Sunn Coliseum 300 and 2x15

PapaNanook · #1 03-22-2013, 06:40 PM

Hey guys,
New to the forums here, been doing a lot of reading and time came to ask some questions. I found an ad for a Sunn Coliseum 300 and Sunn Beta 2x15 cab which were both reportedly 'blown from a short.' I went to look today hoping the guy had just played too loud and not known how to change the fuse. I couldn't check the fuse because the tube it was in was opaque white, like paper. He said everything went at once, and when the cab is plugged into other heads it sounds like a farting bumblebee essentially haha. None of the cones are torn, I don't know anything about drivers though. He played the cab twice with brand new JBLs before it all went. The fan turns on when the amp is plugged in but no signal. He is asking $250 for the pair. Little unsure of whether this is worth my time to put the money into things! I don't exactly want to spend $600 putting new speakers in the cab.
I've had a friend tell me that if a capacitor went and let all the power through, it would have fried the bridge in the cab and that's why it won't work with anything else.
Thank you for taking the time to wade through all this!

here is the ad: http://saskatoon.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and...AdIdZ465215101

5 Wire · #2 03-22-2013, 07:02 PM

I would want to open the cab and test each speaker with an ohm meter to see if they are good. If you don't know how, find someone who does and take them with you.

The head could be an easy fix or it could be a money pit. The techs around here charge pretty steep for bench time. The last head I took in cost me $75 to throw away.

Andyman001 · #3 03-22-2013, 07:34 PM

Try offering $100 and see if he bites

PapaNanook · #4 03-22-2013, 07:36 PM

I was just told the fuse was probably ceramic and those are usually near impossible to blow. Thank you for the input guys, I'll see about testing the speakers!

BogeyBass · #5 03-23-2013, 02:32 AM

The cool thing about the 300 is it can actually run a 2ohm load, so if you wanna run a lot of cabinets. It can actually do it.

Sunn stuff is collectible the 300 not so much, so if they are trying to get more money out of you because its a "sunn" tell them to shut up. The EQ is ok basically a multi band EQ with knobs instead of sliders. can help for cutting not boosting when trying to tame weird cabinets or weird boomy rooms.

not sure of the actual fuse needed. but sounds like the amp might have had problems for awhile. and dip #### just stuck a bigger fuse in it. Most likely needed new capacitors and a bias adjustment so kept blowing fuses. Or with some heads wire connection spades needed to be touched up with solder were arching over and blowing fuses. instead of fixing it right they do the dumb thing and stick a bigger fuse in until the amp grenades itself.

so who knows, the original problem needs to be fixed, and now whatever the bigger fuse blew out needs to be fixed. so who knows new capacitors new diodes or some touch up on wire connections. most likely all of above, hopefully whatever blew up didnt ruin the boards and carbon track the hell out of it.

most likely not worth the money, the cab is decent. if it has JBL's in it, those are worth a recone and it should not be 600 dollars. Even a new pair of CB158s or Delta pro 15's wont be more than 400. There was never a "short" in the amp. the speakers got blown from over voltage when the head was going bad. instead of blowing the fuse it probably pulled way to much current and sent a voltage spike when something finally blew in the head. most likely when it was cranked up with a pedal or 2 running it into distortion.
Good opportunity possible to get a cheap cab and vintage JBL's for a recone. if he wont go dirt cheap skip it. if you can get it cheap you might get a nice cab and speakers after recone. that is if they are jbls.

Muziekschuur · #6 03-23-2013, 02:45 AM

Make sure you have the money for a tech. Is this the amp for you.... Dealing with new speakers and an amp overhaul is a big job.....

PapaNanook · #7 03-23-2013, 11:46 AM

Bogey, that's awesome. I will admit I got excited at the idea of actually finding a Sunn where I live, but I'm not eager to dive into something that could have that much going on with it.
Again, thank you for the help. I hope after time I can be as much a contributing member to the knowledge here.