I would like your input on the Athearn Genesis F units equiped with sound. I am looking to buy some F units and would like them to be sound equiped.
Accord1959
The best thing to do is to use the search engine on this forum and read all that has already been discussed at some length on this subject. As far as many people are concerned, Athearn’s Genesis F7 is a great looking locomotive which is badly let down by a cheap MRC sound installation. The Walthers Proto 2000 QSI-equipped F7 is, to my mind, a much better option.
Brian
DISCLAIMER: This is my experience with the Genesis F units and MRC sound in general and your experience might be different. .
If you want to purchase F units with sound, the new P2K are probably the best overall since they have QSI sound and are very close in fidelity to the Genesis F units.
I have thirty some Genesis units and none have the MRC installed sound. We have discussed the problem with the MRC DCC drive and sound on various posts in the past, and the installed MRC sound is considered to be the worst of the sound systems and programming them can be very trying to your patience. I have ten of the Steam models that have the MRC decoders and they fail constantly while testing on a test track. Some of my Genesis steam models have already had the MRC replaced with Zimo DCC drives and Soundtraxx sound to produce one of the best running and sounding model you could ask for.
I would advise you to test it for your self and see if you like it. We all have different views and ways of using the models and the MRC might be OK for one person and junk for someone else.
The Genesis shells are the best in the business for fidelity and overall looks. That is the reason I purchased the units and installed Soundtraxx into the units that have sound. I used the NCE DCC decoder and the diesel Soundtraxx and they operate very well.
I too solicited comments when I was ordering my Genesis F units. The consensus seemed pretty unanimous that the MRC sound units that Athearn uses with the Genesis diesels are substandard. Therefore, all 10 Genesis F units I own so far were purchased plain jane, and future productions runs I plan on buying will be same. I do have plans for a set of Proto 2000 F units and I’m going one of the two AB sets with sound since feed back has been positive.
I am going to roster both P2K and Genesis loco’s because both companies have offered versions I need and they don’t overlap.
What all is involved in fitting a Genesis shell to a P2K chassis and sound system?
I use the Genesis shell directly on the P1K F units chassis several times. All you need is a way to lock them mechanically, but even that can be skipped since they do fit tight and I have some B units that I did not lock down.
The P1K chassis used to be available as the A and B set for as little as $45 before LL was purchased. I purchased several sets of the A and B combination to use under the Highliner / Genesis shells. The Highliner was the orginal shell kit and Athearn purchased the tooling.
Highliner still offers complete undecorated shell kits, which I believe are built by Athearn.
I don’t know how close the new P2K chassis sets are to the old P1K set, but someone may be able to tell you on this forum.
Buy the non-sound versions and get a better decoder than the MRC one in there.
David B
Ok, thanks. I believe I’ve read here that the P1K and P2K chassis are similar enough that the shells are interchangable.
I recently bought the Genesis F7 set with sound. It looks great, runs well, and sounds OK to me but my ears are not that discriminating. My problem was trying to assign a DCC address. Even with my Power Pax it failed everytime I tried. I finally just decided to leave it set to the factory address of 03. This also means it will be the last Genesis unit I buy since I can’t leave them all set to 03.
I have had success at the store by forcing the 4 digit address down it’s throat through programming CV29, 17 and 19 on the programming track.
David B
That’s how you do it.
The Walthers/LL Proto 2000 version cost roughly the same, has a better air horn, and runs better on DC (Lower starting voltage) The Walthers version also has programable starting voltages and speed curves. A Key feature missing on MRC’s version for DC and DCC operation. With the Walthers the 5 chime horn is also better detailed, there are kick plates near the steps, and there are appropriate grab irons over the nose.
And for the record, I own both Athearn Genisis A-B-A and Walthers P2K A units.
To successfully program MRC decoders, program them on the main…including the address. Anything else is a roll of the dice.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
What horn does the Walthers Proto unit have, and what horn does the Genesis have? I’m talking about the sound unit, not the little plastic horn on the roof. [8D]