Author Topic: Eden Amps? (Read 165 times)

glocke · « **on:** November 04, 2008, 07:34:20 AM »

Anyone familiar with the current line of Eden equipment?

Im looking for a small compact head, and have been looking at the WT-405 and WT550....Anyone have any experience with these?

lowlife · « **Reply #1 on:** November 04, 2008, 07:42:18 AM »

I have a Time Traveller head (very similar to a WT-405) and a WT-405 stand-alone head. Both sound far more powerful (IMJ) than their actual ratings. I have owned them for a number of years and although I'm not a travelling musician,both of these have moved from jam space to jam space many times.

What info are you specifically looking to find out?

Ellery (Lowlife)

(Message edited by lowlife on November 04, 2008)

glocke · « **Reply #2 on:** November 04, 2008, 07:53:03 AM »

The WT 405 does not have a tube pre, correct? Its all solid state?

Im basically just intersted in user feedback...how clean sounding it is, etc...

Im currently using a mesa-walkabout...nothing worng with it, Im just looking to switch things around a little bit...

lowlife · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2008, 08:14:17 AM »

To the best of my knowledge, there's no tubes in the pre-amp section. If there are, I've never changed them (only my WT-800 has a tube pre-amp). I also checked the user manuals and there is no mention of a tube in the pre-amp.

Very clean sounding but I've found that Eden amps have (what I call) a signature sound. Even when I use a Fender bass and a non-Eden cab, I still seem to get that distinctive Eden sound, which is why I have so many of them.

The Eden Enhance control is what I consider the best feature; everything at flat and I only adjust the Enhance knob. Now that works for my ears but I can't tell what you're looking for in a sound. Have you demoed any yet?

Ellery (Lowlife)

keith_h · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2008, 08:16:29 AM »

The WT405 is all solid state. It uses something called the golden ear chip to simulate a tube. I've heard good reports on it. The WT550 uses a tube front end. In general all of the Eden heads are voiced pretty much the same so you you get the same sound from a WT405 as a WT800 as a Navigator.

One thing about the Eden front end tube circuits is you will not get a real heavy overdriven tube sound. Fully dialed in it will provide some warmth but not overpoweringly so.

Both of the amps use a single knob compressor. Some folks don't like it and end up getting an external compressor. You will not be able to get a dbx style compressor from Eden unless you go to a Navigator preamp (which is what I use).

I have found with my Navigator that I leave it very close to flat settings for tone. Most folks I have talked with seem to do the same with their Eden heads. When gigging or playing with others I have found I do not use the Enhance feature except as an effect. Even then I never set it much above 9 o'clock as it scoops the mids quite a bit.

Keith

glocke · « **Reply #5 on:** November 04, 2008, 09:25:13 AM »

hmmm...so the WT405, with its minimal controls, will pretty much give me the same tonality as one of the models with the eq section?

lowlife · « **Reply #6 on:** November 04, 2008, 09:40:51 AM »

If you're NOT a tweaker, then IMJ yes, it will work (it does for me). Let me just clarify that there is nothing wrong with the concept of fine-tuning the EQ until it's just right, nor am I disrespecting those who do; just that not everybody does it.

Ellery (Lowlife)

benson_murrensun · « **Reply #7 on:** November 04, 2008, 12:28:44 PM »

I have a WT-400 head. I LOVE IT! Great sound, very portable, and the EQ section is extremely powerful, that is, very small movement of the knobs yield a big change in tone.
It has a tube in the preamp section.
This head in combination with an Acme Low B2 is very versatile and easily moved from place to place.

dela217 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 04, 2008, 12:36:07 PM »

I own an Eden WT-550 and an Eden 2X10 XST. So far it's not been too good. First of all the 550 was dead out of the box. I sent it back and after what seemed to me a long time (a month or so), they shipped another.

When I gig with the Eden head and cab, it works well for low to moderate volume gigs. If you rely on your amp to fill the room, then this is not the setup for you. Just when it barely starts to get loud enough, the cab just farts out. It can be very frustrating. I've already had to replace the fuse in the crossover twice. Belive me I am not pushing this thing at all to the point where this fuse should blow. When I use the Eden 550's eq with this cab, I find that the controls on the amp are not as useful as when I use a different cab.

When I use my Bag End 2X10 with the Eden head, I get much better results. The tone controls on the head come alive and I really can hear the changes the tone controls make. The Bag End cabinet goes MUCH louder and does not fart out like the Eden cab does. I only use the Eden cab now as part of a practice amp. What a waste.

In my opinion for the price of the Eden WT-550 head and the 2X10 XST, there are better bargains. For a LOT less money I picked up a GK1001RB and a GK 4X10. The amp has more power, is biamped, and a lot more kick.

The only real feature of the Eden WT-550 that I like over the GK is that it will run comfortably at 2 ohms.

To me so far the best amp setup has been the Alembic F2B with a separate power amp and Bag End speakers. What a sound!

Michael

keith_h · « **Reply #9 on:** November 04, 2008, 03:13:10 PM »

I use all Bag End cabinets so I have no idea what my rig would sound like with Eden speakers. From what I have heard about Eden speakers it would not surprise me that the Bag End give different (better?) results. Eden speakers are voiced for a certain sound where as the Bag End speakers seem to be designed for a flatter response. I will agree that very small changes in the knobs results in quite large changes in the tone.

Keith

wayne · « **Reply #10 on:** November 04, 2008, 08:13:53 PM »

To me so far the best amp setup has been the Alembic F2B with a separate power amp and Bag End speakers. What a sound!

Preach It Michael!!!!

Greg- I have a WT-260. I just couldn't resist a 3.5 pound amp that actually sounds good. It will get a lot louder than you can ever imagine it might. It is the only amp other than Alembic pre's that I will play through. Now, having said that, for me, it's a one-trick-pony. I've found one good setting to my ears. I also totally agree with Ellery that Eden definitely sounds like Eden. I've run mine through Bag End and Bergantino using a Series, an Anniversary, and an upright.....they all had that Eden character whereas when I run the F2B or F1X I get just the instrument.

At least that's how it all sounds to me.

Good Luck.

C-Ya...........wayne

glocke · « **Reply #11 on:** November 08, 2008, 03:10:55 AM »

Well, the WT-405 arrived on wedsenday, so I have had a few days to play with it....Compared to the mesa-walkabout head Ive been using it has a very tight, focused, and clean sound. I dont really hear that much (if any) coloring..With the mesa, no matter how I had the eq set, there was always something there that I didnt really care for.

I did find two things about this amp that I dont like though. One is that there does not seem to be too much headroom. Using my SCSD, I actually had to turn the gain switch to low gain to get a reasonable volume, this is strange since with my other amps the low gain input gives me plenty of volume. The second thing is the trim pot for the warm switch. That is so inaccessable it is almost useless...All in all Im pretty happy with it, this will work well for rehearsels and smaller gigs...I may even look into getting one of the larger Eden amps to use for larger gigs...

To me so far the best amp setup has been the Alembic F2B with a separate power amp and Bag End speakers. What a sound!

Well, I have a similar setup...a demeter preamp (I might replace that with an FS2B) with a QSC power amp and an SF2 (thanks again Danno!)...I use it for large gigs, but otherwise it stays at home...Even though it is by far the best sounding rig I own, its just too much of PIA to cart around to every gig...

Oh yeah, everything is run through Bag End cabs also...forget the model numbers at the moment, but I have a small 15 cab, and than the very large 15 cab....

jacko · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2008, 06:45:11 AM »

Gregory, I've just been reading through your speaker problems on the Eden forum and it seems you've had more than your fair share of problems. Hopefully your problems have all now been resolved and you're happy with your set-up now.

Graeme

glocke · « **Reply #13 on:** December 01, 2008, 08:23:05 AM »

Hey Graeme,

Oh its getting there...Eden was supposed to send out the replacement WT800 last week, they never got around to it...Im hoping it goes out today.

The 2x12xlt i picked up sounds awesome...Ive always used 15's without a horn, so this is a welcome change...never thought Id like a horn on a bass amp but I do..

jacko · « **Reply #14 on:** December 02, 2008, 04:25:28 AM »

I'm with you on the 2x12 thing. I use EBS NEO cabs and the 212 gives a far bigger and rounder thump than either a 1x15 or the 4x10 I use with it. (I would have gone for eden cabs but they didn't have a NEO range at the time and I value my back).

Graeme