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Blast From The Past : Sunn Folded Horns

Vince Klortho

Vince Klortho

Jan 8, 2013
1,553
574
Squierville, California
#1
Anyone else have any experience with these ? I had two sets of them back in my deafeningly loud rock band days of the late 70s. First was the single 18 version - the 118H (left attachment). It ended up catching fire and we put out the flames by dumping our beers into it. I got a great trade-in value from the cabinet and burned up speaker that I used to get two 215SH boxes (right attachment). I played those so loud that I tore out the surrounds on all of the speakers. What I found was those folded horns achieved their full volume several feet out in front of the cabinet. Up close they would flap your pants but they really weren't that loud. That led me to crank them up way too loud and the results weren't pretty.

What has been your experience with these or other Sunn folded horns ?
 

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  • Sunn%20118H.jpg
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  • Sunn215SHfront.jpg
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#5
These are short path horns that do indeed work over their design range.
The operating range and low frequency cutoff is quite high, as a consequence of the short path.

They don't come close to a modern design such as a T39 or T48, both of which are easy to move.
 
#6
I had an 18" Sunn folded I ran with a Road 2-18" forward facing cab thru an Acoustic 370. Slightly later I had another 18" Sunn folded with a Music Man 2-12" cab run thru a SVT. In both cases I had to replace the speakers with 18" JBL's. There have been speaker boxes before, between, and after that were probably better......but I still remember the Sunn 18" cabs in a special place in my heart - I can't count how many times I was told: TURN DOWN :p
 
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#7
I did the Acoustic 370 with a pair of 301 18" folded horn cabs back in the day. Same experience, sound wise. Not terribly loud on stage, unless it was a big one, but I could knock the back wall out of most clubs! IIRC, pretty inefficient cabs. I paired one with a straight 215 with JBL's, and you couldn't hear it at all.
 
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#8
RDUB said:
I did the Acoustic 370 with a pair of 301 18" folded horn cabs back in the day. Same experience, sound wise. Not terribly loud on stage, unless it was a big one, but I could knock the back wall out of most clubs! IIRC, pretty inefficient cabs. I paired one with a straight 215 with JBL's, and you couldn't hear it at all.
Click to expand...

I understand where you're coming from. Before I bought the Road cab, I used to borrow a friend's Sunn 18" folded horn for large clubs. Mo' volume than one - but not as loud or efficient as some other rigs I've had. That said: we DID own the back of the room :smug:
 
#9
My first horn enclosure was a 1-18" Peavey similar to the 118H. Moved air and worked well in Gym's Lunchrooms, etc. It was all I had when i auditioned for a Supper Club band. I bought a portaflex for that.

I also had a 301 that I used later in life. The Peavey flapped the elephant bell pants better.
 
#10
Wesley R said:
My first horn enclosure was a 1-18" Peavey similar to the 118H. Moved air and worked well in Gym's Lunchrooms, etc. It was all I had when i auditioned for a Supper Club band. I bought a portaflex for that.

I also had a 301 that I used later in life. The Peavey flapped the elephant bell pants better.
Click to expand...

The short Peavey folded horn with the Cerwin Vega 18 too and it was my cab from 71 to 1980 . I used mine with a Sunn Concert head at first and the last 7 years with an SVT head . The cab sounded killer in bars or gymnasiums with the SVT and has suprisingly good mids for a folded horn .After 8 years of hard use the surround on the Cerwin Vega was pretty weak and starting to sound muddy so I swapped it out for a Gauss 18 and shortly after that sold it . The guy I sold it to still has it and still uses it . Very much like that Sunn cab .
 
#12
I saw a number of the Sunn 215SH cabs when I was a wee teen, but never had the pleasure of playing through one myself.

Vince Klortho said:
Please add experiences you have had with any other folded horns like, for example, the Acoustic and Cerwin-Vega FH cabinets.
Click to expand...

otoh, I played through a number of Acoustic 370/301 stacks back in the day...first time I plugged my cheap Korean Beatle-Bass clone into that rig it was like an entirely new instrument, as if it extended down an extra octave below its previous range!

True story: Once in the late 80s while working on an embarrassingly high-budget record album the Producer asked me if I could get more "pants-waving low end" out of my bass. I said "sure" and proceeded to call up SIR and rent an Acoustic 301 cab...which I then drove from the low-pass (only) output of an SWR SM-400. I played about four notes and the Producer said "I said 'pants-waving', not pants-sh!tting!"
 
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#13
I worked at SIR in the mid-late 70's. My fellow 'schleppers' and I were all players, and we spent more than a few late nights jammin' on the sound stages there with the available equipment. One of the more popular cabs there was the Sunn Magna 415. Not a folded horn (so slightly off topic), but STILL one of my favorite cabs. I played through an SVT with two 8x10 cabs for years, and given the opportunity, would have traded for the Magnas anyday.

More on topic, and as has been mentioned; the folded horns sounded like crap onstage, but really shined waaay out front.
 
#14
I had the ACC 360/361. A bear to hear on stage, out front was an audience killer. Very efficient cab that taught me how to listen to room reflections, this became invaluable when doing band mixes on stage. I can still get the mix 99% there with just minor tweaks needed after going out front.
 
#16
I smile when I read these replies. Basically the same experience with me. I still have my Acoustic 370 amp, and at the time it was matched with a custom made cabinet (18" Cerwin Vega) similar to the Acoustic 301 but about 4" deeper than the 301. It was difficult to figure out the blend of tone and volume with the rest of the band on stage. I would ask those with us to move out to the floor area to help me out. Like others that stated before: We owned the back of the room. I was in a house dance band for about a year, and there would be a few certain songs that I would crank it. After a few nights of this, the bartender made me promise that I would signal him somehow before we kicked those songs off so he could leave the room. He had inner ear issues and my crank-up would make him dizzy and nauseous. I obliged his request. When I was shopping around for this type of amp, I remember seeing tags on the equipment that stated "will exceed 120 db within 10 feet". Another band I was in, we played a lot of places with minimal stage space. I was usually located next to the drummer and he eventually used ear plugs because of me. I was told numerous times to "turn it down", but when I did it was harder to hear myself. And of course, the later it gets into the night, the louder everyone gets. Long live rock!
 
#17
I gigged through the seventies with a Sunn Concert and 215SH cab, just like the one pictured. I can verify that, yes, the volume does not develop within the stage area. That cab was MUCH louder at the other end of the room (FOH). Can't count the times I saw the sound guy point his thumb downward. <smile>
 
#19
Had a 360/361 same experience. Had a V4B cab with a Sunn 2000s head on it. Again stadium gear! The Cerwin Vega B36mf half folded horn 18" with front facing 12" was an improvement. I installed a JBL D120. If the plywood wasn't so thin and the protection circuit hadn't kept coming on it would have been fun with that SVT head on it.

It's amazing how smaller SWR gear just blew it away in all but giant situations.
 
#20
Orange also made a vertical 'folded horn' much like the 301 without the power module/transformer

I remember it had a warning sticker on the side - said something like:

'WARNING - Sound Pressure Levels may exceed 125dB within 10 feet of enclosure haha

hearing damage thresholds
 

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