So, just how good are the current renditions?
I have several of the 2-8-2 and 4-6-2, but I am talking about the latest Challengers and Big Boys. The reason I ask is, that I sorta just noticed that they are absolutely killing the competition on price. Less then $300 for a Big Boy versus PCM at over $500 !!?? My only experience was with an earlier Challenger. The sound did not impress me, but it looked pretty darned good, and seemed to run pretty smooth too. Heck, for less than the difference one could swap complete sound systems.
I’m with you there. Save all the money you can and just modify whatever you want to have it meet your specs.
The Athearn Challenger model is superior, the sound decoder is somewhat lacking compared to QSI®, LokSound V3.5 and Tsunami
The Challengers are worth the money if you are willing to replace the Mickey Mouse sound unit and DCC drive. The model actually runs as good as a Trix Big Boy after you replace the DCC drive with a Tsunami.
The Big Boys are not released as of yet, but they will be out by June. they will probably be worth the money if Athearn does the same quality job on the Big Boys as the Challenger.
The Athearn Challenger is the best steamer for it’s price, no doubt. Some people dislike the MRC sound decoder it comes installed with. I personally liked it. If not, all one needs to do is remove the MRC and wire up the decoder of their choice.
The challenger runs great! i love mine! the sound is fine for me until i can aford to get somthing else. i not that picky!
I got mine as a present to myself. I was not impressed by the sond, so the vendor made me an offer I could not refuse, $225.
I run it at my club, and aside for being really good looking, I was impressed by the pulling power. I was able to start a 30-35 cars train on a grade of over 2%, with a lot of the cars being mediocre at best for rolling, and no slippage. None.
For the decoder, it went into some unknown state and now I cannot run it in DCC. But it will be replaced by a Tsunami soon enough.
If you don’t mind replacing all the elecronics (decoder, sound, dull orangeish headlamp) they are great. Just remember to add that cost to the price comparison.