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Athearn Gas Turbine

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  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
  • 245 posts
Posted by chessiecat on Friday, November 13, 2009 12:50 PM

Randy I tried your suggestion about switching wires around on the speakers and it made no difference. I'm thinking about just removing all the light boards that came with the engine and hardwiring the decoder in. It is akin to trying to stuff a six legged elephant with two trunks into a 5 gallon bucket to get this thing back together again. I am getting tired of taking this thing apart. I think I will go with two medium oval speakers and replace the light bulbs with LED's while I am at it, including the Mars light. It should give me plenty of room with the light boards removed and it would solve the problem of the lights being too dim. I hope the next time I disassemble this engine and put it back together will be the last!

Thanks for any advice you all can give!

Jim

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:39 PM

Texas Zepher

Harley-Davidson
Cacole, the body of the loco, isn´t a great enclosure?

Usually not. I made over an FB unit to make it a "good" enclosure once.  It took a lot of work.

I agree.  The body may be quite well sealed (...I doubt it..), but even if it is, it comprises a hefty volume inside where the backpressure from the speaker won't compress that volume of air sufficiently to provide the effect that the backpressure in a smaller baffle would.  At least, that is my understanding.

-Crandell

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Colorful Colorado
  • 8,639 posts
Posted by Texas Zepher on Thursday, November 12, 2009 7:34 PM

Harley-Davidson
Cacole, the body of the loco, isn´t a great enclosure?

Usually not. I made over an FB unit to make it a "good" enclosure once.  It took a lot of work.

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • 311 posts
Posted by Harley-Davidson on Thursday, November 12, 2009 2:50 PM

Cacole, the body of the loco, isn´t a great enclosure?

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Reading, PA
  • 30,002 posts
Posted by rrinker on Sunday, November 8, 2009 6:27 PM

cacole

 Enclosures should make a lot of difference.  Without them, both sides of the speaker are trying to produce sound, and cancel out each other.

 That's something to check - if the speakers are wired out of phase they will be cancelling each other out. Enclosure will still probably be better, but try reversing the wires to one of the speakers and see if that's not the problem.

                                                 --Randy

 


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
  • 13,757 posts
Posted by cacole on Sunday, November 8, 2009 5:56 PM

 Enclosures should make a lot of difference.  Without them, both sides of the speaker are trying to produce sound, and cancel out each other.

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
  • 245 posts
Athearn Gas Turbine
Posted by chessiecat on Sunday, November 8, 2009 5:45 PM

I just finished installing a QSI decoder in my Gas Turbine and the sound is okay, but I followed the recomended install with two 1.22 speakers without the enclosures. Now as an afterthought I wonder how much better the sound would be with two smaller speakers like a medium oval with enclosures would be. The sound just does not sound as clear as my other QSI decoders.

I am curious if anyone tried different speakers and if so what they think of the sound?

Thanks in advance!

Jim

 

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