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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by graphiteRT Did you happen to "pop the top" to inspect how the speakers are installed? I'm wondering if that is part of the problem, since I have the same decoder with a single speaker in another loco that sounds better. Is the Athearn dual speaker? [/quote] No, I have to say, I have not been tempted to open it up, at this point. When I went to pick mine up at the LHS a week ago, they had D&RG version on the test track. With my permission, and at my urging, their tech guy took my new UP out of the wrapper and put it on the test track. I think the staff was anxious to hear whether the D&RG Challenger that they had already listened to, was the exception or the rule. After hearing mine, they determined that there was nothing different or wrong with the Rio Grande. Both sounded equally, uh, disappointing. I think they were feeling a little apprehensive at my reaction, because the disappointment among the group of seasoned "listeners" was palpable, and I'm a frequent and good customer. They also knew how much I was looking forward to this item coming in, since I had pre-ordered it seemingly almost a year ago when the store owner had seen the blurb at a trade show. But hey, the sound is what it is. The loco is still a real "looker", and a marvelous runner. If Athearn senses enough disappointment, then maybe they'll offer an updated sound chip, or at the very least, do some comparative testing with the competition before going with the low bidder on the sound system. In answer to your question, I believe that both speakers are working as-designed, but it's akin to plugging both of your stereo speakers into the mono jack in terms of fidelity. Considering that a couple of years ago, we didn't really have options in HO as far as sound goes, it probably seems trivial to nitpick about something like this. I have a lot of O Scale stuff as well, most of it with premium sound, though some of my older stuff still has the original RailSounds or ProtoSound 1. If you are familiar with those and how they differ from current versions of each, then that's probably the best way to describe the subtle, yet noticeable differences in the QSI sound that BLI uses and the MRC sound that equips the new Genesis Challenger. Speaking in rough generalities, if QSI is the HO equivalent of Railsounds 6.0 then I'd rate the MRC at about Railsounds 2.0 in comparison. While I'm glad to have facsimile sound effects on my new Genesis Challenger, it coulda' been a contendah... with a better-engineered sound system.
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