SWR vs EDEN ?

[RSJ4STRING]

I have never owned an Eden amp. I use SWR now. Can anyone fill me in on the diffrence? Thank you for entertaining my ignorance.

[Bass_Thumper]

Subscribed.

[BigOldHarry]

SWR really depends on the year - there are a few different "Eras" of SWR amps.

Eden - Do they even still make amps? Hmmm - they have a web site... I think they have fallen into the "no longer the flavor of the week" pile with SWR.

Some folks LOVE Eden gear. I'm not wild about it, but I'm just one player. They are rather different beasts, methinks....

[Alex1984]

They were the flavour of the decade back in the 90s.

[greenboy]

Eden has one more letter. In some circles that's a plus.

[RickenBoogie]

Very basic, but here goes: SWR- super clean, bright, and punchy, Eden: more old school fat and round. Of course, all depending on many other variables, as well.

[IntrepidCellist]

I have no experience with SWR gear beyond a few quick tryouts and one backline gig, but I have an Eden stack. The WT400 EQ section is fantastic with three semi-parametric bands of mids, and it really growls when pushed. The 210XLT is an overweight outdated middy cab, but it sounds great atop my 212XLT, which is one of the nicest-sounding cabs I've ever played.

That said, it's not the end-all be-all gear. Some of it is good, some of it is not... and sometimes it's a little too 'clean' for me. Also, the compressors in the heads are hit-or-miss.

[okcrum]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Very basic, but here goes: SWR- super clean, bright, and punchy, Eden: more old school fat and round. Of course, all depending on many other variables, as well.

Pretty good short summary.

Originally Posted by IntrepidCellist

I have no experience with SWR gear beyond a few quick tryouts and one backline gig, but I have an Eden stack. The WT400 EQ section is fantastic with three semi-parametric bands of mids, and it really growls when pushed. The 210XLT is an overweight outdated middy cab, but it sounds great atop my 212XLT, which is one of the nicest-sounding cabs I've ever played.

That said, it's not the end-all be-all gear. Some of it is good, some of it is not... and sometimes it's a little too 'clean' for me. Also, the compressors in the heads are hit-or-miss.

There are serious amounts of EQ range on the Eden amps. One or two clicks on the settings are audible. Both Edens and most SWRs have an Enhance control, which is basically a low mid scooper and everything else booster, though they have different choices of frequencies and boost/cut.

The early Eden compressors are not so good, though there were factory mods to make them better. These are the WT400/500/600/800, for example. The Eden amps using the THAT4301 or "Golden Ear" chip have excellent compressors, comparable to the dbx 16x series. They also have very low noise preamps/DI. These are the WT330/390/405 and WTX 264/500 for example.

Most newer Eden AB1 amps will drive 2 ohms or where applicable bridge 4 ohms. Older Edens are 4 ohms minimum and 8 ohms bridged. Same goes for the older vs. newer AB1 SWRs.

Cooling is much better in the Edens than in the SWRs I've seen.

Eden CS suffered for several years during the transition of the company from privately held to US Music to JAM. It seems to be getting back on track the last year or two now. Most of Eden's manufacturing has transitioned to Asia, save for the D series cabs.

SWR amps are mostly still assembled in California, except for the LA series, which is made in Indonesia.

A little longer, but that's most of the points.

[bobcruz]

Considering only the amplifiers, SWRs have about a six decibel scoop at 250 Hz built into the preamp, before you even engage the enhance feature which scoops even more while boosting lows and highs as mentioned above. That non-defeatable 250 Hz scoop is the essence of the "SWR sound." The Eden preamps are pretty flat, many having a built-in rolloff up at 14 KHz and above (the "warmth" mentioned above).

[Rockmusician]

I tried SWR and didn't like them. It seems that every time I hear the sound that I really want, it's coming out of and Eden head and cabinet. My next rig is going to be Eden.

[Alex1984]

SWR has a very distinct sound, scooped, and super-clean. Not everyone's cup of tea, and not necessarily the deepest bass tones around, BUT one thing it's definitely got is PUNCH. The way the tone is shaped allows the amp to deliver a very full-bodied sound IMO.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Alex1984

SWR has a very distinct sound, scooped, and super-clean. Not everyone's cup of tea, and not necessarily the deepest bass tones around, BUT one thing it's definitely got is PUNCH. The way the tone is shaped allows the amp to deliver a very full-bodied sound IMO.

swr amps do have eq's that can compensate for its nooned sound.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Very basic, but here goes: SWR- super clean, bright, and punchy, Eden: more old school fat and round. Of course, all depending on many other variables, as well.

I wouldn't say Eden has an old-school sound. If it did, I wouldn't own three of their amps. The WT-series tone stack is the best in the business. Eden amps sound hi-fi when set flat. The EQ is very sensitive, and I've never ventured outside any knob settings between 11 and 1 o'clock. You can get a very wide range of tones out of an Eden WT amp. The WTX stuff requires a little more tweaking.

On my WTX-500, I have to put the bass and mid at about 1 o'clock to get the tone of the WT amps with everything set at noon. It sounds great from there, though.

SWR, in general, is like a sterilized Eden amp.

[JimmyM]

funny but i feel the exact opposite way from you, munji. except your description of eden amps. that was pretty dead-on to me. hi fi when flat. that's why i always hated them

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

funny but i feel the exact opposite way from you, munji. except your description of eden amps. that was pretty dead-on to me. hi fi when flat. that's why i always hated them

Am I surprised? No.

[Plstrns]

I might be way off on this, but wasn't Eden SWR's first cab builder? I remember Eden was the SWR "copy" for lack of a better term, just thinking there was some connection at one time?

[jellymax]

no Ampegging in the Eden rack!

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Plstrns

I might be way off on this, but wasn't Eden SWR's first cab builder? I remember Eden was the SWR "copy" for lack of a better term, just thinking there was some connection at one time?

Yes, Eden built SWR's cabs at one time, then stopped, and introduced their own David series. The David name (aside from being David Nordschow's first name) was a reference to the SWR Goliath cab. Get it?

[Son of Bovril]

The SWR stuff is essentially very clean as the guys on here have already said, and I agree that the SWR stuff inherently has a slight scoop in the low mids. The Eden stuff is more full sounding when set flat in comparisin to the SWR, but at the same time is still very clean and modern compared to most other brands. The eden can also get more wooly and dirty if you desire with a tiny bit more tube bloom in the sound as well

I would consider looking at the EBS stuff as well

[maxbass]

SWR vs Eden, a classic match!

I owned both.
You can make an Eden amp sound almost like a SWR, but you can't do the opposite.