# Looking for larger speakers



## curlyp (Sep 4, 2009)

Lets say money is no object ( it should not be the controlling factor) What is the best speaker to use in these situations
All of my engines use QSI sound decoders, G Wire and battery. Some have a lot of space for a speaker
Bachmann k-27 Batteries in tender but still a lot of room
Bachmann Connie 2-8-0, Batteries and decoder are in the boiler so lots of room in tender 
Bachmann 2 truck shay. Batteries in boiler decoder in tank. still some room in tank

With all that I paid for the engines plus the eletronics I would like to get the best sound out of these as possible. If possible a brand name and vendor would be real helpful

Thanks

Paul Deis


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul......... I've had very good success with Phoenix Speakers...


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Check the internet electronics surplus sites for the best buys on the nice little speakers and also consider places like Parts Express where you will pay more, but know just what you are getting.

For example, these look very promising:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.c...ber=G16458









And Phoenix seems to use these Philips, but I would bet they are lots more than the $1.75 price found here:

http://brigarelectronics.com/mm5/me...e=SPEAKERS











Sorry if the images don't work on this site anymore. Used to work this way.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

I would like to get the best sound out of these as possible 
Paul, 

Call Jonathan at EMW and have a chat with him. He sells and installs them, and he has some very good speakers. 
 [url]http://www.rctrains.com/ [/url] _(Let's see if the 'link' bug has been fixed.) _


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul, I would concur with Pete's suggestion to call Jonathan. He has the speakers available and could recommend just the one for you.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

In our application--inside model trains--he speaker, in my opinion, is less important than the enclosure. As long as it can handle the wattage the sound card puts out, and as long as it has reasonable low frequency response, it'll sound fine. Experimenting with enclosures makes a bigger difference. For example, putting a cap on the back of the speaker, or adding insulation to the enclosure, or porting it. It's hard to generalize about what's the best speaker, because the speaker's sound is heavily dependent on the other variables. I've gotten speakers from phoenix and QSI, and both have been good. 

Also in my opinion/experience the weak point of LS sound is always bass, and bass frequencies are going to be very enclosure-dependent


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Call Jonathan. 

Regards, Greg


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Speaker selection and enclosure make a big difference. 

There is a good choice of speakers from Train-Li's site, powerful magnets on these.


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## Ross (Jul 19, 2009)

. . . .and you could drive yourself nuts trying to get the correct speaker..sizes are ok..sound? ask the hi fi buffs!!


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## Rich Turi  (Dec 26, 2009)

I just finished installing new speakers in two of my engines and I have more to go. I found a source for a small speaker from a home surround system. It contains two speakers (a tweeter and a midrange) in a metal enclosure. The speakers contains a crossover that separates the high and mid range. I found the sound to be the best when I disconnected the tweeter. It gives a much more realistic sound and removes all the harsh highs. I was able to fit the enclosure in my LGB Genius by removing one rib and one weight. With the metal enclosure this has the best sound. However in my E8 I could not fit the enclosure in the engine. So I made my own from a plastic spice bottle. I coated the inside walls of the plastic bottle with carpenters glue to stiffen it. Cut a hole for the speakers and screwed it in place with small screws and then stuffed the jar with foam and capped it. I mounted it and the crossover to the rib on the E-8. The grille from the speaker even fit on the spice bottle like it was made for it. You do loose some volume from the speaker but I find the sound more pleasing and it sounds more to scale if you know what I mean. You definitely hear more base which is something I keep reading that people are looking for. The speaker is an 8 ohm, 5 watt speaker and cost me $29.00.


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

I use Visatons from Ray Manley, they work great.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Be careful when matching speakers to low power amps. 

A good speaker needs several watts to drive the core, a cheap speaker does not, so the 1 watt amp works better on a cheap speaker rather than a real good one with a strong magnet. 

Newer sound units now have 3 watts or more of audio power, but some are still less than that. 

So, try both and sound can be improved greatly by placing a cup over the rear of a speaker, enhances the low notes!!!


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