From the videos I see online the big boy looks very nice the sounds are not bad but the chuff is awful.
Being in a video sometimes distort sounds and having no place around here willing to run the engine so I can’t tell if the chuff is true on the video or as bad as I think it may Be.
I wish! [:(]
If Athearn has’t changed something in design, it is not surprising that sound is not good: both (too) small speakers are completely inclosed within a tender shell. Instead of using the whole tender as a speaker baffle, and one, food (big enough) speaker, Athearn uses two tiny speakers.
Imagine buying a Hi-Fi stereo / home cinema, and placing two big front speakers into a closet. Well that is what Athearn has done. At least this is the situation with my BB, which came with Tsunami decoder in it.
The only solution is complete reinstallation of speaker(s), using a tender as a baffle with another (much better) speaker.
I use this one, I am sure it can be purchased in the US too, my opinion it is better than any “high bass” speaker:
http://www.visaton.de/en/industrie/breitband/bf32_8.html
Look below on this web page, there you can see the frequency response curve.
Regards,
Hrvoje
Athearn originally used a junky MRC sound unit in their Big Boy. I heard one at a train show, and it sounded like a tin can hoping to one day be a sound unit. I believe later productions use better Tsunami sound, so I’d keep an eye out for one of those. Beyond that, they seem to be very nice models! Certainly better than my AHM/Rivarossi Big Boy, but I still like that one anyway.[:D]
Keep in mind that Athearn switched from MRC to Soundtrax a few years back so they may not all have the lower quality decoders. Tsunami are decent although in the past couple years it is evident that ESU Loksound is king.