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Sunfire Signature... what is this?

Recently bought a Sunfire Signature amp, believing I was getting the 600x2 model. The front panel has "Sunfire" above the Joules meter, and "Load Invariant High Fidelity Stereo Power Amplifier" below. A Bob Carver signature is on the upper left of the panel. The rear panel has "Sunfire Signature" just above the serial number (which starts with 99), and a lot of the other normal printing. The two speaker fuses are labeled "5 Amp SLO-BLO MDL/Q", and the AC line fuse is labeled "10 AMP MDA-10 120 VAC", which makes me question if this is a Sig-600. Any thoughts?
davidag
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,982 posts
 
How high does the meter peg out at? Should be either 380 joules or 480 joules.
davidag OP
6 posts
 
The needle goes nearly to the 500... 450+ for sure, but I read that there was an adjustment pot for the meter on a board in the amp. I have a Sunfire Cinema Grand (405x5) that has 6-amp MDQ-6 fuses on each channel, which also leads me to suspect this amp is not 600w/channel.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,466 posts
 
If it says Signature on the back and has his signature on the front face as you say then it is surely a Sig 600. He did not make a Sig 300 etc....

If the binding posts have the red and black plastic covers, then it is a first generation. If the solid steel posts with an IEC, then the second version.

The 600 is very powerful and you should notice this immediately in your system.
davidag OP
6 posts
 
I wasn't sure how much difference I would hear, going from one Sunfire at 800w/ch to another at 1200w/ch (4-ohm speakers).

The lack of difference was what made me start wondering.

All the manuals I can find on-line show 15-amp AC input fuse for both the 300 and 600 watt Sunfire 2-ch amps. Since this is a '99 model, maybe the 1st generation was different. And maybe I should send it to Rita's, for a tune-up.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,466 posts
 
Yes you are 100 percent right. Send it in and it will come back better then new. I could not believe the improvement. Also get an iec and use a better power cord.

Yours is the Sig 600 and I understand now that you already had lots of power before the 600.
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