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Sunn 200s cab impedance (JBL D140F)
- Thread starter dphunk76
- Start date
No, but it will be safe to run with my Sunn 200S head, so you'd better just send that my way. 
If you have a multi-meter, you can check for resistance. DC resistance comes out a bit lower than the official impedance rating - my 8 ohm cab reads 6.2 and my 4 ohm cab reads 3.2.
If you have a multi-meter, you can check for resistance. DC resistance comes out a bit lower than the official impedance rating - my 8 ohm cab reads 6.2 and my 4 ohm cab reads 3.2.
Is it a single D140? Those are 8 ohms I believe, so I would say it's probably 8 ohms if it's a single, 4 ohms if it's a 2x15.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
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- John K Custom Basses
you can open it up and look. the drivers will say what impedance they are on the back. K140's came in 8 and 16 ohm versions, but the 8 ohm version is more common. if yours has the 8 ohm ones wired in parallel, then yours is a 4 ohm cab.
johnk 10 is correct. I bought a 200S new in 1968 and it came with a 4 ohm cabinet containing two D-140F 8 ohm speakers. I bought a 200S extension speaker a year later and it came with two D-140F-6 16 ohm speakers and was thus an 8 ohm cabinet. I had no idea until I opened them both up and saw the speakers. I wrote to Sunn back then and received copies of 1967 and 1970 schematics, which indicated that Sunn switched from D-140F speakers to D-140F-6 speakers effective 3-1-69. This was interesting as the amp was designed to run at 8 or 4 ohms so I would have assumed that the cabinets would all have been 8 ohm cabs with two 16 ohm speakers. It turned out to be advantageous when I began using an SVT amp with the cabs, designed to operate at 4 or 2 ohms.
Use a multi meter. My JBL's measure 6.3 ohms each, so somewhere around 8 ohms is a pretty fair assumption.
Although, WINISD sees them as 10 ohms for some reason.
Although, WINISD sees them as 10 ohms for some reason.
I'd follow johnk_10's suggestion, the only way to know if it even still has the JBL's is to open it up and look. I'd still put a meter on them, a lot of old JBL's have been re-coned.
The old Sunns were wired for either 8 & 4 ohm, or 16 & 8 ohm cabs from the factory. All of the amps had output transformers that had 4, 8, and 16 ohm taps.
Also, until '71 or so you couldn't buy just an amp from Sunn, the "amp" was the combination of amplifier and speaker cab; i.e. a 200S was a 60 watt head with a ducted center ported 2 X D140F cab, and a Sorado was an identical amp but with a conventionally ported 2 x 15 "Sunn Transducer" (probably CTS) cab, and was about 2/3 of the price of a 200S.
You could buy another speaker cab to go with it, but couldn't buy an amplifier head "ala carte".
I don't know that there was a specific switch date to D140F-6 speakers across the board. I have a pre '69 200S cab with 16 ohm D140's and a pair of '71 2000S cabs with 8 ohm D140's. The 200S cab could have been switched, but I bought the 2000S cabs from the original owner and they came from the factory that way.
March 1969 must have been a transitional month at Sunn, it was also when they switched from UK imported KT88's to US 6550's in all of the 60 and 120 watt amps
