Anybody tell me about bass cab SPL-8028? Sounds GREAT!

[ryco]

I bought this sunn cab offa standup player for $100 a buncha years ago. Anyone ever hear of this? MOD # SPL-8028 features an ev 12 and ev 18. Cab measures 40"h 24"w 20"d and came with a back brace :kidding:. Can be run to an internal passive x-over (700w prog 375w rms 4o) or can run biamp in (mid: 300w prog ,150w 8o; bass: 400w prog 225w rms 8o). Is this a true bass cab or a PA cab? Cannot distort it. I run it in conjunction with a marshall bass cab featuring 4 x 12 for highs. I bought the marsh off of a guitar player buddy who used it to set plants on (??!!) for $100. He has a full marsh stack anyway. I didn't know marshall even made bass gear - but there it is on the back -- "type bass stock # 1935". Don't know what it has for speakers - too many screws to take out for curiosity sake. This is quite the set up. Unfortunately there aren't many places to use it around here. I've used it at a few outdoor gigs. It sounds great in the garage but it scares the kitties.

[Don T.]

Hello:
 That unit was sold as a bass cabinet. The only problem with it was the acoustic loading of the 18" driver. It was originally designed for the SPL 18 which exhibited a higher rezonant FZ with a stiffer suspension. The EV 18 had problems crashing the VC into the backplate at high levels and low FZ. The SPL 18 was rated at 200w rms / 400w program / 600w peak so it could really handle the power. The EV was not rated as high but I don't remember what the specs are. You may be able to find them at the EV web site.

[Rex B]

Cool. Nice to know there is still an 8028 out there. I designed it mostly as a bass cabinet, but it could also be used as the mid-bottom end of a 3 way PA with the NW Sound horn bi-amped or tri-amped. Don, you are right, it unloaded below 40 hz, and the 18 could "hard-bottom". It originally used an SPL 918R and SPL 912E.  I was a Rickenbacker 4001 stereo player at the time, and it was pretty much designed around that concept, stereo/biamp. Geddy Lee, Chris Squire and Pete Cetera were also playing 4001s at the time, and the 8028 was aimed at their stage needs. We road-tested it with The Commodores (bass player Ron something I think).  The slant baffle on the 18" was kind of a cross between a Thiele parameter bass reflex and rear loaded horn. I used a similar design on the Model 14 PA box, which was kind of a scaled down full range MI version of the 8028. Marketing liked the slant baffle horn look because it was reminiscent of the previous RH style designs.

[ryco]

Wow!! Thanks for posting! What a thrill to meet the designer!
I've been using Sunn since high school '72. 200s + Sunn reflex 18 then. Still have the 200s, but sold the 18 late 80s.
I have a Concert and a Concert Slave as well, but they're "in retirement".

Story: I grew up in Seattle. One weekend, while in high school, a couple of guitar player buddies and I hitchhiked down to Tualitin just to see where Sunn was made. We were crazy about Sunn! Came upon a small bldg, almost looked like a gas station, with the Sunn logo in the window. Unfortunately it was closed for the weekend and no one was around.

I pulled some round plywood speaker cut outs from the dumpster and gave them to my old man, who was an artist.
One of those fun dumb kid times.