Difference between Sunn 100s and 200s?

[jerryjg]

 Hello folks. Its been nearly a year since my one and only post . A few months ago I picked up a Sunn S-100 In very nice recapped and retubed condition. I paid 450.00, which i think is about ok since i dont have to do any work tuit.
Well, just looking around the forum I see a lot of people wanting 200s' moreso than the 100s' i think.
Is there a particular reason for that? I play electric , not bass. I am aware the 200s is the Bass model of the 100s if I am not mistaken, but I also believe guitars players still prefer the 200s, is that correct?
By the way, I love this amp. Its very  Fender-tweedy with the right speakers.
I  most recently tried it through a cabinet I assembled- a peavey 412S loaded with 150 watt  Eminence Tonkers and it sounded pretty sterile though ( but then so did my Sound City L120). I think some greenback Celestions should take care of that.
EDIT- D'oh!!
 I shoulda done a search on this forum ( i did one on the for sale forum). I woulda found this info. from a post awhile back from someone buying a 200S and wanting to know if it was as good as a 100s- my question in reverse;
"The 200S is pretty much the same amp except for the contour knob on the 100S and the bass boost switch on the 200S. The 100S was available with reverb, but the ones Mr. Townshend is using in the picture didn't have it. The 200S should work just ducky for you. All you have to do is find the gear, buy the gear, and plug it in, and you can have the exact rig Pete used".
Anyway, would it be correct to presume that the bass boost is more desirable than the Countour switch for guitar and   also more sought after by Bass Players  who cannot afford the mighty 2000s?

[EdBass]

I seem to get plenty of bottom without using the bass boost on either the 200S or the 2000S. For guitar I would think the 100S would be more flexible tone wise.
Sunn was always more known for their bass amps. I don't know any actual production numbers for either amp, but I betcha they made a bunch more 200S's than 100S's. For a fact in the used gear market I run across 200S's more often, probably at about a 8:1 ratio. I think this is probably why you hear so much more chatter about 200S's over 100S's, even with guitarists.
They are pretty much identical amps, I don't think with the Sunns it's a case like the blackface Bassmans, were an amp designed/marketed specifically for bass has become a holy grail of sorts for six stringers.

[Isaac]

The bass boost switch isn't actually a bass boost, as far as I can tell. The way the circuit is configured, bass is rolled off below about 130Hz. With the "boost" switch on, it's flat to 40Hz or so.

[EdBass]

The bass boost switch isn't actually a bass boost, as far as I can tell. The way the circuit is configured, bass is rolled off below about 130Hz. With the "boost" switch on, it's flat to 40Hz or so.

+1

[loudthud]

I think 1969 was the first year that the 100S had tremolo and reverb. Prior to that, the 100S was like the Spectrum with a contour control (no mid boost) but came with a different speaker cabinet. Isaac is correct about the bass boost switch on the 200S and 2000S. The tone network is a little different on the guitar models so they won't sound quite the same as the bass models.

[basiklybass]

The 100S has .1uf caps before the KT 88's. The 200S and the original Dynaco have .25uf's. I was getting some low freq putting with the bass boost on and the bass control turned up to about 7 before changing the caps. No more putting. I don't see any other circuit diffrences aside from the tremelo, reverb and contour control circuits.

BTW, I also changed from an EH 12AX7 to a JJ...made a nice difference. I will buy some JJ KT88's...when I get back to work.

[EdBass]

The 100S was available with or without reverb and tremolo, at least as early as '67. Minor tone stack differences and of course the availablity of reverb and tremolo aside, for all intent and purposes the 200S and 100S were identical amps, both the same basic circuits as David Hafler's '57 PAM-1/Mk III circuits in combination.
The biggest difference between the two were the cabinets they came with, a pair of D140F's with the 200S, and a D130F with a "LE100S" (?) compression driver. Both driver combos were loaded into a center ported 40" x 24" x 15" cabinet.

[basiklybass]

If you examine the schematics on this website you will see the caps before the power tubes I referred to. While how something sounds is very subjective...and allowing that I also changed my 12AX7....I think the .25uf's made a difference in the sound. Got rid of the oscillations too!