Eden fans, check this out! DIY WTX900

Well, after posting here Invalid Link Removed about a small high powered light weight Eden head, I decided to build it myself. I'll call it the GARDEN WTX900

I took my WTX500 preamp and married it to a Genz Benz ShuttleMax 9.2 power section. The Genz output section is preferred because I could use the patented P.H.A.T. technology from Genz. Also, I'm not sure if they have some minor mods done to their power sections to get them to be stable at 4 ohms as stock ICE module ratings are 8 ohms bridged, not 4.

It wasn't easy because I had to make a new chassis and somehow fit it all in there as small as I could and still use the Genz cooling system. It all worked like a charm. Check it out.

Easily fits into a gig bag at 9"X9"X2.5" - 5 Lbs, 900 Watts RMS of Pure Eden Tone!!!!!




Along with minimized size I chose the rounded corners to be gentle on my gig bag. The Markbass LMT800 has sharp corners and coupled with it's size, it's begun to wear holes in my gig bag.











I believe this GARDEN WTX900 is currently the smallest head that's been built with this kind of power output.



Internal shots:



Since I had to make the chassis wider to properly fit the new power section, I thought I'd move the power switch to the front of the amp. The rear mounted power switch of the WTX500 kind of bugged me.





So far it's only seen 1 practice and it was a single 18" cab at 8 ohm. The power was amazing!!! It seemed like limitless headroom. I always loved the Eden tone but truthfully always wished for more power. I think I've addressed that need with this frankenstein of a head. That pull switch on the bass knob of the WTX series really needs a lot of power to be effective, this power section just puts it out there for your cabs to suffer!!!! LOL! It was a lot of fun! The heat dissipation from the practice was excellent, very minimal heat generated.

As you can see, I still need to silk screen it and make it look as beautiful as it sounds. I'm going to wait til it sees a few gigs first before I spend any money on it.... I may just use the original WTX faceplate. Right now, I can convert it back to it's original WTX500 if this doesn't work out but so far, it looks promising.

Morning Beer said:

Whoa, I had the wtx 500 for a minute and found it really underpowered. I like the front end though. Got any clips?

Click to expand...

I don't think I'll bother doing clips. I have a soundcoud link that has some clips of my WT400, WTX260, and WTDI if you'd like. They are all done with DI signals. With all the different cabs available, I don't see the point in doing a clip of this amps power section into a specific cab. The pre-amp in this amp is the same Eden WTX one that can be heard on youtube.

As for audible differences between the WTX500 and this WTX900, it's definitely in the heft of each note. Feels much more like my old WT-400 but actually kicks out more punch and headroom. I originally was going to mate my WT-400 preamp with this Genz 9.2 power section but couldn't get the chassis small enough to fit it in a gig bag. At that point, I decided it wouldn't be much of a savings to do the work. It would weigh less but still need a carry bag. At 13 lbs the WT400 is fine the way it is.

I'd still like to do a complete redesign of that WT preamp to make it smaller and eliminate the tube as it doesn't impart any effect on the sound. Perhaps someday if Eden wont heed my advise to do it, I will... I really love that WT400 preamp!

Newguy!! You were the reason I did this. I played with this idea a while ago and in that other thread you mentioned I should look into it more. It got me thinking about it again, and with the amazing prices on the Genz products these days, it made sense to give it a go.

Finished off the temporary labeling last night. I think I'll keep it this way until it proves itself in battle.









At least for me this seemed to be the most efficient labeling as I plan to use this head as my main light weight small gigging rig along with my trusty Xsonics 212CF. The Xsonics is a really small cab so labeling the top of the amp and the upside down labels on the back make sense for me.

Thanks guys. So far, this ones a keeper. It's been exactly what I've been looking for since entering this Class D market. I've ran through at least 10 different heads since I decided my WT-400 was going to retire. The allure of these new heads was too much to ignore, but I never really found the one that worked for me until I got the Eden WTX260. It's tone was right on what I was used to, but it's output left me wanting. The WTX500 was the same deal. I think this one will be IT. I'll hopefully be selling a number of extra heads I've accumulated in the new year.

Well, in order to really reap the benefits of this module I had to "recalibrate" the Eden's built in limiter and clip light. I noticed it was going off wayy to early. Once I removed the limiter out of the circuit, WOW!! I'm sure it's a little dangerous for the module or perhaps only a temporary shutdown during a gig but man is it ever loud now... Before I only noticed more heft and low end to each note, now it's ridiculous loud and powerful for my single 4 ohlm cabs.

I'll have to put in some time to figure out how the limiter in the Eden works electronically and work out what values I need to change to get it set up right for this power module. For now, I'm running bareback no protection!! I think the ICE modules have their own protection built in but it cuts the whole output out until the overtemp or over current situation corrects itself.

Perhaps the TH500 could have it's limiter circuit modified to allow a little more headroom....

Gig report!

I did my first gig with this amp on Christmas. It was amazing! I've longed for that Eden tone with seemingly limitless power for years! I wish I'd done this sooner and could have saved myself quite a bit of time and money trying out so many other micro heads. There's still a few minor things to work out with the limiter circuit but I may just leave it out completely. I didn't need near the power I thought I would and only had the Master set at 9:00. I know from my Studio testing it can easily be run up the the 12:00 mark without needing any limiter to prevent the stock ICE power module shutdown. My Xsonics 212CF sounded rather fat for the first time which is no easy task for a cab that's voiced like the Eden XLT410. It was a real treat to dial in a bunch of lows and not come close to hitting the Eden limiter. It just seemed like headroom for days.

It seemed like heat dissipation wasn't an issue with the smaller enclosure too. This was one of my concerns as the ICEpower literature states a minimum clearance around the module that all the MI manufacturers seem to adhere to. I did not in the interest in gaining the smallest size possible. So far so good. More road time is required...

agedhorse said:

Be sure you have adequate clearance on the bottom to prevent a short to the chassis, this is one fault that always ends poorly. There's ~300V on the bulk DC rails so ~7-10mm (or suitable insulation barrier) is required.

Click to expand...

Yes! Thanks or the heads up. Fortunately I put a piece of clear insulating material all along the chassis beneath both the preamp and powermodule boards. The Eden had one beneath just the power module in the WTX500 and I thought I should do the same with this one. I didn't know exactly why it was there in the first place but if Eden spent the time and money to put it in there must have been a reason... Thanks for the knowledge. Your comments are always welcomed by all here on TB!!

12bass said:

Interesting project.... I'm guessing that the ShuttleMax's limiter circuit is not contained on the power amp board you used? Bit of a shame, as that would probably be a nice circuit to use instead of the Eden limiter.

Click to expand...

A shame indeed! It's such a nice limiter in the Shuttle X.2 series. I really love the way it handles the signal. I personaly like it much better than the all the other brands I've owned, Markbass, SWR, Eden, even Genz .0 series. I wish I could simply transfer that circuit over to this Garden WTX900 but the circuit is built into the Genz preamp. The only way to get a nice limiter like that would be to copy it and rebuild it and have a daughter board in my amp. That option is kind of messy so I think I'm stuck with the Eden limiter and altered component values to suit this power module.