Sunn Coliseum-300: worth pursuing? (Yep, bought it!)

[Pilgrim]

I stopped by my favorite pawn shop tonight and they have an early 80's Sunn Coliseum 300 amp at $269.  Looks good, some scratches but no knobs broken and no pots bent.  7-band EQ and 300W output at 2 ohms...so I assume it pushes less power with higher resistance.

Any experience with these?  Online reviews seem pretty positive...and acknowledge that it's big and heavy.  I'm playing with the idea of a more "vintage" amp then my current Behringer 4500.

[rahock]

I love Sunn bass heads. If that 300 watts is rated at 2 ohms, the ballpark figures would probably be about 200 watts at 4 ohms and about 100 watts at 8 ohms. That's something you want to think about.
Rick

[Pilgrim]

I was thinking about exactly that. 

My existing cabs are all 8 ohm, chosen specifically so that I can daisy-chain two and not drop below 4 ohms - the normal limit on most heads.  Most of my gigs only require one speaker cab, so using the Sunn with just one of my cabs I'd normally be putting out somewhere around 100W.  As it happens, I already have a pretty nice Hartke 1400 head that weighs about 12 pounds for that application. It's only 80W at 8 ohms, but if that's not enough I just drag out the Behringer 4500.

If I had been planning on acquiring a head like this, I'd be using 4 ohm cabs so that I could access the power it generates. 

[rahock]

There is no rock solid rule for what the difference in power would be at different ohm load. I was just ballparking it. For example . I have a Seymour Duncan head that is rated  600 watts/ 2 ohm, 400 watts / 4 ohm, and 200 watts /8 ohm. I have a GK Backline 600 that is rated 300 watts / 4 ohm and 180 watts / 8 ohm . Not a huge difference in proportion, but  when you're matching stuff up it's nice to know what you've got. I would want to dig up the specs on that particular model and then give it a listen.

I hope it works out for you. I never played a Sunn I didn't like
Rick

[Pilgrim]

I passed on the Sunn and went a completely different direction - picked up a very nice practice amp.  It's an Ibanez SW35.  Tilt-back, 35W, 10" speaker, bass, middle, treble, and presence controls, limiter with LED indicator, stereo CD inputs, headphone jack that kills the speaker, line out, effects send and return.  Quite a few features...and all for $60 used and in pristine condition!  I didn't really need another big watt head (although all the purists would certainly approve more of my using a Sunn Coliseum head than the Behringer BX4500 I'm using) , but I did need a small, portable practice amp.

If anyone knows what the "Presence" control does, let me know - I can't hear a difference turned one way or the other.



Never mind, I downloaded an owner's manual online and it sez: "Presence is the ultra-high frequency equalizer. It boosts or cuts the level of the 9.4 kHz region in a range of ±15 dB."  No wonder I don't hear anything - it's irrelevant for bass, except maybe turning it down if I hear hiss.

[Dave W]

You got a very good price on that.

[rahock]

I hate to see a good Sunn head without a home , but for $60 I think you hit pretty good
Rick

[Pilgrim]

I'm almost tempted to go back and just for the helluvit offer them $200 for the Sunn...it's the end of the month and I know they're not selling much stuff.  I just don't need to spend $200....but what a nice toy!

If I got too good a deal, I could add that massive (40 pounds plus?) Sunn to:

- My Behringer BX4500 head (31 pounds)
- My BF Bassman head, @1967 (30 pounds)
- My Hartke 1400 head (12-15 pounds)
- My 1980's Bassman 120 combo (100W, 15" spkr, est. 50 pounds)
- My new/used Ibanez SW 35 combo (10" spkr, 34.4 pounds)

Bass players seem to always lug around the heaviest gear - I've always thought that Eden has a good idea with their small, portable amps.  I'm just too cheap to buy one.

[godofthunder]

For 200 bucks buy the Sunn !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nofi]

i have had alot of sunn stuff at one time or another including coliseum amps, slaves, cabs etc. at this point i would not pay that price for a head. the vintage myth that everything old is good again is a good way to be disapointed. i would rather buy a good new piece of gear than a 30 year old sunn or anything else for that matter. however i did like sunn's 2X15 cabs and the 100 watt tube head at the time but would not re buy them now, even cheap. am i rambling here.

btw i owned all this stuff before it had aquired  'vintage' status. if i was looking for a new amp now i would buy the best combo i could afford. i don't want no stinkin' huge backline anymore.

[rahock]

Yeah, small is the new big.
Rick

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

I agree with the THUNDER mon~Get the SUNN for 2 hun!!
Don't be a pussy. Do some curls with it. ha ha

[Highlander]

My Hiwatt DR103 is a 1970, my Marshall (almost) 4x12 is a 1970, my Marshall Smallbox 50 is a 1968 - they are all O. L. D. and they K. I. C. K. A. S. S. (whenever my wife lets me...  )

New stuff I tried (admittedly pre 1990) all sounded far to clinical AFAIC, but not saying any of you using audiophile equipment are in the wrong, that's just your trip, it's not mine...

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

[Pilgrim]

You are NOT helping, sir!!!!
 

Of course, whadda I 'spect??