The SW-1 was built to be a small, low cost AM only tabletop to compete w/ the Asian portables in the 200 buck range. It was worse than and a bigger flop that Rat Shacks similar sized DX-394, which at least demodulated sideband. SW-1 got some scathing reviews in the radio press who expected much more from Drake on this one.
I've never had a bad Drake and they're built like proverbial tanks. I use my RX-4 more the R-8 A I've had for twenty years as the RX-4's tube/transistor circuitry seems to handle modern sources of RFI better than the R-8, especially in the static season. From mid October to late April they're about the same, but I prefer the R-8's AM bandwidths for casual listening and extended frequency coverage below mid-section of the MW band. The RX-4 is part of the "Twin Line" of transmitters and receivers and was built for ham work. A little bit of medium wave coverage for local weather was all a "real ham" needed in those days.
BTW, does anyone here know of anyone reliable who repairs the Drake twins? The TX side of this set needs some work on both the power supply and the tuning mechanism which got cranked beyond the repair skills of the previous owner.