Recently Bachmann has begun selling their 2-8-0 with a factory-installed Tsunami sound decoder.
Does anybody here have one yet (I have a couple on the way but haven’t received them yet) ??
I am curious what other folks think about them. They seem to be a pretty good deal to me.
John
The Spectrum 2-8-0 is a very good runner with all I have seen in various mrr groups. The Tsunami is a very good sound decoder. I have installed the Tsunami decoder in DCC ready steamers.
Rich
As far as you know is the Tsunami that comes with the loco a general run-of-the-mill Tsunami or some sort of special Bachmann stripped-down version?
But for 90% of people this Tsunami will be sufficient. Sound quality and general running characteristics of their custom decoder are as good as the retail Tsunami chip. But they did disable couple of features, I guess in effort to not directly compete against retail Tsunami. When you compare pricing of Bachmann DCC products they are quite a bargain compared to buying DCC ready version and installing DCC and speakers yourself.
The one feature I miss on Bachmann Tsunami models is that you cannot change Master Volume, you still can change individual volume - but that’s a pain. Really odd decision in my opinion.
According to the PDF documents for the Tsunami you buy yourself and the PDF documents for the Spectrum Tsunami factory on board and past postings here. there are somewhat less sound features, whistle options, one of them.
Go to the SoundTraxx site and Bachmann site and download the PDF documents and read them for yourself. I do not remember all that is different. Sounds obvious to me.
Rich
I have one of the Spectrum 2-8-0’s with the factory installed Tsunami. It’s the one everyone wants to see and hear. It’s looks great, is a great runner, good pulling power, and sounds fantastic. After a little tweaking of the CV’s, I have a great engine. I love it and would highly recommend it to anyone.
Cool! I’m looking forward to receiving mine for sure.
John
These are great little locos and good pullers/runners. They’re a real deal and the lifetime warrantee is very nice! I’ve seen these running on several club layouts for a kazillion hours and they’ve been very dependable. I’m planning on purchasing two at least and maybe three now that I’ve gotten larger steam purchases “out of the way”. If you don’t get one of the infrequent lemons, I think you’ll be (very) happy with it’s looks and performance.
I am kind of surprised they run so well with 3 pole motors. Motors have come a long ways.
Rich