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SUNN 215 SH Cab from 1975

Oren Hudson

Oren Hudson

Dec 25, 2007
4,080
2,380
74
Gastonia, NC
#1
I've just finished rehabbing this cab. Had no speakers in it when I got it. For a 39 year old cab, it was in pretty decent shape. I had to rework the speaker attachment holes and rework the wheels. The rest was mostly cleaning, cleaning and cleaning, especially the mandatory paint splatters, buffing, touchups etc. I installed a nice pair of JBL D140F's. They just oozed warmth, tone and amazing volume with a 325 watt SUNN Coliseum head. Then, just for fun, I added a SUNN 200S 2x15 cab, also with JBL D140F's, to the party. What a party! Even more of everything. Makes me a very happy bass thumper. :D
 

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#5
When I read what you did, I took a double take on where you're at to see if I could come over to hear it! Seriously, a Coliseum head into two 2-15's? I'm 1200 miles from you and think I heard it from here :-) I had the 2-15 cab from 1973 (front facing with the side vent from top to bottom, think it was a 215B. Ran a Concert head and moved to a Coliseum head through it, sweet. Good job on the resteration by the way!
 
#7
Back in its heyday that Sunn bottom was one of the best available. I'm not certain that the JBLs are a good match for it - but if you're okay with how it sounds it its fine. The original speakers had a nice well balanced sound with good top end especially for 15s (they might have been CTS but I can't remember)
 
#8
I had one of these and one of the later models that was slightly larger. FREAKIN' AWESOME cabs. They are truly a treat. Use it with an SVT and you will reach tone nirvana. The weight is worth it. If you ever decide to sell, please contact me first.
 
#10
Thanks for the comments and compliments guys.

JimSalomao - I appreciate that.

Fluid Power - Amazing how speakers designed in the 60's sound so good and powerful. The ones in the 215 SH are rebuilds, but the ones in the 200S are originals!

sketch - this is a folded horn design. The speakers are mounted in a chamber that faces the rear of the cab, almost caddy cornered, and fire into the curved smooth surface that exits to the front.

Gizmot - These cabs came standard with the Sunn Transducer 158B speaker with some type of EV as the upgrade. I've not discovered what EV. I was skeptical at first on the JBL's and tried some other drivers first, but I am extremely happy with how the JBL's performed better than others. JBL's were standard in Sunn's till the mid 70's or thereabouts.

iammr2 - I've only tried it with the Coliseum. I'll try the SVT in the near future. You're in line for it should it have to leave.

jj4001 - Thank you kind sir. Sweet indeed.

The 200S cab works fine, but I need to do a cleaning and detailing on it. I'll post pics when it's through. :D
 
#13
sketch said:
Sorry for my ignorance, can you explain the shape of the cab & where the drivers are firing? I'm having a hard time visualizing it from the 4 pics..
Click to expand...

sketch : just for you, here's a little schematic 'sketch' of the cabinet from the top view as if the top were removed. It is not exactly to scale. The light grey triangle is the speaker. The yellow sections are enclosed parts of the cabinet. The speaker faces the rear in a sealed enclosure.

Ages ago, I had two of these cabinets and a Carvin amp that put out 250W into the 2Ω load it saw from them. They were a slightly different version with no horizontal board in the middle. The band I was in was so loud that I tore the surrounds of all four speakers. There are some more war stories about these and other Sunn folded horn cabinets in this thread.
 

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#14
About the speaker mounting chamber on these. The interior curve of the "horn" is such that there is no speaker mounting hole for the far side middle speaker hole. Just not enough room, as the speaker fits tightly against that "horn" curve. Tight access for the ones directly above and below that mounting hole as well. Short handled Phillips only. :cool:
 

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