Good evening, again.
I have a Life-Like Proto 2000 USRA 0-8-0 I wish to install a sound decoder into. I've done some Googling and cannot find a recommondation for speaker installation. There's a tonne of room in the tender for decoder and current keeper, and I'd like to use a real speaker (not cellphone speaker) if possible.
Suggestions please?Thx. Dwayne A
The cell phone speakers ARE real speakers, maybe MORE real than most model speakers. They tend to have a better frequency response than most speakers sold for sound decoders. That's why they are popular.
The best way to do steam is to have a small speaker in the smokebox if there's room, and a larger one in the tender - that way it won;t sound like all the noise is coming from behind the loco. The small sugarcubes from SBS are good for that.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Dwayne,
I installed an 18 x 13 x 2.5mm TDS SuperSonic speaker in a brass Alco H20-44 switcher and the sound is fantastic. While I originally purchased two for the installation, the sound was so good with just the one speaker that I used the other for another installation.
The speaker is actually installed face-down in the enclosure rather than pointing outward. And the enclosure (purchased separately) is a press fit so there is no need to seal it. That makes soldering the wires to the speaker tabs much easier.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Hi Tom.
I'm not clear - you mounted the speaker in the enclosure which was essentially a sealed box...? Where did you mount that assembly? How does the sound come out of the loco?
Randy recommends a speaker in the smoke box. I'll admit to not being so skilled as to successfuly disassemble and squeeze a speaker into main locomotive, then get the loco back together and have it operate as well as it did before I took it apart. My skills at this point are limited to squeezing everything into the tender. If the sound comes out 3" behind the loco I'll live with that.
In this case the tender does not have an obvious location in which to mount a speaker. Thus my original request for advice.
D
da1I'm not clear - you mounted the speaker in the enclosure which was essentially a sealed box...? Where did you mount that assembly? How does the sound come out of the loco?
The speaker & enclosure are mounted with double-stick foam tape inside the locomotive shell. The sound comes out of the openings in the shell and is quite loud and crisp; loud enough - in fact - that I had to turn the master volume down by 50%.
Hi D,
I will point out that we are talking about a steam engine on one hand and a diesel on the other. Steam installations and diesel installations are two different creatures.
First, iPhone speakers must have enclosures if they are going to work. Don't ask me why, but without an enclosure an iPhone speaker will produce a high pitched squeal with very little recognizable sound.
Here is some great information on iPhone speakers:
http://sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/sugarcubespeakernotes.html
Don't be fooled by the iPhone speaker's tiny size. Speaker technology has advanced hugely in the past few years. Bigger is no longer better. That doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with bigger as long as there is enough room, but when there isn't enough room iPhone speakers will do just as good a job, if not better.
Third, it is often very easy to install two or four iPhone speakers in one locomotive. Their tiny size means that they can fit into all sorts of spaces that the bigger speakers can't. They don't have to be all in the same place, which is exactly what Randy was suggesting. Here are some great instructions about how to wire up multiple speakers:
http://sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/wiringmultispeakers.html
Here is one of my critters with two iPhone speakers installed. It can be as loud as any of my big diesels if I want it to:
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!