Sunn Slave or Power Amp, or PA Head Recommendation

[NsubUlysses]

I was hoping someone could help me out with a recommendation for a head. The head would power an Acoustic 201 cabinet (two 15s and a horn) that is 4 ohms, and would be running a drum machine..

I need volume, serious volume. Right now I have a Peavey Mark IV bass head to run into it but I can't get the volume I need. The head is 210 watts solid state at 4 ohms.

What I'm looking for is a head that is 4 ohms, and can keep up volume-wise with a reissue Model T full stack. With the Mark IV head I can only turn the Model T up to about 3 before it blows the drum machine away.

I know the Coliseum Slaves are 2 ohms and 300 watts. Concert Slaves are 200 watts and 4 ohms? Do you think a Concert Slave would be loud enough? I had a Concert Lead that I recently sold, and that thing was not nearly loud enough. Plus, it broke up around 6.

Since this head and cab combo would be used for drum machine, I need to put out a signal that is high volume, but doesn't really break up.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!


Also, I think maybe it could just be the head breaking up at high volumes, but when I crank it with the Peavey head it gets static-ey with the open hi hat and the crash cymbals. Is it possible the 15s I have can't handle the high end of the cymbals on the drum machine? They are Carvin 400 watt PA speakers. I would imagine PA speakers should be able to handle cymbals no problem. Freq. Response: 38-3.5k.

http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=PS15&CID=RSPK

[rick.heil]

You might even be fine just getting a cheap PA amplifier if all the thing is going to be running is a drum machine and you don't need to run a bass through it.  If you wanted to stay Sunn, there are some ones on eBay I'm sure.

[feel the sunn]

Also, I think maybe it could just be the head breaking up at high volumes, but when I crank it with the Peavey head it gets static-ey with the open hi hat and the crash cymbals. Is it possible the 15s I have can't handle the high end of the cymbals on the drum machine? They are Carvin 400 watt PA speakers. I would imagine PA speakers should be able to handle cymbals no problem. Freq. Response: 38-3.5k.

most cymbals will have frequencies well above 3.5k. 

[rick.heil]

Yes, that is true, but the horn should take care of the higher frequencies as long as you have it crossed over correctly.

[mckinnon audio]

  Hi there, you're probably going to find that the typical eq. controls available on a instrument amp aren't enough to make your drum machine sound like real drums. You should probably consider a 1/3 oct. graphic eq. and maybe a comp./limiter for the transients off the kick and snare. Good luck Mel.

[basiklybass]

I am currently running my electronic drum set ( a drum machine with trigger pads) through a Nemisis 250 with my Sunn 115BH loaded with a Utah speaker. While not able to say how it would hold up against a Model T, I do know that I can't turn it up past about 60% before it drives you out of the room. We used it last week at a small club, maybe 100 people. It was way too loud. It does have a compresser built into it.

[rick.heil]

Mel is correct with the tone thing.   I would still say investing in a small mixer or even rack-mount EQ would be good.  Couple it with a reliable power amp and you'll probably sound more realistic than a regular bass amp.

[NsubUlysses]

Very interesting. I actually just bought an EQ but was planning to use it with the Model T. It's this Sunn 9 band EQ. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260088557626. I wasn't even looking for it. I just bid on it to see if I could actually win it for that cheap, and I did!

Would something like that be a wide enough bandwidth to be used effectively with a drum machine and power amp?

Also, this is the horn in the cab. I would assume this alone would handle the high end well enough and not blow? I don't really know. I'm a guitar guy, I just deal with 4x12s, not PA cabs.

http://www.theavguy.com/horns/atlas-apc30t.htm

Thank you to everyone who has offered their insight.

[rick.heil]

The EQ should be fine.


I can't really speak as to how the horn would do, I'm really not experienced in building cabs with crossovers.