Eden Forum Disappears

[gerryjazzman]

Hey, you’re welcome. I think the warranty ship has sailed many moons ago.

By the way if you are going to drill into the front panel, be VERY CAREFUL that you don’t drill into the board or any components.

 

[12bass]

For sure. My SOP is to measure twice, look at it, measure again, get ready to cut, measure, give the drill a few test revs, measure again, cut, wonder if maybe I should have measured just one more time.

Yeah, I recently modified the HPF on my Tech 21 DP-3X. After several failures, I was very cautious about getting things right, so it would work reliably henceforth (which it has). Spent a lot of time modifying my Eden WT-500 as well, and while doing so can make improvements, it is important to recognize that it is extremely easy to make things worse. Just taking the boards out can impact reliability.

 

[12bass]

Regarding your Eden WT500 - how so?

The wiring, the pots, parts on the PCB, anything that might flex during removal and reinstallation can impact reliability. Also had problems with the zener dropping resistors and the connectors between the various boards. That said, if a person is extremely careful, modifications can be made without causing further issues. I made more extensive changes to my WT-500 than just adding a switch... new op amps, sockets, capacitors, etc....

 

[Rip Van Dan]

You're right about the WT400 already having the compressor defeat. That's what I was comparing, the WT400 schematic which already incorporated the compressor defeat by pulling the enhance knob. I was using that as a reference to implement the defeat for the WT300 which doesn't have the defeat. I have the older schematics for the WT500/600/800 preamp as well which look the same as the WT300 with no defeat as well. Did they add the pull knob in the later versions? I have no experience with those.

I misunderstood you then. Sorry about that.

My 1999 WT500/800 has the "pull out enhance knob" to defeat the auto compressor, as do all of them since at least 1997, which is the earliest catalog on the original Eden site. In that same catalog the description for the WT300 doesn't have a defeat switch and they list it as "Automatic Compressor is included for maximum professional control".

I too have a set of schematics (with comments written in the margins) for the WT500, WT600, and WT800A (The A model includes versions a, b, c, and d, not to be confused with the WT800B model and WT800C model). In 2005 they came out with a separate manual for the WT800B and the next year (2006) added an addendum for the WT800C, which was the last model made. My copy of the schematic for the WT500, WT600, & WT800 is dated June 15, 1993.

I've included a pdf copy of that 1997 catalog if you want to take a look through it - it's kind of a kick! It has the early Eden David Series "T" cabs (T for Tweeter), some cabs with out a T because there is no tweeter in the cab (Such as the D115), and the David Series XLT cabs. There are also some "XL" cabs like the D-115XL and the D-215XL cabs that don't have tweeters but do have the low-mid hump. There are no XST cabs in there because David hadn't designed them yet.

 

[greey]

@gerryjazzman Thanks again for posting your comprehensive info & diagrams, I really appreciate it.

I opened up my WT300 and bridged the connection between R19 and the LED1 anode with an alligator clip. For the record, I can confirm that this does indeed defeat the compressor!

The amp sounds quite a bit better without compression being tied to the gain level. After putting in some playing time with the compressor off, I'm actually a bit baffled as to why the WT300 was designed to have the compressor and gain twinned in the way it is. Perhaps good compressor pedals weren't available in the 90s? Anyway, I'd still like to leave the stock compression available via a switch, but I've decided to mount it on the back of the amp. I expect I'll run the amp with the compressor off likely 100% of the time, it's not critical for my usage that the toggle switch be available on the front panel.

Some parts were delayed in the mail, but I'll post an update here once the mod is done & dusted!

 

[gerryjazzman]

@gerryjazzman Thanks again for posting your comprehensive info & diagrams, I really appreciate it.

I opened up my WT300 and bridged the connection between R19 and the LED1 anode with an alligator clip. For the record, I can confirm that this does indeed defeat the compressor!

The amp sounds quite a bit better without compression being tied to the gain level. After putting in some playing time with the compressor off, I'm actually a bit baffled as to why the WT300 was designed to have the compressor and gain twinned in the way it is. Perhaps good compressor pedals weren't available in the 90s? Anyway, I'd still like to leave the stock compression available via a switch, but I've decided to mount it on the back of the amp. I expect I'll run the amp with the compressor off likely 100% of the time, it's not critical for my usage that the toggle switch be available on the front panel.

Some parts were delayed in the mail, but I'll post an update here once the mod is done & dusted!

Glad it’s working for you. That’s a good solution since it doesn’t muck up the front panel. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

 

[Hawkbone]

Hi guys, just got my old WT-330 210 combo back from a friends jam space. Haven't played it in years but it still sounds great! Planned to sell it until I plugged in and now I'm not so sure anymore.

Wondering if this is old enough now to warrant a visit to an amp tech for recap? Anything else that should be looked at?

I see that several of the plastic 1/4" jacks have cracked off. Anyone else have that happen? I really doubt it's mechanical damage as it's the least used jacks that are broken. It only takes once I suppose but I know I've never used any of the broken ones. It sat mostly unused in my friends space and he's more careful than I am with stuff anyway.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[MuthaFunk]

It's a 2003 so that makes it a hair over 20 years old. Capacitor life depends heavily on how much heat or moisture they've been exposed to. If it was stored indoors and not exposed to Canadian winters (garage or shed) they're probably fine for another 10 years before they drift to the point of being noisy or failing.

You mentioned it still sounds good so it's likely a fine specimen. 2003 was still the Eden glory days! Those broken jacks look like someone tightened the nuts with an adjustable wrench and just over torqued them.

Like you said, they don't seem to be the commonly used ones for combo use so I'd say just enjoy it as it is.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I wouldn't worry about it until you start hearing weird things happen. Usually, not always, those big black capacitors will bulge at the top when they go bad, but they could last another 10-15 years. Basically if it's not broke - don't fix it.

Your combo is actually the Eden CXC-210. Eden had a complete series of those CXC combos with everything from a 110 combo up to a 410 combo. Also had a CXC-1015 which had one 10" speaker and one 15" speaker in it. By 2007 thought the only CXC combo left was the CXC110 and a CX110 extension cab for it.

A little history on your amp, the WT330, 390, and 405, are all basically the same amp with progressively more powerful power sections. Yours will put out 200-wattrs rms into 8Ω, 330 watts into 4Ω, and 420-watts into 2Ω. The internal speakers put an 8Ω load on the amp. You can safely add up to three additional 8Ω cabs to that amp to run it at 2Ω. Unlike the other WT series amps they do not have a tube in the impedance matching section to generate that warmth that the WT series are known for. Instead it has a "Golden Ear Chip (THAT-4301) that among other things has excellent tube emulation to get that same warmth of sound.

I have an Eden WTDI, which is a stompbox DI with built-in Eden WT preamp and adjustable compressor. Basically, it uses the same preamp and adjustable compressor from your WT330, which by the way, records beautifully. So don't hesitate to send a DI signal out of the back of the amp when you need to or want to.

Just in case you no longer have a manual for it, I've attached a pdf copy of the manual for you. It includes the info for all three versions, the WT-330, WT-390, and WT-405.

 

[Hawkbone]

Wow thanks for that! Lot of great info there

 

[moon-bass]

Hey "moon-bass" congrats on that score. The WTX1000N came out in 2010 and was included in the 2010/2011 catalog that came out near the end of 2010. It was only around for a couple of years and was not in the 2012 catalog.

The WTX1000N is a two channel class D power section attached to the Navigator preamp. You have a max of 1,000-watts rms available with 500-watts available in each channel. Weight is 11-pounds. By comparison the class A/B WT800C weighs in a 26-lbs. So it's a lightweight powerhouse amp. Each channel can put out 500-watts rms into 4Ω BUT it can't be bridged because it is a class D amp.

The cool thing about a 2-channel powerblock is that whatever you plug into one channel has no effect at all on what is plugged into the second channel. You could plug two 8Ω cabs into one side if you liked to make a 4Ω load, and a single 4Ω cab into thee other channel. Both channel's work just fine. You could plug in two 8Ω cabs to each side if you like and run all 4 cabs off that amp.

It also has a balance control like your WT800 does. That is handy if you have different size speakers on different channels. For instance perhpas a 410 in one channel and a 212 in thee other. If you want more of the 212 character in your soound you can just turn that balance control slowly towards the 212 side until you get the mix of sound you want.That is basically the same as your WT800 with the exception that there is no bridged mode with the WTX1000N.

It has all off the versatility and options of the WP-100 (Navigator preamp), but instead of being just a preamp, it has 1000-watts of output power hooked up to it. The other WT-series dual powerblock amps (WT500, WT600, & WT800) can all be bridged, combining the output of both power channels into on bridged output. That WTX1000N does not have and can not be operated in "bridged mode".

The bad news is that is one of the very few Eden manuals that I did not download from the old Orvis site before they were removed. I do however have a manual for the Navigator (WP-100) by itself, which will give you all of info on how to use the preamp section. I have attached that manual to this reply.

As far as a his goes, that could be a lot of things. Best thing to do is get some DeOxit 5 and some long handled Q-tips. Spray the Q-tip and then use it to clean the contacts of each 1/4" jack on the amp...there's a lot of them. The signal path goes through just about everything in the back and if one of the contacts gets corroded, you can get a his; an intermittent turn off and on; a sudden drop in volume; etc.

Very often a jack that you don't use is the one that gets corroded because a plug never rubs against the contacts to knock of any of the corrosion. Another thing you can do if you don't have any of those long-handled Q-tips handy is to take a 1/4" plug, spray some DeOxit5 on the barrel and tip and then move it in and out of each jack 10-times or so. If that doesn't clear it up, then it's tech time to find out what the problem really is.

Hey there - I just wanted to thank you again for all of the info. My Navigator 1000 is running smoothly and sounding soooooo good. You definitely went above and beyond in your response, and I very much appreciate it. You are one of the good ones

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Hey there - I just wanted to thank you again for all of the info. My Navigator 1000 is running smoothly and sounding soooooo good. You definitely went above and beyond in your response, and I very much appreciate it. You are one of the good ones

Hey, thanks for the kind words @moon-bass. Glad I could help!