Swaros or mavens?

hunterman_78

Lil-Rokslider
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Sep 19, 2015
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PAC NW
I sure this has been talked about before but, would you get a pair of mavens or swaros if you didn’t care how much they were? I plan to save and get a real nice pair of binos in the future. I’ve got no problem saving for swaros. if they were side by side what one would you get? Thanks
 

MT257

WKR
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Sep 25, 2016
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Swaro's, they are the best of the best. And they have been around alot longer and stand behind their product.
 

Trial153

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Oct 28, 2014
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NY
I have no experience with mavens. The whole color/rings/ finishes stuff seems gimmicky to me and cheap. Anyway they get great reviews from plenty of people. That said lots of reviews tend to be self validation more then anything, binoculars or otherwise.

I have owned about a dozen different pieces of Swarovski over the years and while they all didn’t suit me they all where high quality and performance was up to or exceeded expectations. Right now I have ELs in 8x32 and 12x50, 10x42 SLC and a ATS spotter.
I have never used the warranty.
 

marktole

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Jan 12, 2016
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Kansas
I’d go Swarovski the whole way, especially if you don’t care what it cost or don’t mind saving for them.

I talked to a couple Maven guys last year at the NWTF Show in Nashville, TN, so Maven was still pretty new. I asked them what their binos were comparable to, who their competition would be as I hadn’t heard much about them. The guy was extremely confident when he told me they were competing with Swarovski at less than half the price. I thought to myself okay, I’ll have to check these things out.

Well, my buddy got a pair of 11x45 Mavens and I got the chance to compare them side by side with my 10x50 EL’s. To make a long story short, the Maven rep was a little too confident. They’re not even close to as good as Swaro. I also got to compare them side by side with a pair of 12x50 Razor HD’s. And in my opinion, I still thought the razors were better.

But if you can, I would encourage you to look through both of them in real hunting conditions for an extended period to develop your own opinion.
 
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hunterman_78

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Sep 19, 2015
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Wow sounds like Swarovski hands down. Thanks guys! Looks like after a few other things are purchased I’ll be saving for some Swarovski binos
 

bigbulls

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If you watch and don't get in a hurry you can find some lightly used ones and save some $
 
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Depends on your budget. Swaro is nice. I went with maven b2 and don't regret it.

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CTobias

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Feb 19, 2018
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Alaska
You guys are going to make me go broke :D. I'm upgrading my optics and have been reading a lot of reviews. Everything keeps pointing to Swarovski for my binos and spotter.
 

LandYacht

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Jan 25, 2014
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Frisco
I’d try them both. Lots of Swaro kool-aid drinkers on Rokslide. Your eyes may have a different result. They are very nice glass to be sure, but they were not the best glass that I looked through.

You really have to look through optics to form your own opinion on what is “best”. No one size fits all answer can truly be given.


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RosinBag

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Roseville, CA.
If money is no object, Swaro's are better than Mavens. You are comparing two brands of binoculars that only share a common theme of being binoculars. They EL's are in a class by themselves and others are close, but the Mavens are a substantial different grade of optic.
 
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I did a multi-day field test with 10x42 Swaro SLCs and 11x45 Maven B2s. If money is not a consideration it's an easy answer, get the Swaros. The B2s are very good, comparable even in good light. In low light the Swaros seem magical when held side-by-side.

Also, I wouldn't really take warranty into consideration with the two. My dealings with Swarovski NA have been excellent. They know they sell a premium product and treat their customers accordingly.
 

EsteemGrinders

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Oct 3, 2016
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Oregon
I don't get all the love for the Mavens here. I was not able to test them outside but did spend a fair amount of time checking them out at the sportsman's show over two different days. Both B1s and B2s. Each time I walked away unimpressed. In my opinion, over 25% outer edge was distorted. Not acceptable for this price range binos. My $400 Vanguard ED11s are much better in my opinion at half the cost. With the above said I now have Meopta's Meostar 10x42s. Far and above better than the ED11s and the Mavens.
 

Fedster

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Feb 28, 2016
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Finland
Irrespective of your final choice, I would recommend you check eye relief to make sure you can use the binos comfortably, and field of view (assuming it matters to you). Ideally these things are tested by having said binos in hand, ideally for a side by side comparison of comfort and field of view. I said elsewhere that optics, even expensive optics, are not always perfect -- lemons -- or are better than the (already stellar) average -- cherries. I admit I only ever bothered learning how to check spotting scopes rather than binos, but my *guess* is that they can be artificial star tested as well, for a reasonable way to eliminate lemons. If you plan to buy over the interwebz make sure you can return the glass if you test it and it turns out to be defective!
 
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