might sound dumb..

[Ryanx]

but i found a near mint SA 10 100 watt dual power amp in a real small shop in my area and want to buy it but am not sure what exactly it is.  could i use it as a slave?  i'm in the market for a slave and this seems to be really good pricing.  so if it's worth the buy i'll pick it up.

[Johann]

the SA series amplifiers are just power amps, like your run of the mill crowns et al.


you could use it to power other cabs with the output of your head yeah, so I guess you could call it a slave amplifier

[rick.heil]

Yep.  The SA series is just a PA amplifier, not a guitar or bass amplifier.

[Ryanx]

see this all i know, i'm just wondering if i could use it as a slave.


100 bucks it is.

[rick.heil]

It depends on what you want to use it for.  For bass, should work just fine.  For guitar, probably less fine.

[Ryanx]

i would want to use it for guitar more than likely but i don't know because i have both rigs stocked full of cabs, a lot of cab options and i need to power them all, and i just want more and more power

[JoeArthur]

i would want to use it for guitar more than likely but i don't know because i have both rigs stocked full of cabs, a lot of cab options and i need to power them all, and i just want more and more power

Ignore Rick   

A power amp is a power amp and there is no special unique design criteria applied that would make one suitable over another for PA, bass or guitar use. (The power amps for the Beta Lead, Beta Bass and Beta slave are exactly the same).

If you're using Windows, there is an .exe file in the manuals section of this site that will let you view the operating instructions. You have a number of cab connection options.

Here is a direct link:

http://sunn.ampage.org/site/svcmans/SApoweramp/sa21.exe

[rick.heil]

Whoops... thanks for the correction Joe.  Only thing you have to watch for is that you have a clean (no clipping) signal going into your power amp input and you'll be fine.

[Isaac]

Why does the signal need to be clean? Any decent power amp can amplify a distorted signal as well as a clean one.

[rick.heil]

Now, granted, I use Crown amps for live stuff and some older Alesis amps for reference... they all shut down if the signal or the output clips crazily for a specified period of time... I would think the Sunns also have that kind of protection?  Correct me if I'm wrong, and I have the sneaking suspicion that I am.

[JoeArthur]

Now, granted, I use Crown amps for live stuff and some older Alesis amps for reference... they all shut down if the signal or the output clips crazily for a specified period of time... I would think the Sunns also have that kind of protection?  Correct me if I'm wrong, and I have the sneaking suspicion that I am.

Ok... you're wrong!! 

I don't know about Crowns or Alesis, but it would be strange for any power amp to have protection that shuts it down because it receives an input signal that's been previous clipped - like by a fuzz or preamp.

Some of the sunn slaves do have a clipping indicator. When the output signal isn't the same compared to the input signal, as it would be when the power amp is clipping, a voltage can be generated proportional to the difference to light up an LED.

That difference voltage could in some amps be used to reduce the level of the input signal - that's basically how Peavey's DDT and the AGC switch on the old Acoustic 260's worked.

And the Beta amps do have a power limiting circuit that can reduce the drive signal to the output transistors, but it doesn't shut the amp down.

When a power amp is driven into clipping for a sufficient period of time, the increased duty cycle can build up heat in the output transistors. Heat can also build up by driving a lower impedance than recommended speaker load. Some amps have a thermal circuit breaker mounted to the heat sink and if it gets hot enough it will shut down the amp until it cools off.

[rick.heil]

Thermal circuit breakers are common on most amps these days, that I know, I've driven a few of my Crowns a wee bit too hard and had quiet for five seconds...

...other than that, thanks for the edumacation

[basiklybass]

I would suggest seeing if you can try it out. I have an Alesis RA100 and an Altec 2202. They sure sound different. Both are solid state..both 75W into 8 ohms.....but the Altec is much darker sounding. Same preamp, same input, same speakers...and they sound different. I like the Altec for listening to music and the Alesis for a monitor amp for our PA.

I have not AB'ed a bunch of amps...but I do believe that any amp in that power range will have it's own flavor. I believe this is because of the price point they are/were sold at. Get more power...spend more money...get a different animal.

Only my thoughts...like I said, never AB'ed a bunch of them and I can only go on my own experiance.

Then again...for a hundred bucks.....what the hay, give it a whirl.

[Ryanx]

okay so now here's my UPDATED situation:


i have an Orange Rockerverb 100 head.  i have 3 SUNN cabs, (2 - 4x12, 1 - 2x15) all 8 ohm cabinets.  the Orange head will not allow me to run beneath an 8 ohm load.  i wanted to get the Sunn 11 SA power amp and run all of the cabs through that.  how would i be able to pull that off with what i have and if i pick up the power amp.


i imagine there would be a solution to this.