Serhan Swift Mu2 Mk II
Without a doubt, one of the highlights of Bristol 2023 this year was the Leema Room, demonstrating with these Serhan Swift Mu2 Mk II loudspeakers. They were exceptional, necessitating an immediate email exchange with friendly Distributor Mian.
Design
The very simple premise of the Aussie duo Brad Serhan (Chief Designer) and Morris Swift (Engineering Director & CFO) is to:
build loudspeakers that reproduce music in such a way that it transcends the unachievable
For this, they have chosen the very best components they can get hold of. For example, they have chosen speaker drivers from Danish Scan-Speak’s top-end Revelator Series. Such drivers are often found in Wilson Audio or Sonus faber loudspeakers at several times the price of these Serhan Swift Mu2 Mk II.
These loudspeakers are an updated Mk II on the previous Mu2 release, but this is anything but a facelift, it is a new loudspeaker with every element of the original Mu2 re-imagined. The tweeter is the striking Scan-Speak 1” Revelator Ring Radiator Tweeter and the Mid Bass driver is the Scan-Speak 5” Revelator. These drivers are crossed over with a “high order separate element” featuring Solen premium quality air core inductors, polypropylene capacitors and non-inductive resistors, they are hand-wound.
The terminals are from Cardas which are both high-purity copper with rhodium plating. This is entirely appropriate as I am reviewing using the Black Rhodium Charleston speaker cable with rhodium-plated plugs.
The cabinet has a new multi-layer construction featuring Les Davis Audio adhesive layer damping material. Serhan Swift believes the cabinet:
should not contribute to acoustic output
Les Davis’ damping materials further feature as a gasket for isolating the driver from the cabinet offering further noise suppression. The cabinet further, benefits from additional strengthening.
In conversation with Mian, the loudspeakers are paired together after manufacture with their respective impedances matched. The drivers have a favourable phase angle so as not to put undue load on the amplifier making them fairly easy to drive despite the lower sensitivity figure that is quoted.
Quality
Glossy to the touch, the loudspeakers are pristine with beautifully soft corners and edges. There is a bass port at the rear of the loudspeaker to allow air to move. At the rear, each pair is signed off by Messers Serhan and Swift. The binding posts are solid and have an executive feel.
There is a light, black, magnetic grille which frankly doesn’t work for me when the offset tweeter and woofer look so good, but I do understand they’re necessary.
Mian Distribution has furnished these Serhan Swift with a matching white pair of Italian Solidsteel loudspeaker stands with some of the most aggressive and impressive spikes I have ever encountered. The tripod design feels extremely rigid and the legs are mass damped with kiln-dried sand, necessitating caution when fiddling with the spikes.
Specification
The full details are on the website. But the typical in-room frequency response is 45Hz – 30kHz with a quoted sensitivity of 84dB/1m/2.83 volts.
The speakers themselves are (H x W x D) 32.2cm x 18cm x 23.6cm, they are 7.8kg each.
The Serhan Swift Mu2 Mk II is priced in the UK at £6,500.
Performance
Review Equipment
I’m using the Moor Amps Angel 6 power amplifier supported by the matching Angel preamplifier with Tellurium Q XLR Ultra Black II cables between them. As a source, I’m using an iFi Pro iDSD as a DAC (only) with the exceptional Chord 2Go/2Yu combination as a streaming transport, BNC into the DAC. I also have a new out-of-the-box Audiolab 7000 CDT optical into the DAC. Because I am not using the streaming platform in the iFi Pro iDSD I have the Chord Company GroundARAY in the Ethernet slot to reduce HF noise.
Separately I have a Michell GyroDec with a Rega Phono stage into the preamplifier. I also have Atlas Eos power cables to the Moor pre and power on an Atlas Eos 2.5 distribution block.
I’ve used 5m of Black Rhodium Charleston loudspeaker cables from the Moor Amp. I have loudspeakers around 2.8 meters apart I’m sitting 3m away with no obstructions in the listening plane.
Physically
These speakers are compact but certainly shift air and I’m enjoying the presentation. The setup was simple as Mian did all the work for me, the soundstage is good, and I have no toe-in at all required.
I have plenty of juice from the Angel 6 though I am used to relatively quiet listening. I am finding I need to crank up the Angel preamplifier with these loudspeakers, more than, say, for the Titan 505s in the last few weeks.
Moor Amps
gentle, discerning, and softly delicate, there is no fatigue in extended listening
Well, listen, these loudspeakers are absolutely delicious. Characterised by a gentle presentation, that is extremely easy on the ear. The treble is crystal clear, not tiring or shrill and the detail is all in the room.
It is time to wheel out some familiar favourites, Amnesiac for some reason springs to mind, from the 3-disc red vinyl Kid A Mnesia release. My favourite Radiohead album, yep I mean it.
Pyramid Song can often come across as angular in the wrong moments, here though I have rhythm, great piano detail and a rasping vocal performance. There are breaths in the quieter moments with the Angel 6 offering the Serhan Swift every ounce of detail.
I have found myself listening in extended sessions in the evening to many more gentle tracks, such as Grant Green’s wonderful Idle Moments (Qobuz 24-bit, 192kHz) or Sonny Rollin’s God Bless the Child (Qobuz 24-bit, 176kHz). These tracks have depth, detail and an easy tone that fits with these speakers. I’m feeling them as being gentle, discerning, and softly delicate, there is no fatigue in extended listening. The levels of detail and space in this soundstage are the notable takeaways in these sessions and as well as the gentleness. The draw I felt at Bristol is undiminished with these ‘late night’ Serhan Swift loudspeakers.
From the sublime to the ridiculous and the classic Dire Straits guitar track Telegraph Road has bounce, pace and silence, it just comes across as a delightful fourteen-minute piece of 80s music. The rest of the Love Over Gold album is dynamic (Private Investigations), punchy (Industrial Disease), poetic (Love Over Gold) and pure pop (It Never Rains), the Serhan Swift does not miss a single beat.
Musical Interlude
Here’s the Serhan Swift Musical Interlude Playlist.
T+A R 2000
Switching in for a session to the T+A PA 2000 R integrated amplifier with a claimed 100W/ch into 8 Ohms, so maybe 150W/ch into these 6 Ohms I still feel as if the Serhan Swifts need a good shove. However, when they get going, they are a delight though the more analytical T+A amplification offers a shade less height and width to the soundstage in the reference Pyramid Song, however, the same detail is all in here.
Finally, if we are into detail, The Sea, by Dutch ambient band HAEVN, which was being used at Bristol to show the scale of the Serhan Swift, offers an excellent demo track with these loudspeakers.
Thoughts
I generally find if I’m listening to a lot of Ed Harcourt and Radiohead, a speaker, or an amplifier, is doing it for me and this is the case here. Ed Harcourt’s heart-breaking This One’s For You just melts into the wall for me.
What is not here with these Serhan Swift Mu2 MkIIs are tons of bass, however, the speakers certainly shift volume and the detail in the presentation is the star here.
The arrival of a REL Carbon Special subwoofer towards the end of the review period has been quite revelatory, though I have had this extremely powerful and fast subwoofer on a fairly low volume. The effect is to support the soundstage to such a height that I have a more complete soundstage with which to listen, it is a privileged place.
The marketing blurb with these loudspeakers suggests you “Grab a robust Australian Shiraz sit back and enjoy the music”. In the interest of ‘Total’ reviewing I have done this experiment and it is a ripper mate! Good luck in the Ashes Aussie!
Overall
These Serhan Swift Mu2 Mk II are for a discerning listener, although when pressed into punchy action, they always perform, this is a loudspeaker that is gentle, detailed, lively and wonderful. With pacey tracks, there is a forthright dynamic presence here that is pitch-perfect, wide and spacious if needed. My outstanding room at Bristol had a lot of expectations that could have gone horribly wrong but fortunately, they have sailed through this test. Unreservedly wonderful speakers.
Love
Vibrant sound
Gentle sound
Solidsteel stands
Looks
Like
Finish
Binding posts
Wish
I’d quite like to hang onto these!
Specification
Full details are on the company’s site.
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