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SUNN 215 cab ID help?

NecroticImbecil

NecroticImbecil

Aug 20, 2004
2,701
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under your bed
#1
So I have the chance to get this Sunn 2X15 cab. All anyone knows about it is it's a Sunn, and it's got 2 15s in it. Any way to identify it? I've heard the cabs with the JBLs were great. It's pretty tall, not terribly deep, and not heavy for a big cab. black tolex, the grill looks liek what i've seen in pics of old Sunn cabs. No serial, model, or any info - the only letters or numbers anywhere a S U N N on the badge screwed down on the top left corner on the front. One jack, unlabelled. Tough to try it without knwoing the ohms or watts, and the store dioesn't want me to take it apart to look at the speakers. The grill is torn, I can see part of one speaker. It is shiny black, with a black "dust cover" in the center. The bottyom of th ecaqb has 4 chrome "feet". The back of the cab is removable, if you have 4 hours to take out all the screws, itere are screws all the way around the edge of it and a like of screws across the back a little lower than 1/2 way down. Side handle, cheap looking rubber/plastic strap type thing. The hardware except the badge is shiny, no rust. Any ideas? Is it real? Ity's build like an old cab. Any guesses on the ohms? what was standard? I dont want to blow it or the amp up trying it out. Have a Sunn tube head coming in to the store, and I want to hook it up correctly!

Thanks
 
#2
only thing you can really do is to hit the cab with a meter to see how it's hooked up inside, impedance wise. Then play through it and see. I had a 2x15 Sunn with JBL D140's. Mine was 'center' ported and it was a realatvely light weight cab for a 2x15 and it rocked. I'd love to find another.
 
#6
If it buttons up the back with about give or take 1000 screws, and it's 42"H X 24"W X 15"D It's a 200S, (bass) or a Sentura 2 (guitar) Cab. Same cab actually, but 200S's loaded with D140's and the Sentura 2 is loaded with D130's (later called D15S in the Sunn line). Alnico across the board.

If its front loaded it's a newer model 215S and could have Sunn/CTS drivers (flat black dust covers) or D140's.

If it buttons up the back, and measures 48"H X 30"W X 15" it's a 2000S or a 1500S cab, and it's pretty rare and desireable whatever it's currently loaded with.

They all left the factory with casters on the bottom.

How much are they asking? Take your cordless drill to the store and open them up, they shouldn't get too tweaked if they expect you to shell out your hard earned cash for it.

If it looks like either of these, you may have struck gold!
 

Attachments

  • SSunn 2000S 200S.jpg
    SSunn 2000S 200S.jpg
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#8
The back does look like the one in the pic above, thogh it seemed the row of screws across was a bit lower, could just be th eangle I saw it at. The speaskers look nothing like the JBLs in the pic above though. If I bought it, I'd want those speakers. I'd also prefer a 4 ohm cab, it would make it weasier to use with my other amps, but if the speakers were right I'd live with it. Confusing thing is the vintage design, but that the metal is not corroded at all. Screws, etc, look new. Speakers look new, and shiny. Slight rips here and there in the tolex, but nothing extreme. I'll have to go back up there when they are not busy, I was there on the day they get their truck in and it was pretty crazy.
 
#10
Most if not all sunn cabs are 8Ohm if they are bass cabs
Click to expand...
Actually, all of the factory Sunn 2X15 JBL cabs I have now are loaded with two 8 ohm D140's in parallel and are 4 ohm. I've only had one '68 2000S cab that was loaded with D140F's in parallel for 8 ohms, but I'm not 100% sure they were factory loaded.
 
#11
edbass said:
If it buttons up the back with about give or take 1000 screws, and it's 42"H X 24"W X 15"D It's a 200S, (bass) or a Sentura 2 (guitar) Cab. Same cab actually, but 200S's loaded with D140's and the Sentura 2 is loaded with D130's (later called D15S in the Sunn line). Alnico across the board.

If its front loaded it's a newer model 215S and could have Sunn/CTS drivers (flat black dust covers) or D140's.

If it buttons up the back, and measures 48"H X 30"W X 15" it's a 2000S or a 1500S cab, and it's pretty rare and desireable whatever it's currently loaded with.

They all left the factory with casters on the bottom.

How much are they asking? Take your cordless drill to the store and open them up, they shouldn't get too tweaked if they expect you to shell out your hard earned cash for it.

If it looks like either of these, you may have struck gold!
Click to expand...

Jeez! That picture really shows the difference between the 2000s and 200s cabinets! The 2000s is gigantic!

I have hit silver, then. I'm picking up a 2000s cabinet loaded with two EVM 15B drivers on Wednesday for $100. I do wish it had the JBL drivers, but 15Bs are no chump change, as speakers go. At worst I'll sell them and put that money towards a pair of JBLs.

It looks like so:

IMG_0282.jpg


IMG_0004.jpg


I hope the cutouts the previous owner put in for the larger EVM speakers doesn't throw off the sound. Whoo!
 
#12
The EV is a better driver, the JBLs are weak in the mid,s EVs are strong. But I'd dump them in a heartbeat for Eminence Kappalite 3015s, they're much better drivers than either EV or JBL and would knock the cabinet weight down by 30-35 pounds. E140s are best employed as anchors. Even JBL stopped using them years ago.
 
#13
Thanks for the advice; I know next to nothing about neo speakers, although with this 215 on the way, and a 115RH and a tube head to lug around, I have been pondering cutting down the weight of my rig in all ways possible. I'm even considering building a lightweight head cabinet for my Peavey VTM head (the stock head box alone weighs 27 pounds!). 30-35 pounds would be a great relief, and if I sell the EVMs I could probably get the Kappa Lite speakers for about forty dollars more. I'll have to start reading about neo speakers.

I have a question, actually: Are reflex horn-loaded enclosures such as these Sunn cabs and in my Music Man 115RH, are they more forgiving regarding switching out drivers than other ported enclosures? Because I'm curious how a Kappa Lite would work in this cabinet. Thanks,

-Stephen
 
#14
SherpaKahn said:
I have a question, actually: Are reflex horn-loaded enclosures such as these Sunn cabs and in my Music Man 115RH, are they more forgiving regarding switching out drivers than other ported enclosures?
Click to expand...
No, because neither is a horn to begin with. They're both reflex cabs with odd-shaped ducts, designed according to the Fernando method: 'It looks good'. Neither works as well as a properly designed and constructed enclosure, but since there are precious few of those on the market either they still manage to hold their own. For the most part modern drivers will work in them just fine, as driver manufacturers tailor their new models to make them compatable with existing cabinets.
 

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