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SWR SM900 - Is it reliable?


Tonysounds

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Anyone have any personal experience with this amp? I found a new one that I can get at a pretty ridiculous price ($500; they listed for almost $1800). It's black with the red stripe. I've seen mixed reviews on this amp. Any advice?
Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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heavy. for $500, i'd go out and get something much smaller and ligher. unless you really need 900W at 4O. even then, i'd be inclined to make due. what cabinets do you use?

 

the mark bass little mark II, for example, is 500W at 4O. the SM900 will be noticeably louder, but not worlds different. (this is real science, not just idle opinion.) it's $600 new. and it weighs 1/5 the SM900. it's 6.4 pounds instead of 35 pounds.

 

there are a lot of other lightweight heads around this power. i can't see why anyone would pay $500 for a used head that weighs that much (and i'm not a huge fan of SWR, anway). i always felt like they should be a lot louder for the rated power.

 

robb.

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Thanks for the opinion; as my post said, it's NEW not used. I've never been a huge fan of SWR amps either, although there seemed to be a lot of capability with this amp. I have 2 Son of Bertha cabinets; I know I said I don't like SWR, but those boxes sounded great, and were very light.

 

I should do a little more shoppin!

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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I have an SWR SM-900.

I also have an SM-400 and a Workingman's 160, so I guess you could say that I like the SWR sound. :)

 

SWR gear is extremely reliable.

 

There are new amps on the market that give as much power as the SM-900 at a lower weight (there weren't any when I bought mine), but you aren't going to find a new amp at that price.

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I will spare you the burden of having an SM-900. Give it to me. :P

 

At that price is ridiculously cheap. Sure, you can buy other lighter, high watts amps, but I personally DO LIKE the SWR sound. Me myself, love and am after a nice SWR RedHead 2x10 combo (was close to buy Sweet Willie's, but my friend -who was the one to buy it and bring it here for me- did not travelled to the US in the end), have played a lot with a blue-lined SM-400, and tried an SM-900 once, and fell in love with it.

 

YMMV, and all that. But I think it is a real nice piece of equipment, and the deal of having one for $500 is real nice and sweet. I'd say go for it, and have it as a "Big rig" solution, you might eventually need something like it (My "Big rig" solution is, by the way, WAY bigger and heavier than an SM-900, and includes a 8spc rack with a QSC power amp, a 2 spc behringer V_amp pro, 2 wireless units (instrument & in-ear mons), and its respective Furman-like line conditioner.. an SM-900 would give you as much power and tonal flexibility in less space, and oh so classy :P )

 

Or you can always make a nice donation to a Venezuelan musician. I'll PM you my delivery address in Miami,FL if you want ;)

 

 

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I have owned an SM-500 for something like 12 years without a single problem.

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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I have owned SWR gear in the past and it has been 100% reliable...I also like the tone it produces.

Thats a steal for $500 new...you will have loads of headroom and endless possibilites..if you dont mind the weight..which is not too heavy...

SWR is no longer one of the hot brands so dont expect too much support..but SWR was one of the companys that took bass amplification in a different direction.

www.danielprine.com

 

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After all this talking about the SM-900, I used mine on a gig this afternoon.

 

I ran it in stereo with my AccuGroove tri210L on the bottom and my tri112L on top. the gig was outside in a park and I was able to drive right up to the stage, so carrying all that stuff was easy.

 

My rig sounded great.

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