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Sunn 215SH questions!

M

MrRickenbacker

Dec 24, 2010
6
1
Coloma, Michigan
#1
I'm going to be buying a Peavey Mark III 400B amplifier and a Sunn 215SH soon. The guy I'm buying it from says it's pretty rare and I can't find much info on it besides the specs. I have a picture of one below. It's not the one I'm buying but that is the model.

Has anyone owned one of these? What year(s) were they produced? What amp were they originally pared with? Is this a Fender Sunn produced cab or an original?
 

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#2
It's a Sunn original , a front loaded folded horn , they were paired with the Concert Bass head . Not much mids but probably gets pretty loud and would have good low mid punch . Probably sounds pretty cool if the speakers are good . In the early 70's when these were produced a lot of Sunns cabinets had Cerwin Vega speakers .
 
#3
I owned a couple of these. Lot's of bottom and throw. Just under 100 lbs. and built like a tank. Hope you've got a van or pickup to haul it. I loved mine and ocassionally look to see if any are for sale but your right, they are rare. If you want a sample of what Heaven sounds like, hook up an SVT to one and crank it. Mine had Sunn 158B transducers in it.
 
#4
So did you wind up buying it, and if so how do you like it? I've had one of those since the early 80's and even though it's big and heavy, I think it's a great cab. I'm even replacing the drivers in mine so I can put the full power of my new Crown amp through it. Even with the original 158B transducers and a moderately powered Sunn amp it was impressively loud with great bass response. With new drivers and my Crown it's gonna be an awesome beast.
 
#5
ejt said:
So did you wind up buying it, and if so how do you like it? I've had one of those since the early 80's and even though it's big and heavy, I think it's a great cab. I'm even replacing the drivers in mine so I can put the full power of my new Crown amp through it. Even with the original 158B transducers and a moderately powered Sunn amp it was impressively loud with great bass response. With new drivers and my Crown it's gonna be an awesome beast.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great project! I have a bunch of Sunn equipment but not any like yours.

If you can, post your results/pics/clips here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/old-cabs-w-new-speakers-diy-adventure-club-good-bad-fugly-924000/
 
#8
MrRickenbacker said:
I'm going to be buying a Peavey Mark III 400B amplifier and a Sunn 215SH soon. The guy I'm buying it from says it's pretty rare and I can't find much info on it besides the specs. I have a picture of one below. It's not the one I'm buying but that is the model.

Has anyone owned one of these? What year(s) were they produced? What amp were they originally pared with? Is this a Fender Sunn produced cab or an original?
Click to expand...


Yes, it's rare. There aren't a lot of them out there. My rig back in the '70s was one of those with the standard front-facing 2x15 Sunn cab on top. The horn is designed to lay down on its side, so I added some feet to the front loaded cab, and laid it sideways on top. Drove it with a Sunn Concert head for a while, then an Acoustic 370. Short of JBL double-scoops, nothing much came close for filling a big room

The cab has a very long throw. If you're standing right in front of it, you'll want to turn up. If you do, the soundman will be screaming at you within minutes. Having the front 15s let me hear myself clearly without pissing everybody else in the band off. :D

As noted above, no high end at all, so you'll want *something* front facing with some frequency range to fill it out and let you hear yourself.
 

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