My older small locos have anemic sound, even after playing with the CVs to maximize the volume. I’ve been very impressed with the sound I get from sugar cube speakers in locos I’ve added sound to in recent years. I’d like to crank up the sound on my older locos but I’m wondering if sound volume is primarily a product of:
A. The speakers
B. The decoders
C. Both
I’d rather not replace the decoders because that can get expensive but if I can improve the volume just by swapping out the old speakers with new ones, I could go for that.
The ‘newer’ speakers are better, both in their sound-generation capacity and in their operation on what may be very small physical amplifier output power. The modern push toward very long battery life in phones and similar devices has greatly assisted with commercializing these.
We have had discussions about improving decoder sound-amplifier performance, or providing an intermediate ‘power amplifier’ boost to what the decoder puts out (similar in concept to the old adapters that reduced the speaker output of small stereos to ‘line level’ preamp output characteristics). I’d look around for small-form-factor amplifier designs with enough ‘headroom’ for a clean output signal with the appropriate dynamic range to keep the whistle, bell, and exhaust all at the correct level relative to each other.
You don’t mention specific locomotives but for me, since I’ve discovered Scale Sound Systems speakers, there’s nothing else that compares. I’ve ‘auditioned’ dozens of various speakers from ESU, Tony’s, Scalemaster, TCS and others. none compare with the range and depth that the SSS speaker is able to produce.
I have tried all sorts of “I-phone” speakers and they all sound tinny to me. Many of my installs used the ESU sugar cube with their adaptable enclosure:
Rapido trains seems to use the I-phone speaker exclusively. After shelling out $350 or more for their locos I still cough up another $17 for a SSS speaker. The results are quite noticable.
Ed (and all), this is a subject I’ve been thinking about for a few months now. I have a Bachman RS3 with their Sound Value decoder. No real complaints except the volume is very low. I’ve tried unsucessfully to increase the volume. In your experience do you think swapping out the speaker for an appropriate SSS speaker would increase the volume (even just a moderate amount) utilizing the existing decoder?
Larry Puckett pointed out in one of his Youtube videos that the output of some decoders exceeds the power range of the speaker. I’m guessing that would not be the case with older decoders, but that’s just a guess.
Some years ago, Digitrax put out some decoders that just had very little output volume. I think they were sound-only decoders with no motor capabilities. Maximum volume on these could barely be heard if there was any other sound in the room. Very bad design, as they were all this way.
That sure is a tiny speaker in there! Now the trick would be to find the equivalent SSS model to fit. Scale Sound does offer a speaker engineered to fit the S-2, S-4 but I don’t see one listed for the RS-3.
It has been my experience that any time I replace a stock speaker with an SSS model the sound output is definitely increased. Of course after the speaker install I pretty much reconfigure the sound settings anyway which usually means reducing the volume levels across the board.
JT at SSS is always expanding his available designs. He may be interested in making a model to fit the Bachmann RS-3 if you are lucky. If you want to try to make your own, the ESU 50321 sugar cube with adaptable enclosure might be a good choice.
It’s almost always the speakers. Regardless of what speaker is used, to get optimal performance out of the speaker, it needs to be in its own enclosure that is sealed air tight. If the enclosure is not sealed air tight, the sound will be greatly diminished.
I have four specific locos in mind, all with early factory sound. A Bachmann Ten Wheeler is one. I think I got this right after they offered this loco with sound. I have two sets of early Paragon F-3s. I also have an early Genesis GP-7. The Geep is an excellent runner but the sound is very poor for such an otherwise excellent loco.
I just named the locos I want to upgrade. I’ve used the ESU sugar cube speakers with their enclosures when adding sound decoders either to DC locos or DCC that originally came without sound decoders. I’ve been very happy with those. I’ll look into the Scale Sound speakers.
I think it is pretty obvious that the speakers will determine the quality of the sound. It doesn’t matter how good your decoder is if your speakers are poor quality, so work on the speakers first.
I would suggest that you start by replacing the speakers one locomotive at a time to see if the improvements meet your needs. Keep in mind that the speaker enclosures must be absolutely air tight. I make my own enclosures out of 0.040" styrene, but if you are just starting out, you might be better to work with a proven commercial product like ESU or SSS. Streamlined Backshop is also an excellent source for good speakers and their website offers a huge amount of information regarding sugar cube speakers and more:
In some cases, louder sounds can be achieved by drilling small holes in the tender floor. If I recall correctly, some of the Bachmann tenders are completely sealed and act as sound barriers.
