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Sunfire Standard or Signature Edition

I purchased a pair of Sunfire amps from someone settling an estate for someone who died, and I would like to know if one of them is the Signature Edition.

Here's a link to a pic of the amps.

On page 5 of the the Sunfire User's Manual it states that "The Signature Edition has more power and uses premium quality output terminals compared to the Standard edition." and shows drawings of the rear panels of both Editions for comparison purposes.

Does the amp on the top have the premium output terminals? Does that mean it's a Signature Edition? Were all the Signature Editions signed? Neither of mine are signed (see pic). Is there an easy way for me to measure the output of the amp?

Thanks in advance for anything you might have to help me.
audioscmaudio
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Yeah, that’s the same manual that I used. Bridging and bi-amping them is the way to go. I used one amp rated at 300wpc, 600w into my 4 ohm speakers... sounded terrific in my 12’ x 16’ room. Non-fatiguing, wide and deep 3D soundstaging, and a powerful low-end.

A little known fact; these first generation Sunfire’s are not fully-balanced. XLR input is shorted to single-ended. Will you be using balanced cables? This will prevent any ground-loops and provide a lower noise-floor.

Here are specs for these amps...
Sunfire 300 Power Amplifier - Class AB:
- 300 watts/ch into 8 Ohms, 600 watts/ch into 4 Ohms
- frequency response 1 Hz - 80 kHz, balanced and unbalanced inputs
- input impedance 42 kOhm
- Input sensitivity of 1.64V for rated power (300W)
- output impedance 0.01 Ohm (voltage source),
1 Ohm (current source)
- Output voltage (@ 8W) is 48.9V
- Damping factor 150

2nd generation 300-2 is fully-balanced....
- Input sensitivity for rated output:
Unbalanced: 1.64 Vrms,
Balanced: 0.82 Vrms
- XLR Input impedance:
10 kΩ, each leg balanced to ground Female XLR
Pin 1 is ground Pin 2 is positive (hot) Pin 3 is negative (cold)

Notice the difference in input sensitivities.

msiron
1 posts
 
Hi, probably should start another thread but since Lowrider57 has some very good knowledge of Sunfire Amps will ask here: The 400 fives - how do I tell the newer, maybe signature 2 models? Can I tell by which side the speaker posts are on the back? I see some are grouped on the left and some on the right. Thanks.
big_greg
315 posts
 
I owned a Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature 405 X 5 amp for a while and it was signed on the front.  I don't know if that is the case with all the Sunfire amps.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
3,018 posts
 
Bob did change the side of the speaker posts on the 5 channel, but I’m not sure which generation is right or left. On the 300-two amp, which is the later series, the binding posts are on the right.

Only the Signature Series amps are signed by Bob on the left side of the faceplate. There are some fakes on the market, so check the style of his signature with pics on Google. There’s no mistaking his real John Hancock.
A Signature amp will be stamped "Signature" on the rear below the fuses. That’s the best way to confirm if you’ve got the real deal.

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