How would you compare the performance of those two receivers when using
their whip antennas on HF? The SW8 is known for being somewhat
insensitive on it's whip, particularly the earlier versions. Drake made
an improvement to the whip in 1994 by redesigning the matching impedance
of the whip's input circuit. Contrary to what some believe, Drake never
added a pre-amp to the SW8 whip circuit. However this was done on the
Sat-800 which is closely related to the SW8. It's why the Sat-800 is
more sensitive on it's whip for HF than the SW8.
What year was your SW8 made?

Well, you're right...for the SW8 to shine, it requires something more
than just the whip. For greatest simplicity, one of those Miracle Whip
antennas will do in a pinch...easy to use, connects directly to more or
less become a part of the radio, and provides a decent amount of gain
over the whip. Of course, ideally a higher gain antenna should be
used.

I've got two SW8s: a '94 and a '96 (w/synchronous selectable sideband;
better sensitivity).

The E1 definitely has an edge when we're talking about sensitivity off
the whip. But then, I don't really use either off the whip antenna.
So that deficiency on the part of the SW8 has never been anything I've
taken into account.

Junius