My Paragon 4 Big Boy from BLI runs amazingly. Though the in-factory stock speaker leaves a lot to be desired. It seems to be holding back the full weight and quality of the engine's sound; compressing it when activated. I am looking for any possible and good replacement speakers that can fit into by engine's tender while also emitting strong high quality sound. I am looking at speakers from Scale Sound Systems, but i am unsure which is compatible with my Big Boy. Does anyone have any suggestions on what replacement speakers I should get? i am open for any options.
Why don't you email JT @ SSS and ask his recommendation? He's the one who designs & 3D prints the baffles for the speakers he sells and will get back to you within 24 hrs.
If you are outfitting it for a 4-8-8-4, you can probably go with the largest HO Boiler-Barker he has. And I would wire it in parallel for 2 speakers, if possible. I did that earlier this year in the boiler of a brass 2-6-6-2 Mallet (with an ESU Lok 5 decoder) and it sounds fantastic: (Click to enlarge)
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I believe JT is on a Holiday break for now and will return in early January.
I recently bought a pair of speakers he actually names "Big Boy" because, IIRC, he designed them for the Genesis Big Boy. It may actually fit the BLI big boy but keep in mind the side of the Paragon decoder. BLI designs it to sit on top of a sandwich that retains their pancake thin speaker and then a weight with the decoder on top of all this.
I recently installed one of his SSS Big Boy speakers in a pair of B&O EM-1s and the results were quite excellent. I also removed the barely adequate Soundtraxx/Bachmann decoder and installed a TCS WOWsound decoder.
You might want to look into some of his speakers that are a little lower in height if you are planning to retain the Paragon decoder in your BLI Big Boy.
I'm presently gutting a PRR T1 and installing a temporary SSS speaker that is made for Intermountain F7s. After January I'll order a slightly larger one for this upgrade and perhaps a "Big Boy" but there are plenty of other choices, as Tom mentions, in his Force Full Range line.
BLI_T1_PRR-decoder by Edmund, on Flickr
The Big Boy speaker measures 20 x 25 x 45 mm. You could make a balsa or foam mock-up and see what fits. For reference, here is a B-B speaker being fitted to the EM-1 tender:
BnO_EM-1-DCC Tender by Edmund, on Flickr
Needless to say, the sound is fantastic.
Good Luck, Ed
VukSol i am open for any options.
How about adding the BLI "Rolling Thunder" sound system to the layout?
gmpullman I believe JT is on a Holiday break for now and will return in early January. I recently bought a pair of speakers he actually names "Big Boy" because, IIRC, he designed them for the Genesis Big Boy. It may actually fit the BLI big boy but keep in mind the side of the Paragon decoder. BLI designs it to sit on top of a sandwich that retains their pancake thin speaker and then a weight with the decoder on top of all this. I recently installed one of his SSS Big Boy speakers in a pair of B&O EM-1s and the results were quite excellent. I also removed the barely adequate Soundtraxx/Bachmann decoder and installed a TCS WOWsound decoder. You might want to look into some of his speakers that are a little lower in height if you are planning to retain the Paragon decoder in your BLI Big Boy. I'm presently gutting a PRR T1 and installing a temporary SSS speaker that is made for Intermountain F7s. After January I'll order a slightly larger one for this upgrade and perhaps a "Big Boy" but there are plenty of other choices, as Tom mentions, in his Force Full Range line. BLI_T1_PRR-decoder by Edmund, on Flickr The Big Boy speaker measures 20 x 25 x 45 mm. You could make a balsa or foam mock-up and see what fits. For reference, here is a B-B speaker being fitted to the EM-1 tender: BnO_EM-1-DCC Tender by Edmund, on Flickr Needless to say, the sound is fantastic. Good Luck, Ed
i put " big boy" speakers in my rivarossi BIG BOY tender &" boiler barker "
in the smoke box its so good im doing other big boys that i own