sunn transducers

[Tate Johnson]

I have a Sunn Coliseum 118 bass cabinet. According to the rear tag, the cabinet is loaded with an 18", 4-ohm Sunn transducer. When I removed the back and looked at the label on the speaker magnet, it read: "Vega Associates, North Hollywood--model #0188, 4-ohm." Assuming that this is the original speaker, can anyone tell me the approximate power handling of this speaker? Please note; when I ran an old 100-watt Marshall Super Bass through it set at 4-ohms, I could only turn it up to about 2 or 3. The speaker (I assume) began breaking up after that! I can only think of two possible explanations for the distortion: either the speaker isn't really that great and it's breaking up, or the speaker is too strong and is drawing too much out of the Marshall and causing it to overdrive, which is hard to believe. What would be an appropriate tube amp for this cabinet alone?

[Don T.]

Hello:
 Depending on year of manufacture the cabinet could be JBL, Eminence or Sunn. During my time at Sunn we made all speakers for production (late 70's through 1984). It would help if I knew the model #. It sounds like it should be loaded with the Magna 18 which had a 4" voice coil, a 12 lb magnet assembly and an aluminum basket. Later 18's were the SPL series which had a 3" voice coil, 12 lb magnet assy and a black aluminum basket. I recall Vega speakers coming out in the 80's - or was that Cerwin Vega?
Don T.

[Rick]

I had a pair of these cabinets wich I bought used around 1975 / 6  - 0188  4-ohm drivers in a sealed box, labeled Vega.  4-inch voice coil with an aluminum dome cover.  Not sure about the basket material or color.  Often wondered if they were OEM'd from Cerwin-Vega (probably were).  I ran a Marshall Major amp into them (along with my own tube amps), sometimes an Ampeg V4-B using a 68 Tele bass or various P-basses.  Always thought the combinations sounded awfull !  The Precision's and Ampeg sounded better than the Tele and Marshall, but not by much.  Sadly, and oddly, the sound was always thin and distorted.  The Major was always a thin-sounding amp, even with an SVT cabinet.  The Tele, with Rotosounds, was a hollow-sounding bass, and the Sunn cabs were very crude (at least by todays standards) - a lot like Bassmans or Kustoms with D-140's.  Technically great speakers in poor enclosures.  Cabinet tuning was still pretty primative at that time.  Just build a box that looks impressive was the order of the day.  And I'm very sure of the period I had them - the rig was to be used at an NCO club at Fort Dix, NJ on the night of Ali's last fight - we drove 70 miles to the gig only to find that it was cancelled because the guys wanted to watch the fight, not be entertained by a rock and roll band.  That was to be our last gig as a band.  Anyway, the Sunns and Teles and Marshall are gone... be nice to have "em back!
There are a lot of good amps on the market these days.  Just drag your cabinet to the local music store and try a lot of amps with your cabinet.  Everybody wants to hear something different - it's all trial-and-error.
Good luck, and hope this helps.  Email comments, as I very rarely get to this board.