Which cabinet with Sunn 200S?

[saturnzreturn]

Hello

I'm really new with Sunn amps, but I bought a 200S today.

My plan was to buy a bassamp which works great with guitar also. I tried to find a Fender Bassman (silverface) head, but then I found this incredible amp, Sunn 200S. After testing I just bought it.

My problem is that I only have the head now. I would like to buy a guitar cabinet and a bass cabinet (because I play both) for this amp but which cabinets works best with this incredible head. I tested the thing through 4 x 10" Fender guitar cabinet from the 80's which had eminence speakers in it and it sounded great but it left me wondering if there's an even better solution..

edit: by the way, how to recognize what year this amp was made?

[Soundmasterg]

It was designed to work with a 2x15 cabinet that was ported and rear-loaded and used two JBL D140's. It works fine with guitar for some, but was designed to be a bass amp. It will work best with the original style cabinet, especially for bass, but really it will work with any cabinet as long as you match up the cabinet impedance with the impedance of the amp.

Greg

[made by hand]

dating your amp...OK...if you remove the chassis...there might be a sticker on the end which will say test date.....or....if that's not on the end....look between the wiring and there might be a date written in a red grease pen......now...another way...if the sunn logo plate doesn't have a   R trademark under the name sunn.it might have been made before 1968and a half...the color of the grill cloth will get you in the year, maybe...if it's a blueish color....it's might have been made before 1969 and a half....if it's the fender style...it was made after , maybe the middle of 1969.....the transition time on the grill cloth is a bit fuzzy...hope this post helps...others can add....smiles,,,Bob from mass.

[basiklybass]

What sort of music do you play? How loud? How do you feel about lugging a 100lb cabinet around?

If you don't mind the weight, I might look for a 215 Sunn bottom and put a JBL 130 and a 140, 145, 2220 or 2226 in it. The 130 will give a nice brightness for the guitar and upper bass registers while the 140 and such will give great bottom.  Many on this site are not proponets of using the JBL 130's for bass but IMHO, they sound wonderful at low to mid-high volumes. I have played a single 130 with my 200S at coffee houses and such and loved the sound for both bass and guitar. It wasn't a Sunn cabinet though....boohoo. I did change the grill cloth to match the 200S so at least it looked boss.

You could also look for a 2X12 bottom and a single 15 bottom if you want an easier move.

[djc]

I have a 200s.  I use a 410 for slap and pop, my 212 for jazz but my favorite is my 215.  it's a 60's model traynor sealed cab.  sounds fantastic and is probably my favorite cab of the three but each sound different and I use them with different basses for the most part.  my 6 string fretless Ibanez sings with the 212.  my 5 string Ergodyne sounds best through the 215.  my 4 string Precision through the 410, go figure, just preference.
that head really will sound pretty good through anything you throw at it.

[saturnzreturn]

Thank you for answering. With guitar, I play blues/rock-kind of thing, Gov't Mule sounding bluesrock...With bass I play more basic Rock n Roll. I think I'll just have to test some cabinets and choose one for bass and one for guitar. The first one which came in to my mind for guitar cabinet was 4x12 loaded with Celestion V30 speakers..but I'll let you know.

The other thing.. I removed the chassis today to find out the year of this amp. There was indeed some writing with red and gray marker..The red writing said "27" and the gray was (I think) "/0/94/69". I think this makes my amp a 69?? I'm trying to attach a picture here but I'm not sure if I'll manage to do that.

The other thing which I noticed for my amazement was that from the core of the channel one there was a small cord and a resistor coming out and pointing absolutely nowhere...I don't know much about electronics but I think electronic components should always be attached somewhere to make 'em work? Is this normal or has this amp been modified.... what is happening? The channel one works normally and sound great though... Again I'm trying to attach a picture

[pickinatit]

click the "reply" button.  Then click the "additional Options"  button (lower left).   Insert the photo file in the box.  I think that's all there is to it.

[saturnzreturn]

click the "reply" button.  Then click the "additional Options"  button (lower left).   Insert the photo file in the box.  I think that's all there is to it.

Thank you for helping me out

edit: Another thing passed my mind...the original tube location chart revealed the original tubes used with this amp: GZ-34 (rectifier tube), 7025 (preamp tube), 6AN8 (another preamp tube, I think) and 2 x KT88. My amp is loaded with (same order as above) 5V3, 12AX7A, 6AN8A and 2 x 6550. What do you think about this set? Should I replace 6550's with KT88 or are these tubes even close to KT88?

[EdBass]

click the "reply" button.  Then click the "additional Options"  button (lower left).   Insert the photo file in the box.  I think that's all there is to it.

Thank you for helping me out

edit: Another thing passed my mind...the original tube location chart revealed the original tubes used with this amp: GZ-34 (rectifier tube), 7025 (preamp tube), 6AN8 (another preamp tube, I think) and 2 x KT88. My amp is loaded with (same order as above) 5V3, 12AX7A, 6AN8A and 2 x 6550. What do you think about this set? Should I replace 6550's with KT88 or are these tubes even close to KT88?

KT88's and 6550's are interchangable, pretty much the British (KT88) and the American (6550) versions of the same tube. At least both designed for the same application. There are differences, I prefer the KT88's personally, but which is better is a subjective argument.

[loudthud]

The date looks like 10/24/69. On the input it looks like someone tried to make a bright input. The 390K doesn't make any sense. Some 4 input Bass amps have a 270K shunted with a .001 cap.

[saturnzreturn]

The 390K doesn't make any sense. Some 4 input Bass amps have a 270K shunted with a .001 cap.

Because I'm not familiar with electronics I didn't get this phrase..

Is 390k the type of the resistor? If it is, is the resistor the attached one or the unattached one?

[mckinnon audio]

  Hi there,it's the unattached one.The 390k,means the value,390,000 ohms.You can tell this by the colour bands on the resistor.It;s known as the resistor colour code,I'm sure you can find a site that will go into more detail on the subject,good luck,Mel.

[Soundmasterg]

The 5V3 is a different rectifier tube than what the amp should have....a GZ34. It changes the operating characteristics of the amp quite a bit because it changes the voltage and sag that the circuit sees. If you want vintage stock correct, then you should change to a GZ34. The amp will have to be rebiased if you do this. 6550's are just fine, or you can change to KT88's too. Either will work fine, but if you change, the amp needs to be rebiased.

Greg

[saturnzreturn]

Ok, so linking this post to biasing, what class does this amp represent? I tried to diagnose the amp class using the webpage below but failed; I couldn't understand the technical diagnosingmethods at all.

http://www.duncanamps.com/technical/ampclasses.html