thank you edbass, I have thumbed thru the search a bunch but I wanted to hear what sunn aficionados could deliver more respectfully in difference.
the sunn model t I own is said to be 150watts(loud but nowhere near as much headroom as my hiwatt amps.. maybe its their partridge transformers... more than meets the eye!). Perhaps the 60's sunn 1200s and 2000s have more headroom being that they have 1 preamp tube(or 2?) and the model t has a more cascaded preamp.. did they want that in early 70s? Yet the former have less headroom?
I ceratainly wouldn't want the tube rectifiers of the 60's amps(spongey feel is not my love) yet my query is not answered fully even from the search function... oh the agony!
If you have something to say regarding the subject.. bring it!
If you can't find the differences between the 1200S, 2000S, and Model T on
this site, I'm not sure how to help you.
But, I digress...
I prefer SS rectifiers for my amps; I’m a bass player and prefer the tighter bottom end. A lot of guitarists’ like tube rectifiers and some don’t. I don’t think it’s a “better or worse” scenario; it’s simply a tonal preference.
You probably assumed that at a "Sunn" forum, you would be more well versed on Hiwatt than the members here, but I’m a huge Hiwatt aficionado. Although I love my Sunns, my go to live rig is a Reeves Custom 225, which if you don’t know is essentially a DR201 on steroids.
Here’s some Hiwatts I’ve spent some quality time with recently;
I love this one; that’s Glynn Reeves (Dave Reeves son) watching intently while surgery is performed on one of his father’s masterpieces from the early 70’s. Glynn still lives in the UK, in the house where his father built the originals. He flys in for the convention;
This is the current Reeves Custom 225 on a Hylight era Dr201 for comparison. The chassis are identical, but the box is 24" wide to better fit on modern bass cabs. The 225 also has a pad to accommodate active basses, and a rear mounted DI that the vintage DR201 doesn't have;
I took these photos at the Hiwatt Convention in ’08. I couldn’t go this year because I had a commitment 2500 miles away in LA when it happened (got to pay the bills!), but I think that’s the first Hiwatt Convention I’ve missed since their inception.
The reason I’m sharing this is to establish that I’m not just simply making things up. I currently do freelance (emphasis on the "free") R&D work for Reeves Amplification (if you aren't familiar with the "Reeves" name, you aren't much of a Hiwatt fan), and I’ve been elbow deep in more Hiwatt circuits than most people have played through.
I’m very aware of what they can and can’t do.
While I’ll listen to anyone’s opinion, IMO I’m pretty qualified to make a comparison between a vintage Hiwatt and a vintage Sunn. I try to post the most helpful and accurate views that I can, and if you want to “debate” my opinions, well then my little friend as you say; “Bring it”.
I love the exercise!
Here’s what I think.
Having spent many hours with both Sunn and Hiwatt amps, usually in an A/B scenario, there is no question that a DR201 is overall more powerful than any 4 output tube Sunn I’ve ever benched; every bit of 200 watts. That said, the simple Dynaco based Sunn circuit is a little more “Hi-Fi”, and goes deeper (probably because of the larger output transformer) than the Hiwatt, but as I said, doesn’t have the power of the 4 X KT88 Hiwatt, and isn't even in the same league as the Reeves 225 (256 watts according to Bass Gear Magazine).
The 4 X KT88/6550 Sunns do have more power/headroom than the any of the 4 X EL34 Hiwatts however, but
only if the old Sunn is up to spec in the power supply. That’s a critical area for any amp, and with some of the old Sunns pushing 45 yrs old, weak filter caps and starved power supplies are pretty common.
The Sunns perform somewhere between the '103 and '201, leaning more towards the '201, hence…
...the 1000S, 1200S, 1500S and 2000S family (when in spec) are closer in performance to the "AP" DR201 than the '103, and decidedly less gainy than the CP's.
I personally own a 2000S running JJ KT88’s with a modified SS power supply that benched just under 200 watts, and while that’s childs play for a DR201, a ‘103 won’t get to the 150-160 watts of a stock 2000S; It just ain’t there with a quad of EL34’s.
