Sunn amps are back.

[fretmeister]

Sunn amps are back.

 

However... 100W SS that weighs 26lb? $799

 

https://www.sunnamps.com/amplification/betabass/

 

65W all tube, weighs 32lb and costs $3199

 

https://www.sunnamps.com/amplification/200s/

 

 

I can't help thinking they'll struggle to sell these.

 

The 65W guitar amp will be fine for volume but it's also $3199

 

 

[mr4stringz]

Nice they’ve not gone modern with the front panel and kept it looking suitable.

Agree they may struggle to sell (the SS one at least), at least in part given the stellar job Nathan Hilbish has made of his own Sunn clones in recent years. Absolutely love my Hilbish Design Beta preamp.

Edited August 1, 2023 by mr4stringz

[BassmanPaul]

Just remember this "Sunn'  is not the Sunn of days of yore. There's no connection to the original company.

[DGBass]

A 100 watt class D head that weighs 26Ibs and costs $799 ( probably £799 if it is released as retail here in the UK). It's a novel approach. The amp and matching cabs do have a classy old school vibe to their look. The 2x15 cab is also rated at 100 watts. At a guess its going to be very efficient as the drivers are designed with 4 inch voice coils?  Maybe all you really need is 100 watts to gig with and someone at the new Sunn thinks that.  🙂   

[EBS_freak]

Volume is not measured in watts... thats the hard sell.

[DGBass]

Not sure 100 watts of class d power fpr the beta bass constitues a hard sell IMHO, especially at nearly $800. Maybe 1000 watts would?. Could be a typo on the sale blurb?

[la bam]

Surely that's a typo and it's 1000w class d? 

 

If not it's the craziest design for a long long time. 2 channel, over 10kg, large build and carry.... and you can't gig with it..... and around £800. Who'd buy that? 

[la bam]

Mind you, looking at the cabs - the 2x12 is 400w (which makes no sense for a 100w or 1000w head) and the 2x15 is 100w.

 

Id suspect some typos. If not, its a whacky relaunch for Sunn. 

[la bam]

I'm not even sure that beta bass is a bass amp. It has reverb controls? 

[JPJ]

On 01/08/2023 at 22:18, BassmanPaul said:

Just remember this "Sunn'  is not the Sunn of days of yore. There's no connection to the original company.

Same as when Guitar Centre resurrected the Acoustic name. 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

They may be back but at those prices it won't be for an extended stay. 🤥

[bremen]

"frequency response 65Hz to 20kHz"

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

That's normal for +/-3dB. If you see a bass cab claiming response to 40Hz that's probably -10dB. It's absolutely not -3dB.

[bremen]

That's the amp...

[chris_b]

Not Sunn amps. . . . just amps labelled Sunn.

[Downunderwonder]

On 04/08/2023 at 00:25, bremen said:

"frequency response 65Hz to 20kHz"

 

On 04/08/2023 at 02:57, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

That's normal for +/-3dB. If you see a bass cab claiming response to 40Hz that's probably -10dB. It's absolutely not -3dB.

Could be following an "honesty is the best policy" in the hope that it grabs attention.

 

A Fender Rumble100 doesn't look or spec like it should be able to make a dent in a wet paper bag but I could do plenty of gigs with one.

[signals55]

Badge

[signals55]

Badge engineering 

[BassmanPaul]

Interesting that the tube offering uses Dynaco transformers. Back in the day several amp companies used Dynaco parts. When I first came to the Toronto area I took a job in the service department of a high end HiFi store to get the family through the winter. Via the store a side job emerged assembling dynaco kits. LOL.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

As I recall the original Sunn amps made by Conrad Sundholm used Dynaco kit power amps.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Cool!

 

I 100% approve on trying to bring the Sunn amp brand back.

 

But when that is said, as many already pointed out, at those prices for those kind of specs definitely something I'll even consider, and I doubt they are going to stay in business for long.

 

If I should ever want the Sunn amp sound at some point I'll buy one of the many Sunn preamps on the market from smaller builders, maybe even one with tubes, I know a couple like that that are quite reasonably prices, an allegedly pretty amazing.

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[MartinB]

It says in the FAQs:
 

Quote

There are two product lines, Sunn Historic and Sunn Modern. Historic products closely follow original designs.
[...]
Sunn Modern products respect the history and aesthetic but use current technology that was not available to previous generations. Advances in digital audio such as amp modeling, cabinet simulation and software plugins will feature in the Sunn Modern line.

 

So far it's all just reissues of the heritage stuff, but I'm guessing they'll be releasing a pedal-format amp sim at some point - along the lines of the Ampeg SGT-DI. They'd be daft not to!

[BassmanPaul]

For interest I took a stroll through my book of amplifier schematics. I was somewhat surprised at how many Sunn amps used the dreaded transistor somewhere in the circuit.  Reverb driver in one and tremolo in another. LOL

 

[Chienmortbb]

On 02/08/2023 at 23:08, EBS_freak said:

Volume is not measured in watts... thats the hard sell.

And speaker efficiency is not measured in voice coil diameter. Such a large motor suggests an inefficient driver.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The size of the motor/voice coil doesn't directly relate to driver sensitivity, but as often as not higher sensitivity drivers have large motors/coils. What is curious is the 100w rating of the 2x15. The reason behind four inch voice coils is they can shed heat better than smaller coils, allowing for high power handling. A four inch coil only rated for 50w makes no sense. That's not the only thing on their site that makes no sense.