I was thinking about buying an HO Athearn Genesis GP 9 with Tsunami sound and since I don’t own any Genesis locos, I’m looking for any comments, good or not so good, about them from people who actually have them. Right now I’m all Atlas and Kato for the main line and plan on using the Genesis for switching all by itself. I have not installed any sound yet either so I am interested in comments about sound and performance of these Genesis locos. Thanks in advance to any owners who would like to assist me in deciding.
What are you interested in more than anything else – running qualities, sound qualities, detail, or other.
The model has very good detail and the one I have runs smoothly. The Southern Pacific Black Widow version has dual headlights and backup lights, mars lights in both directions, and a red light in both directions. The only complaint many users have about the Tsunami decoder is their weak horn sounds.
If your primary concern is slow speed switching operations, the Tsunami may require a custom 28 step speed table since Tsunami decoders don’t support CVs 5 and 6 for adjusting speed; and why they don’t support those CVs is a mystery since every other decoder manufacturer supports them.
I bought one of the GP9s with Tsunami sound in 2012 as my first loco (this time around). It is reliable, pulls ok and looks pretty good but I’d say the sound is so-so. As already noted the horn is rather weak, while the motor sound is sorta ok but not impressive at all.
I run mine paired with a Kato RS-2 I acquired where I added a TCS non-sound decoder. The Kato w/TCS runs smooth as silk, certainly better than the GP-9. It was a learning experience to speed match the TCS and the Tsunami given the lack of Tsunami CV-5/6, but there’s a way. My diesels with sound to compare are a P2K E-6, BLI SD-7, SD-40 and NW-2. The sound on the GP-9 and the NW-2 are the least of the bunch.
I have recent Genesis steamers w/Tsunami (FEF, Challenger and Big Boy) and they have what I would call at least “good” sound. I know the steam and diesel decoders are not identical in terms of recorded sound, of course, but do not know it they have substantially the same sound electronics. But I’m suspicious that the speaker arrangement is a big part of the difference. Of course there’s lots of room in the big steamer tenders, and I assume the 2 speakers are bigger than the single GP-9 speaker (I’ve not yet opened it). I’ve not heard any other Genesis diesels so can’t compare those.
Would i buy one again? I’d look at others if I could find the road I wanted, but I wanted a GP-7/9, UP livery, sound and a good price so I guess I’m satisfied. I’d also want to consider whether a DC version could be made DCC/sound with both better sound and motor performance. Maybe someone can comment on that.
Get the DC version a put a select in there…
Totally agree with David on that one.
Tom
I have 4 genesis locos w factory Tsunamis. I am very happy with them, at $200 a piece. One of them is a GP-9, then an MP15, a GP15, an SD70ACe. My GP-15 is a little more susceptible to stutter but I believe that to be because of over lubricating. I did solder the inside wiring.