I am installing a tsunami sound decoder in an athearn geniuses
sd 70mac that i own. I was looking in the shell of the engine and the only place i could find for the speaker is in the back right above the drive unit. I was wondering if i should install the speaker with it facing inward toward the inside or have it faced against the shell of the locomotive. Would it be a good idea to get a baffle though it might be a tight squeeze with a baffle. The bottom where the fuel tank is a large weight otherwise i would have tried there. thanks for the help
scott
I have Tsunami's (GN1000s) installed in 2 of these. I put the speaker facing up, mounted below the radiator fans at the rear of the long hood. I used a 16x35 small oval high bass speakers in its appropriate enclosure. Just drill two small holes in the side of the enclosure that will be closest to the decoder, stick your wires through, solder to the speakers, seal the drilled holes with chaulk (I use the type that dries clear), put a dap of chaulk around the outer edge of the speaker enclosure and press into position. You may have to route the taillight wires around the speaker a bit or around your LED wiring (I replace all bulbs with LEDs in mine). It helps to have the shell laying upside down off the chassis of course, so gravity helps it remain in place as it dries. Wait a few hours and it will be dry. I use chaulk bc that way if you ever need to remove it, it will come off with a solid tug vs glue it gets more involved removing it.
Brad
Scott,
I've done a couple of these and used 2 speakers.
1. I milled out the tank with my dremel enough for a 1.1" round speaker. Made a mesh cover to keep the speaker magnet from picking up junk off the track and getting into the speaker. I used adhesive putty to provide sealing as an enclosure using the tank and removable sides.
2. Since I have one speaker pointing down, the radiator speaker points up. For this I used a medium speaker with large magnet. There are 2 primary "medium" oval speakers on the market, I used the larger one from DCC Installs&Sales. I cut off the side pieces of the enclosure for that speaker and filed the sides of the speaker itself. This is the only way to get a large medium speaker in the shell. I used the locomotive sides as part of the enclosure and also had to file a little inside the shell. I used adhesive putty when installing this to go around various holes. I've also found that making an enclosure out of thick cardstock, maximizing the size provides good sound vs the smaller plastic enclosure. Thick cardstock seems to help the bass vs plastic stock--but maybe that's just me.
You can wire the speakers in parallel or series, whichever you prefer.
Richard
I likr the idea of milling out the tank that would eliminate one more obsticle to have to work around. if i do that do i really need another speaker under the radiater facing up. i bet it would sound good. in the fuel tank you face the speaker downward right? thanks
He said he covered the speaker with mesh to prevent the magnet picking up junk.
Hi Scott-
I've done many sound installs on Athearn Genesis SD70 series locomotives. Check out this 12 part video series I did, specifically using the Tsunami decoder. Good luck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SmpuwL0xuA
Erik Fiske
I couldn't fix your brakes, so I made your horn louder