subwoofer via the headphone out of the SMSL HO100 headphone amp, which in turn is also connected to the DO100 DAC via XLR. I placed it also under my desk right by my left foot along the desk's leg/wall (the mid-woofer of M10+ next to my right foot and right against the right side of the underdesk so that if you're looking at my setup as you're approaching my desk, both "subs" are facing me.I turned the treble and mids all the way down in the JBL app (you never have to open the app again after that if you don't want to, unless you want to mess with the lighting, etc...), and it does a fantastic job at grabbing those lower frequencies the M10 Plus' mid-woofer can't reach. I am actually quite shocked. I'd say it's plenty good enough to keep it there and pull double duty if I need to go anywhere with it. I imagine something similar might be achievable with something like the Stormbox Blast. Although the bass won't go as low, it will be close at louder volumes. At the very least it's fun to play around with the concept to see what you can achieve.I also hiked up the 31.3 Hz adjustment in JRiver and, believe it or not, but it many times can sound like a 8-10", although, I recommend this setup be in a small to small-medium sized room to get the full benefit of the sub-bass you can hear, as understandably the speaker cannot hit those ultra-low frequencies with strength, given that the woofer on the JBL is only 5.25". But it does reach much further down than the M10's mid-woofer ever can, adding quite a bit of richness and enjoyment out of this system. It will add the sound of a 10", depending on the track and listening volume, although, even without it, this system sounds very balanced and enough for much music.If you also happen to have the Encore/Encore Essential and decide to try this, make sure it's a good 3" - 4" away from the wall. I'm listening to this setup as I type this, and it just sound so darned good. Who would have ever thought this pairing would work, let alone leave me so stoked with the sound signature?Lastly, I do want to reiterate the importance of the mid-woofer placement of the M10 Plus. I would suggest not putting it on the desk in front of you at any cost. It WILL sound muddy and weak, or muddy and too much, and far from ideal, as it WILL interfere with the satellites, and the acoustics get all kinds of funky. For me it never sounded nice at any point, no matter how I tried to tune it.Give it distance from you, and place it under something. For me, under the desk has worked out best. Due to the design changes in the M10 Plus' ports, I would suggest placing it in a place where it has surfaces to bounce the sound off. Putting it in front of you is the worst place you can put this model, as both ports are on the rear and needs distance from the woofer and the listener. At your feet under the desk should be enough distance from you. Note that in my example, I have my desk pulled away from the wall, so that sound from my "subs" can travel up the wall between the wall and the rear of my desk and come up to my ears that way, kind of like a "port", if you will, with my space under my desk kind of acting as a pseudo-enclosure.Place it in front of a wall with having other surfaces, preferably "surrounding" it, such as in my desk/table example, or if there are additional desks/walls/couch/bookshelf, etc around the desk/table without blocking the front, that would definitely help. I'll try and include a picture for those wanting a visual example of what I mean.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I purchased this after watching ZReviews, and I do not regret it one bit. I pretty much never do that, by the way.I'll admit that the first few hours I was so disappointed that I was about to return it. Here's why it sounded bad:In every existing review of Swan's previous model (M10) people stated that optimal sub placement was on the desk right in front of them. That is how I tried this M10 Plus initially, and it sounded way off and super thin with muddy low-mids, no matter the gain on the sub, which is what some other reviews here state.Moving the subwoofer under the desk (close to the wall, preferably), however, fixed all that. Apparently, the bass ports need to be at least a certain distance from the listener for the bass to travel and do its thing and give the overall sound depth. For this new 'Plus' model, the best place for the sub is *not* on top of the desk in front of them.This makes sense. The port is on the front on the previous model, while the dual ports of the M10 Plus is placed on the rear this time around.The sound is oh so good, especially for a small - medium sized room. Treble sparkles so cleanly. The mids are brilliantly clear and articulate. The combo of the two coming from the satellites are in perfect balance, making vocals and words so clear and transparent making any kind of voice/dialog sparkle with clarity and detail.The bass, while limited in its extension down low, sounds very controlled, tight, and clean, provided you're not cranking up the sub gain without regard for room size/sub placement.I do have Edifier MR4's I use for accuracy. While I think the MR4 sounds fantastic, and are enjoyable to use casually as well, the M10 Plus is a more enjoyable sound when listening for pleasure. I am someone who normally much prefers neutral tunes over bass-heavy ones (maybe with VERY slightly elevated bass on super rare occasions), and the sound signature/tune from this setup is exactly my cup of tea.I really can't believe such good, clean sound is coming from a $150 kit. The bass gain knob on the back of the sub feels nice, but the volume knob on the front is the forever turning digital kind. I know. Bummer. But on the bright side, the remote works well, and Swan includes some very high quality, thick RCA to 3.5mm.Seriously, give these a try. For the sound you get out of these for a mere $150, I feel most will not regret it, and the ones who do are surely going to be those who do not place the sub in the proper location, or had expected low sub-bass frequencies. For most music genres, the bass extension on this setup is ample, but I can see how on some dance/club/hip-hop/rap tracks you might be missing some of that low-end reach. For me, that amounts to like 0.5% of my entire library, so I definitely won't be giving these up for a few songs!
