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Sunn 200 - in an Ipod size box? (just kidding...)
There is a Sunn 200s head available in my town right now for a reasonable price. But my god, this 60 watt head is larger than any 300 watt tube amp! When you turn it around, there is a good foot of space between the power transformer and the power tubes and nearly another foot over to the output transformer. As the amp has a grand total of three knobs and a handful of tubes, I gotta believe that the oversize box was for either "bigger is betterl" marketing, or to align nicely with the huge 2-15 cabs sold by Sunn. There certainly was no functional reason for a head box that size.
So, if you love the sound and simplicity of the Sunn, but you don't need to whip out the biggest amp in town, could that same design be re-packaged into something more sensible? I'm thinking that if the chassis was strong enough to support the transformers, that the who kit could be shoe-horned into a Tremolux sized head cabinet. Its not like this is some 12 tube monster; while the transformers are sizeable, we're only talking a pair of KT88s and a pair of preamp tubes. (and the rectifier...). If a fan is needed, no big deal. If someone could offer it up in a Tremolux sized head, even at 40+ pounds, it could be a winner. (for those unfamiliar with 50 year old Fender designs, the Tremolux was the smallest of the Fender amp heads, at about 8" x 8" x 23" - and Fender fit two channels worth of knobs (8) and four inputs across that 23" dimension, the Sunn requires room for 3 knobs and not much else. Maybe it would fit in a smaller head cab - how compact could you package those components before heat or rfi or something else began to cause problems?
Any reason the mini 200s wouldn't work? Was there some other reason for the aircraft carrier design?
There is a Sunn 200s head available in my town right now for a reasonable price. But my god, this 60 watt head is larger than any 300 watt tube amp! When you turn it around, there is a good foot of space between the power transformer and the power tubes and nearly another foot over to the output transformer. As the amp has a grand total of three knobs and a handful of tubes, I gotta believe that the oversize box was for either "bigger is betterl" marketing, or to align nicely with the huge 2-15 cabs sold by Sunn. There certainly was no functional reason for a head box that size.
So, if you love the sound and simplicity of the Sunn, but you don't need to whip out the biggest amp in town, could that same design be re-packaged into something more sensible? I'm thinking that if the chassis was strong enough to support the transformers, that the who kit could be shoe-horned into a Tremolux sized head cabinet. Its not like this is some 12 tube monster; while the transformers are sizeable, we're only talking a pair of KT88s and a pair of preamp tubes. (and the rectifier...). If a fan is needed, no big deal. If someone could offer it up in a Tremolux sized head, even at 40+ pounds, it could be a winner. (for those unfamiliar with 50 year old Fender designs, the Tremolux was the smallest of the Fender amp heads, at about 8" x 8" x 23" - and Fender fit two channels worth of knobs (8) and four inputs across that 23" dimension, the Sunn requires room for 3 knobs and not much else. Maybe it would fit in a smaller head cab - how compact could you package those components before heat or rfi or something else began to cause problems?
Any reason the mini 200s wouldn't work? Was there some other reason for the aircraft carrier design?
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