215B SPL

[Frankie Fender]

I just picked up a 215B SPL black grill one port along the side. The back panel says 4 ohms rated 400watts/800 watts peak. no mention of Fender and the serial number is a sticker. It has the black & white sunn logo with the red sun and a separate SPL logo at the bottom. I tried to open it up and look at the back of the speakers but they were sealed and I didn't want to break the seal. It looks like the only way they come out is through the front.

Anyhow, does anyone have any info on this cab. The speakers have metal dust cones so along with the high power rating am I safe to assume that they are JBL's? I would guess the cab is from the 80's but am not sure.

BTW this cabinet rocks at loud volume.

TIA FF

[Don T.]

Hello:
 That cabinet has SUNN SPL 15's in it. Those are the coolest of the cool SPL line. I designed PA cabinets (in 84) around them that really rock.

SPL = 3"VC, aluminum frame, 12lb vented magnet assy. We tested these by plugging the speaker into a 120v ac outlet and walking away. 60hz @400 watts all day long. Then we put 400 watts of white noise through them and left them on the shipping dock overnight (too damn loud inside the building). They held up fine, no thermal or mechanical breakdown. The only problem with them now is repair parts. Waldom said they would wind voice coils but we would have to buy 100 of them @ $32.00 each. I still have some cones, spyders, dust caps, gaskets and HD silver cotton tinsel leads.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply, it really is a great sounding cabinet. It definitely has the cast-frame 15's and it is rock solid. I thought it was a steal for the $250 I paid for it.

I am assuming the SPL was a beefed up pro line, how long did they produce it?

[Don T.]

Hello:]
 SPL drivers replaced the "Magna" series from the 70's. They came out around 81~82.

[basiklybass]

Wow, I got a good deal then, just picked up a 215B SPl, the speakers look like Altec Lansings...paid $133.00 for it.

[Rex B]

I designed the SPL speakers. The SPL215B had the SPL 915E in it. You can tell a 915E from a 915R by the aluminum dust cap. 96 oz magnet, 3" aluminum rectangular edgewound voice coil. As I remember, the magnet assy weighed more like 23 lb. It actually saturated the gap (about 20,000 gauss). Can't get any more. Last I checked, JMAC in Portland Oregon still had some replacement parts for the SPL stuff. I sold the entire Sunn speaker manufacturing line to Randy Summers of Tech Audio in Milwaukie Oregon (just south of Portland) He is still in business, not sure if he still has any parts or not. Don....where did you get your parts? Power handling...yep, they held together fairly well. I designed the voice coil to be closer to the pole piece at room temperature, so at about 500W RMS pink noise, it would expand to ride dead center between the pole place and top plate. The most common failure was the just fatigue where the coil wire met the tinsel wire.