The sunn Forum
Sunn Musical Equipment => DIY => Topic started by: Jeff Troy on October 25, 2011, 08:27:52 pm
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Hi, Buds,
Thanks to everyone who helped me with images and suggestions for a cabinet to complement my Concert Bass head.
I decided on the 115V, and built the following cabinet from a combination of the specs on the catalog page and the image you sent.
Without specific interior dimensions, it's surely less than a perfect knockoff, but it looks good to me and should do nicely with the Legend 15 CB158.
Front View 115V
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk235/jefftroyimages/Sunn%202000S%20and%20115V%20Cabinets/01115VFront.jpg)
Baffle Detail
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk235/jefftroyimages/Sunn%202000S%20and%20115V%20Cabinets/02115VBaffleDetail.jpg)
Interior View
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk235/jefftroyimages/Sunn%202000S%20and%20115V%20Cabinets/03115VInterior.jpg)
Rear View w/Back
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk235/jefftroyimages/Sunn%202000S%20and%20115V%20Cabinets/04115VRearwBack.jpg)
Front View w/ Grille Frame
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk235/jefftroyimages/Sunn%202000S%20and%20115V%20Cabinets/05115VwGrilleFrame.jpg)
I have the speaker, Tolex, grille cloth, corners, casters and all the stainless fasteners to complete the cabinet, even a set of original Sunn jack cups. I'll post more images when the job is finished and the Concert Bass head is sitting on top of it.
I've also finished the construction of the two 2000S cabinets that I wanted for my 2000S head. The original drawings are available from Conrad for $35. Images for these cabinets are in a separate thread.
Thanks again to everyone else who helped me make the 115V decision.
Warmest regards,
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Where did you get the speaker jack cups? Have you found anything that can be substituted for them? I think the hole is one inch in diameter.
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Hi, Thud,
When I need another jack cup, I use the inner half from one of my other pieces of equipment. No one sees the inside, and I can fudge a pretty clean fit with other available parts.
You're correct on the 1-inch hole for the cup. Closet pulls are all 3/4 or much larger, and I haven't found anything in a 1-inch diameter.
Warmest...
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Try this url. It is for a nickel cup that has a 1" inside diameter. Just found it today for two cabs I'm redoing. I ordered 4 and will see how they work. In the meantime here's where I found them...http://www.myknobs.com/haf15320715.html (http://www.myknobs.com/haf15320715.html)
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You can use the little metal cups they sell at HD that go into sliding closet doors too.
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Now that the site seems to be safe again, here's a shot of the finished 115V homebrew cabinet.
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk235/jefftroyimages/115Finished_1.jpg)
Warmest regards,
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Looks great, Jeff!
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Thanks, ace.
Only change I made was to switch to a rear load.
Speaker is an Eminence Legend 58.
The head/cab combination sounds really good.
Warmest regards,
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Thanks, ace.
Only change I made was to switch to a rear load.
Speaker is an Eminence Legend 58.
The head/cab combination sounds really good.
Warmest regards,
Why did you decide to rear load the cab?
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Hi, Ed,
I had only a photo that one of the members put up and the fixed outer dimensions from the catalog page. I just drew it out from that with the rest being guesswork.
When I mounted the speaker, the grill frame protruded too far from the cabinet walls. I just didn't figure for quite enough recess in the baffle.
Converting to rear load was no problem, and I doubt that it makes any difference in the sound. I wasn't trying to make an exact replica, just a good-sounding cab to go with my Concert Bass head. That happened.
Warmest...
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Well it sure looks good, well done! I can't imagine front or rear loading having any discernable effect on the performance of the cab either, I was just curious why you chose to rear load it.
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Do you have a drawing on that single 15 cab?
I might need another project soon :-)
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Hi, Greg,
I did it from simple sketches, but I could do a drawing for you easily enough. I just have to find my roughs.
Send me an email so I have your contact (jefftroy@aol.com or parkpiloteditor@aol.com).
Warmest regards,
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If you want dimensions on the front-loaded 115V, let me know and I'll measure them and take some photos.
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Question: Really, shouldn't the angled baffle be going in the opposite direction (angling up behind the speaker) and the port opening be smaller at the front of the cab ? Or doesn't the direction matter?
Is the 115V different then say a half of a 200S Cab ?
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I looked at several cabinet choices, but had only a single, small image for each one to build from.
Here's the thread with the 115V: http://sunn.ampage.org/sdp/index.php/topic,6660.14.html
The previous page of that thread has two or three other single-speaker cabinets, and every one shows the baffle angling away from the speaker, not toward it as it does on the 200S and 2000S cabinets.
Warmest...
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Hi, CLD,
I'd love to have the correct dimensions. Greg would like a drawing and it would be nice to do it for him correctly.
I figured out what happened with the front load/rear load thing. I used 1/2-inch wood for the two grille mounting strips ahead of the baffle. If I had used 3/4-inch strips, the speaker would not have come into contact with the grille and I would have set the baffle back far enough during construction to have given ample recess for the grille inside the cabinet frame.
Anyway, YES. PLEASE. I would love to have images and dimensions. Any format you choose is okay to: jefftroy@aol.com or parkpiloteditor@aol.com.
Thanks again, and warmest regards,
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Question: Really, shouldn't the angled baffle be going in the opposite direction (angling up behind the speaker) and the port opening be smaller at the front of the cab ? Or doesn't the direction matter?
Is the 115V different then say a half of a 200S Cab ?
Yep. It's half of a 215S/M/V cab, and IMO makes some advantageous design concessions that make those later Sunn cabs far more flexible.
The older 200S and Sonic I-40 cabs have the port ducting that angles behind the speaker.
While they sound great with an AlNiCo JBL, the combination of the ducting and the rear loading of the driver(s) make them very restrictive in regards to loading any driver with a bigger magnet than the old JBL's.
Also, the front loading 215S/115S style cabs are MUCH easier to swap drivers in and out of. Removing the back panel of the older cabs is a chore; even with a power driver.
This cab had about 6 sets of 15's in it in one day, some several times. Would have been a much harder chore if it were a rear loading cab. You can see the port ducting pretty clearly in this picture.
(http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt341/EdBass/DSC000122011.jpg)
The cab has EVM15L's in it now and that is my "go to" gig rig. I love my Sunns, but for it's size that rig absolutely kicks ass and takes names.
Just ignore my knee...
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Thanks, Ed.
Interesting piece of Sunn cab history. I was going by the "old" style 200S cab.
Good point about the flexibility especially regarding mounting different speakers. I had to completely re-do the guts of my 200S cab because somebody had cut up the angled baffles to make a pair of Black Widows fit.
I have that same 215S cab and you absolutely right about how much easier the front loading aspect makes it to install speakers. I needed something in that cab that would take a bit more power so I put a pair of Eminence Bass-lite 2515's in mine and they sound fantastic, IMO.
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I think the 115/215S-M-V series cabs may be the most versatile 15” bass guitar enclosures I’ve ever used. The D140F loaded 200S/Sonic I40 are IMO quite possibly the most “musical”, sweetest sounding bass cabs ever built; however as has been discussed they are pretty much physically limited to those old JBL’s. I can’t think of a driver that sounds bad in later 115/215S et al cabs, and more importantly they’ll ALL FIT!
While by default the members of this forum think the Sunn bass cabs sound superb, the adulation of Sunn cab designs are not just limited to Sunn-o-philes.
For example…
During the extensive testing for Reeves we used vintage AlNiCo and ceramic JBL, EV’s and CTS as sort of a “control”, and auditioned Eminence, WGS, EV, Celestion, and Faital Pro as potential suppliers for the production cabinets. In all honesty nothing sounded bad, I would gladly gig any of those drivers in a 115/215 Sunn cab.
We also had an Orange OBC115, Trace Elliot (EV TL606 clone), Sonic I40 that we used for driver/cab comparison. Once the driver was picked, Reeves commissioned a box built to that speaker’s T/S parameters as well as one that was “half a 215S”.
Here’s a pic of the ½ 115S and the Theile box together, we spent the majority of our total time just A/Bing these two boxes.
(http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt341/EdBass/DSC00020.jpg)
And the winner was…
(http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt341/EdBass/DSC00016.jpg)
Look familiar fellow Sunn geeks? While I’m obviously biased towards the Sunn design, I wasn’t the only person involves in the decision by a long shot; and I certainly didn’t have the final say in the selection process.
It just sounded the best – by unanimous decision.
It’s 2” deeper and ¼” taller than a 115S/M/V to compensate for loss of internal volume because of construction differences such as deeper mounted baffle, recessed handles, etc.
http://www.reevesamps.com/bassCabinets.htm
However, it’s pretty much just a dressed up Sunn 115S/M/V wearing Reeves clothes.
Sorry for the derail; I suppose my point is…
If you guys are going to go to the effort to build your own “Sunn” boxes, IMO you couldn’t have picked a better model to emulate, and the results look exemplary!
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Getting back to the topic of measurements, I sent Jeff the photo earlier (posted here, too) but didn't have time to send the measurements. This would be a lot easier if I could include the drawing but here goes:
The speaker is, of course, 15" across. On the inside of the cabinet, the distances are 21.25" each from top to bottom and from side to side.
The two vertical pieces along the sides are 1.5" wide. As you can see, the speaker goes all the way to the top of the face (as shown in this photo), has 1.5" space on each side (to the vertical pieces mentioned above) and .25" space to the bottom of the face plate.
The baffle piece affixes to the back of the plywood face, and the baffle piece is 10 3/8". The end of the face plate measures 2" from the back of the cabinet. I believe the gap from the edge of the baffle piece to the bottom of the inside wall also is 2".
Jeff, I have a crude drawing if this isn't clear enough. Let me know and I'll mail it to you.
Carter
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Thanks, Duncan,
I've printed the note and will work up a drawing for Greg.
Warmest regards,
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Question: Really, shouldn't the angled baffle be going in the opposite direction (angling up behind the speaker) and the port opening be smaller at the front of the cab ? Or doesn't the direction matter?
Is the 115V different then say a half of a 200S Cab ?
Sometimes they make the port like that so it is like a "horn", with a smaller throat which opens up, like a megaphone.
If you look at speakers like the Klipsch (folded) corner horn or the Acoustic 360 bass speaker you can get the idea, but I think the megaphone example illustrates it best
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I made a mistake on the message above, which is obvious looking at the photograph and checking my drawing. The amount of faceplate visible BELOW the speaker is .25" inch (one-quarter inch) not 2.5 inches. Sorry about that.
BTW, it's Dunkin (donuts) not Duncan (yo-yos).
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Got it, and really, it should be Carter. That last name thing always strikes me as kinda crude.
So... it wasn't for f'ing up, there'd be no up at all.
Have a great new year, my friend.
Warmest regards,