Sunn 6x10 Cab

[Jagermonster]

Heya guys,

There's an old (black tolex, silver grille cloth) 6x10 for sale in my area that I'm pretty interested in. I have two concerns:

1) the 6ohm rating, which after searching around here, seems like a non-issue...running it off the 8ohm tap of my Solarus is allegedly safe.
2) can the aluminum dome speakers handle heavy distortion/fuzz without getting harsh/fizzy? I know people warn against using JBLs with tons of saturated distortion, but I can't find anything about how these 6x10s actually sound; most of the information around is relating to ohm ratings, construction, and versions.

If anyone has any experience using these cabs for "heavy" music, I'd really appreciate some guidance before I make a move on it. Thanks, as always!

[EdBass]

I don't think you have anything to worry about with the nominal 6 ohm impedance. The key word is "nominal"; impedance is not an exact science. Depending on frequency, power, etc. that "6 ohm" cab may be showing the amp an 8 ohm load more than an "8 ohm" cab does.
Look at some impedance curves on driver specs, as the frequency changes so does the actual impedance of the speaker.

This is also what makes the fascination with "running at 2" a generally lame idea for those who find it important to do so with their transistor amps.

Whether the cab can handle heavy distortion/fuzz depends on what drivers are in the cab. They aren't JBLs unless someone put them in the cab at a later date, but even if they are I've never heard anyone warn against using JBLs "with tons of saturated distortion". What is supposed to happen to them?

[Jagermonster]

I don't think you have anything to worry about with the nominal 6 ohm impedance. The key word is "nominal"; impedance is not an exact science. Depending on frequency, power, etc. that "6 ohm" cab may be showing the amp an 8 ohm load more than an "8 ohm" cab does.
Look at some impedance curves on driver specs, as the frequency changes so does the actual impedance of the speaker.

This is also what makes the fascination with "running at 2" a generally lame idea for those who find it important to do so with their transistor amps.

Whether the cab can handle heavy distortion/fuzz depends on what drivers are in the cab. They aren't JBLs unless someone put them in the cab at a later date, but even if they are I've never heard anyone warn against using JBLs "with tons of saturated distortion". What is supposed to happen to them?

The 6x10 I'm after has the stock 10" Sunn speakers. I haven't seen a pic of the backs, but I assume they're the 108G Transducers.

Mostly I'm going by the Weber Speakers site that recommends not using their aluminum dust cap speakers with overdrive/distortion due to a tendency to get over-agressive or harsh in the higher frequencies. I've also heard that the aluminum caps can lend a high freq presence that can't really be dialed out (a thread here mentions the speakers "buzzing" at a certain frequency).

I don't personally know anyone who uses anything but paper cap'd speakers, so I'm not sure what the deal is, generally. The Weber admonition might have more to do with their speaker design more than just the cap material; again, I don't know.

At any rate, I'm just asking if anyone has any experience using the 6x10 with a lot of distortion and whether the treble content differs noticeably from paper dust cap'd speakers.

[EdBass]

I guess that makes sense, you had me confused. I read your post as describing a design deficiency in the way JBLs handle "tons of saturated distortion" and it seems what you were actually describing is the nuances of metal dust covers.
The reason that manufacturers use(d) metal covers was to help extend the upper frequency response of what was essentially a woofer; to make it a more "full range" driver for use in one speaker systems without using a dedicated tweeter.

Aluminum dust covers are certainly brighter than paper ones, and if you are after a darker, less "hi-fi" sounding cab you wouldn't want aluminum caps. The metal covers also have a tendency to "beam" hi frequencies, so at high SPLs standing in directly front of a metal covered driver could probably be described as harsh.
Maybe even painful...

Since it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to determine the “sound in your head” and vice versa, you should probably just pick up the cab and see if you like it. If not you can always dump it!

[loudthud]

Those V baffled cabinets take some getting used to. The highs come out the front at an angle, seems strange at first.

[Jagermonster]

Thanks, guys. The cab is located a pretty good distance from me. Kind of reluctant to drive out there and find it won't do what I want. Tearing it up and replacing the speakers would suck...I think I'd feel too guilty to do that.

Again, if anyone has any experience running this particular cab, chime in!

[Isaac]

I played in a band back in the 70's in which one of the guitarists used a 610S. I don't recall there being any issues with either impedance or tone.

As for the 108G driver itself, I have a 410S that sounds great, and another with one "fizzy" driver. I bought several off ebay to replace the bad one, and all were "fizzy". All in the same frequency band, too. So that can be an issue.