Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Andrew Bonamici
Manufacturer	SWR
Model	Workingman's 160 (amp head)
Price	$360 new (which I think was a good deal)

Dimensions	2 rack spaces, 19" wide, approx. 10.5" deep
Wattage	120 into 8 ohms; 160 into 4 ohms
Speaker(s)	n/a
EQ	aural enhancer, bass, low mids, high mids, treble,
	transparency (ultra highs)
Controls	preamp gain, effects blend, limiter defeat, master volume,
	speaker standby switch, power switch
Other	XLR out, headphone jack, tuner send, effects loop, separate
	inputs for passive or active instruments (active has less gain).

This amp head has already been reviewed but here are a few more comments. This is a very well-made amp head, all solid state (the higher end SWRs use tube preamps). I use it with a custom 1x12-plus-tweeter cabinet & am very happy with the sound on both upright & electric. SWR amps fall into the "high fidelity" bracket & this is no exception. It is very clear & clean, so all characteristics of the instruments really come through (especially with a cabinet that is also high fi by design). Some people criticize this approach as sounding too sterile, but since my goal is minimal coloration of the instrumental sound it is just what I want, & so far all listeners have raved about it. The high end can always be rolled off if it seems too sparkly.

A few of the features that are especially nice:

tuner send -- with the speaker standby switch, this allows unobtrusive tuning between songs.
tone controls that really work
very clean & quiet operation
lightweight (approx. 14 lbs)
rackmountable straight from the box; no extra parts needed

Down sides:

the XLR out can't be used with a phantom power system (48V). It turns out that my church (where I use this most) has phantom power for the mikes, so I continue to use a direct box.
it doesn't handle total impedance below 4 Ohms. This means that if you want to use an extension cabinet, you can't have any 4 ohm speakers -- you have to have two @ 8 ohms (or four @ 16 ohms). My 1x12 is a 4 ohm cabinet & it works fine for my typical use in monitoring & low-volume jazz, but people who depend on extension cabs should be aware of this when designing a system around this head.
at 120/160W it isn't a huge amp by today's standards, & with the 1x12 there are some definite volume limitations. I ran it fairly close to the max in a recent practice session with loud drums, keyboard, electric guitar , & vocals. For the actual gig (a once-per-year outdoor thing), we miked the cabinet & ran through the mains -- dynamite!

FYI, I ordered it from McKenzie River Music in Eugene, a great store & long-time SWR dealer -- visit their website at http://www.pond.net/~mrguitar/. They gave me a great price. Unfortunately, it was backordered longer than expected (approx. 4 weeks) & was further delayed by the UPS strike.

Construction	100
Loudness	85
(it is only 160W after all)
Clarity	100
Tone	100
Size/Bulkiness	100
Value	100
Overall	95

schmill@cs.umass.edu

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