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tsunami sound w/ 2 speakers??

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  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: Harford County, Maryland
  • 86 posts
tsunami sound w/ 2 speakers??
Posted by mmr1229 on Sunday, July 10, 2011 4:52 AM

I recently installed a soundtraxx tsunami decoder in my kato ho scale dash 9. It went very well, the instructions were well written and the decoder very well made. With that said the speaker i used was also a soundtraxx speaker, small oval its about 1" long and 1/2" wide. The loco sounds great but i needed to turn all the volume settings all the way up (255), and I would like it to be a little louder. Just wondering if i can add another speaker or if its better to just replace it with a larger one. I was thinking of adding a soundtrax mega bass speaker in addition to the one that i originally installed. Not sure if this is the right thing to do or not? Thank you for any input.

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • 1,046 posts
Posted by betamax on Sunday, July 10, 2011 6:28 AM

While you can use a pair of speakers, the first question is, was the speaker installed into an enclosure?

That would make a difference for the sound levels.

Example: http://www.dccwiki.com/Proto_2000_with_Tsunami#Sound

You can probably construct something out of plastic sheet or a similar rigid material, and you can use the body to form part of it as well.  Without a baffle, the sound waves will be out of phase and cancel each other.  The enclosure contains the sound from the back of the speaker to reduce the effect while enhancing the sound.

You can also buy enclosures too, but they tend to fit specific speakers. 

Tags: sound
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • 3,312 posts
Posted by locoi1sa on Sunday, July 10, 2011 8:32 AM

An enclosure will greatly enhance the sound from any speaker. The larger the enclosure the better the sound. Just adding another speaker will not give it better performance. For the best sound use the largest speaker and enclosure that will fit your locomotive.

        Pete

 I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!

 I started with nothing and still have most of it left!

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
  • 13,757 posts
Posted by cacole on Sunday, July 10, 2011 10:08 AM

Your speaker will sound much better if you put it into a proper enclosure.

http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php?cat=95 

  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: Harford County, Maryland
  • 86 posts
Posted by mmr1229 on Sunday, July 10, 2011 12:49 PM

wow! What a differance, that's crazy how much better and louder it sounds. I built a small encloser out of styrene the same size of the speaker and a half inch deep.  Never would I have thought it would make that kind of a difference. Thank you.

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 5:13 PM

Here is a useful link about sound. Look in Curriculum and save the link to Favorites. Some of you here might do the same.

http://www.mrdccu.com/

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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