I have a MRC City and Country Sound Station (MRC AA552) and though the sounds aren't spectacular my wife and I enjoy using it. I just recently purchased a similar train sound unit (MRC Sound Station 312). Though I own a couple of DCC equipped sound engines, for me I will probably be happy for now with these two systems. However, I have a couple of questions.
1.) If I want to increase the speaker from 2 to four, is it as simple as splicing in the speaker wires to what already is there and making sure that I keep + with + and - with -? The two systems will give me 4 speakers total, so I figured I would tie them all together and put one speaker in each corner.
2.) If I wire the input from both systems into the same speakers, would I be damaging the system to try and use both at the same time on the speakers? Or would the noise just cancel each other out? Meaning, do I need to keep each system's speakers separate (assuming I want to run them at the same time).
Thanks.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
No, putting speakers in parallel cuts the impedence in half, which can overload the amp. How are the current speakers wired? It may be possible to add 2 more in such a way that the total impedence is the same, or higher. Higher is OK, it just reduces the volume, if you don't already have the volume at full then adding additional speakers in a way that increases the imedence should be fine. Speakers in series = add the impedences. 2 spekers in parallel, the total impedence is half - ie two 8ohm speakers in parallel have a 4ohm impedence.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Benjamin Maggi2.) If I wire the input from both systems into the same speakers, would I be damaging the system to try and use both at the same time on the speakers? Or would the noise just cancel each other out? Meaning, do I need to keep each system's speakers separate (assuming I want to run them at the same time).
The sound from both sources would be there however there is the possibility that the sources are out of phase and there might be some cancellation. Also the signal from one system may damage the other system. What you need is an audio mixer and an amplifier with outputs for four speakers. There are inexpensive 4 channel mixers on the market and there are amps as well. A car stereo with front and rear speakers and an aux input could be used for the amp and if you wanted to listen to a CD or the radio instead, you could.
There is some great information on this website about wiring multiple speakers. Scroll down a bit to the speaker wiring arrangement diagrams:
http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/wiringmultispeakers.html
Avoiding having your speakers out of phase is relatively simple even if the terminals aren't marked. Treat the same lead on each speaker as the positive and the other as the negative. It doesn't matter which terminal you choose as positive as long as you use the same terminal as the positive on all speakers.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thank you to everyone for your advice. I appreciate it.