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

[Highlander]

"If Felix my pint, I'll firkin thump 'im..."

There was (is?) a brewery group over here called "Firkin" after a particular type of beer-barrel - the pub name for the above T-shirt slogan was the "Phoenix and Firkin"... they used to produce something vicious called "Dogbolter"... 

Nice pic, Terr, never seen that one before...

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Grab it like a rabbit! Offer $169. Say "Times are tough" or something.
Tell 'em you'll give 'em another hun when you get as famous as Felix.
What's $169~ 3 tanks of GAS??? lol Just stay home on the weekends.
...playin' thru your SUNN!!!

[Pilgrim]

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.  Big help!!

I would have stopped by there yesterday but I got caught updating computers and couldn't leave until after they closed. I may stop there today.

One of my favorite tactics with pawn shops if they don't take my offer is to write it on a business card, tell them to call me if they change their minds, and walk away. I usually get a call before long.

[bobyoung]

I saw Mountain twice and Felix had this same set up, Sunn 2000S heads and cabs, sounded great, he had his EB-1 when I saw them both times though. I owned a 2000S head and two 2000S cabs at different times. I powered the two Sunn cabs with a Marshall Major, now that set up moved some air, 4 JBL D-140's. I got the head cheap and never really used it as I had started using SVT's around 1975, as a matter of fact I'm still using them. I'd grab the Sunn for 200 bucks.

[Freuds_Cat]

"If Felix my pint, I'll firkin thump 'im..."

There was (is?) a brewery group over here called "Firkin" after a particular type of beer-barrel - the pub name for the above T-shirt slogan was the "Phoenix and Firkin"... they used to produce something vicious called "Dogbolter"... 

Nice pic, Terr, never seen that one before...

Ken, no word of a lie, I used to drink Dog Bolters in the Pheonix and Firkin in Kingston UT. Was about 10 mins walk from my house. Only thing more vicious that the Dog which could be consumed with care, was the Snakebite.

[n!k]

I used to own a Sunn solid state bass head (a 70's coliseum). It was a great head. Easily the loudest I've ever owned, tube or otherwise. It doesn't know distortion though, it just goes louder and louder. Some people don't like that. The highs can get super shrieky on you (which is why Entwistle loved them). The C300 is a different design and a lot of tweaks from that 70's amp. I don't know that I would jump on it right away but you could always sell it again later and recoup the $200. The only reason I sold the Coliseum was the internal fan was just too loud for recording and I don't have the money to have one amp that does each. Those heads were made to be cranked into molten tolex levels in arenas, stadiums, and, yes, coliseums.

[Pilgrim]

OK.  Thanks to all the positive reinforcement and my normal lack of self-control, I am now the proud owner of a Sunn Coliseum-300 amp! I ended up at $225 for it, and I darn sure won't let it go for that if I decide to re-sell at some point.

I tried it out and although I didn't have time to work out its functions, I confirmed that:

- All knobs and switches work. A couple of pots scratched a bit when exercising them, but that disappeared after they'd been worked a few times.
- Both inputs and speaker outputs work (didn't try all the aux ins and outs, not likely to be a problem anyway)
- The EQ on this thing is AMAZING.  Huge boost and cut on each frequency - when it shows +15 to -15, they weren't kidding!
- As it should, the EQ settings have a significant effect on volume.  Boosting or cutting any frequency from 0 results in big-time volume gains or cuts. (Of course - isn't that how a good EQ should work??)





One of its coolest features is on the back panel - a complete signal path schematic so that you always have a reference to the functions of each input, output and control.





Here's the collection of amps and speakers I now have....missing from this pic is my 1980's fender Bassman 120 combo with a single 15" speaker. Clockwise from bottom left - GK GLX410, Behringer BX4500H, 1967 Fender Bassman amp, Hartke 1400 anp, Sunn 300 Coliseum amp, Homemade 1x12 w.Carvin speaker, Peavey 1x15 with Eminence speaker, Ibanez SW35 combo amp.

[godofthunder]

Nice ! Glad you got it ! You won't be sorry, you'll never have to worry about being burried by the getard again.

[Pilgrim]

Well, my Behringer BX4500H (450W) had the volume side well covered, but I'm excited about A/B'ing the two amps and seeing what differences I hear.  I generally can't tell one amp from another when they have similar power. The sunn amps have such a gerat rep that I just couldn't resist this one...but I'll find out whether it actually sounds as good or better than the Behringer.  Frankly, the BX4500 is a pretty sweet amp.



All my cabs are 8 ohms, so I'm unlikely to ever turn this Coliseum loose at 2 ohms where it develops max power.  OTOH, the band I play is is a surf band where the max amperage is about 60W for the guitarists, so we're not in the bleeding-ear biz anyway.

[Highlander]

There's alway's the bass-solo... 

A very nice set-up...

"The Sunn hasn't set, on this boy yet..."

[Pilgrim]

OK, so now I have almost an hour noodling around and switching heads back and forth.  I hooked up both the GK 4x10 and the Peavey 1x15 (in the pic above) to each amp.  With the EQ set as close to identically as possible on both heads, I'd say the Sunn has a slightly 'warmer" sound, meaning that the top end frequencies have less bite. Other than that, I'm not hearing any difference I could name.  I tried a couple of basses - first my Gretsch Junior Jet, then my trusty '63 P with the decades-old flatwound strings.

My practice room is upstairs and is probably 12 to 15 feet square. I think I could make the curtains flap and dust shake from the walls with either head. it may be "new toy" effect, but  my inclination at this point is to move the Sunn into #1 gig position and bring the Behringer as a backup.  That's a nice step up from the 140W Hartke I've been bringing as a backup.

I will say again - I've never used an amp where the EQ controls made as much audible difference in sound and gain as these.  It's rather remarkable!

I've also found an owner's manual and uploaded it to my Photobucket account.  If you need it, just hit this link - all pages are .jpg files that print on 8.5.x11 paper..... http://tinyurl.com/qp9m9d

[rahock]

Oh yeah, nice score
Rick

[Pilgrim]

I've been playing around with it some more - it seems to be extremely versatile; the wide range of EQ actually encourages me to use the EQ and shape the sound...it just takes a tweak and the sound changes significantly.

[rahock]

Where you will really notice the effect of that EQ is when you get it out in a large room, or even more so, in  an awkward shaped large room. It will give you a much improved capability to get "your sound" and "fill the room". My Seymour Duncan head has a very effective EQ also, and in a small room  or in a place with excellent acoustics that EQ doesn't mean all that much but when you need it......it's there.
I've done a few side by side comparisons with some of my other amps and other peoples amps and in a small room (or in the store) everything sounds good  and any difference seems very small. When you get them out somewhere and open them up things change .
For "room filling " capability most people focus soley on the speaker cabinet and raw power. A good EQ not only helps in filling the room it gives you the ability to fill the room with something that sounds good My 2 cents
Rick

[Pilgrim]

I found out why the EQ is different than most.  The quote is on Rich Briere's Sunn Shack page, in an interview with Conrad Sundholm who founded Sunn:

"But the Coliseum series, that included the bass amp used by the Who, was a unique preamp circuit because each of the tone controls was a separate preamp.  You could turn it all the way off, so you had ultimate tone control. A lot of versatility - you could turn the midrange off or turn the bass off or the treble, it used active filters. It was just coming out when I left."  (Italics added)

Interesting decision to design it that way - and I like it!