# USAT GP-9 System?



## ndtechie05 (Jun 21, 2010)

Hello I have a USAT GP-9 and was wondering if there were any other options for a sound system besides what USAT offers which is quite expensive. Thanks.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Sure, put in a QSI, $145 and sounds are on par with the phoenix... also you get the benefit of controlling the bell and whistle with your direction switch. It will also work on DCC if you ever convert. 

If you do the "quick and dirty" install, it will take you about 15 minutes for the install. 

I'm assuming track power here. 

Regards, Greg


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

I like the Sierra in my GP-9. Don't know if it is still offered though.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Sierra stopped making sound units about a year ago... also still more expensive than the QSI when it was available I believe. 

There's really nothing else up in that category (QSI & Phoenix), although I would add that the ESU and the Zimo units are capable of great sound, but not quite in the same category, either from capability or lack of US sound files or both. 

Regards, Greg


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## ndtechie05 (Jun 21, 2010)

Greg, which model QSI would you suggest and also where did you find for $145? Thanks.

-Brett


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## Ken101Ward (Jan 1, 2010)

The Quantum Magnum Universal is the board you want. A quick Google search located one on Ebay for $143.
Rld Hobbies, a site sponsor if I'm not mistaken, carries them also. His price is $160. I have no connection to any dealers listed in this post. Also, If you are new to the hobby, go check out Gregs website. There is tons of useful info there.


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## Loco Lee (Feb 17, 2010)

John's Hobbies if FL has them, and he won't charge you $16 to ship it, like one dealer that I know. www.Jonhshobbies.com He has everything you'll need to get your loco going. I think his price on the Magnum is $159. I know that he has them in stock, because alot of my customers have been buying them from him, because Tony's is sold out.


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## Chucks_Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

Personally I wouldn't deal with John's Hobbies unless you want to wait for whenever he gets around to shipping even though he has what you ordered in stock. I once ordered from him and after 2 weeks I stll never received my order. After speaking with John himself I was told that he's been to busy to ship anything as it was show season...after he sent my refund I ordered thru Throttle Up!


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## Chucks_Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

Oh, and I forgot to support RLD Hobbies and other fine dealers that support this forum


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## Loco Lee (Feb 17, 2010)

I've ordered tens of thousands of dollars worth of product from John's Hobbies, and never had a problem at all. I'd rather wait a week or two, than to wait months, and months like I've had to do from some of the dealers out there


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Maybe some good advice here, call and see if the dealer has it in stock. I've also heard about certain dealers that have it on their site but it's not available. Unfortunately this is becoming more common. 

I have to second Chuck's recommendation, I have always had excellent service from RLD, but more importantly, he stands behind what he sells, even if it's someone else further up the supply chain who has made the mistake. 

This kind of customer service deserves recognition, Robby has earned it from me. 

Regards, Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Depending on what level of sound control you want, you may want to look at Dallee's line of sound systems. They're not as full-featured as QSI, Sierra, or Phoenix, but they're a bit less expensive, too. ($100) If you're just running on track power, it may be all you need. They've got various diesel sound systems, so you can pick one that sounds good to you. I'm not a diesel person, so I don't know how accurate the sounds are to specific locomotives. The best I can do is identify the quiet gurgling of an Alco, but in terms of diesel sounds, that's akin to finding the flamingo in the flock of penguins. 

Also, keep your eyes on ebay for Sierra systems. They come up every now and then fairly inexpensively. 

(moderator hat on) Just a quick reminder to keep things polite. If you've had a bad experience with a dealer and want to share it with the readers here, that's fine. Just keep the name calling out of the discussion. (moderator hat off) 

Later, 

K


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Sound is one of those very subjective items. 

I see what you are saying about the USA install price. Phoenix came out with a new board recently that can be had for about $160 or so. I've installed 3 of Phoenix's older units. All went in very easily and work very well. You do get directional whistles/ horns. You will want to add a programming cable so you can configure the board how you like or, you can just run it the way it is. The speaker that comes with the Phoenix board is excellent, by the way. When I had my speaker installed in the F3, the fuel tank had holes in it for a speaker. All in all, it was a pretty easy install. Probably 15-20 minutes. The hard part was getting the shell off! 

Good luck,

Mark


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Let's all be careful to give good advice here. 

There might be some missing information or misunderstanding. 

I made an ASSUMPTION that "ndtechie05", the OP (original poster) was asking for a sound system that works on DC... this is because the USAT site does NOT say DCC sound, just sound. 

So, I recommended a system that was lower cost and worked on DC. 

Mark, you mention a phoenix board for $160... well, you must be talking about a P8B, which is DCC ONLY. Street price around 165 to 167 

The DC phoenix option is a PB9 and the street price is about $220.... 

So this is not a more inexpensive option. Part of the cost from USAT is installation, obviously. This also needs to be understood. 

In the "DC" world, there's only on option near $150, that's the QSI.... if you go up to around $200-220, then you can get a Phoenix, or a Zimo, or an ESU, or I believe a Massoth. 

All of the options in that class of sound are DC and DCC. 

If you want to go down in "realism" then you can save some money with a Dallee... I don't think it's a good description to use "not as full featured" as the only comparison above, it's features, but more importantly and more obviously the sound quality, and accuracy of reproduction, as well as a larger library of sounds (prime movers, air pumps, whistles, horns, fans, etc.) 

The simple answer, is bucks in = sound quality out. In my opinion the QSI is quite a deal on DC if you don't want to trigger with magnets or have to use a R/C system restricted to "trigger inputs" 

I waited for years for a combination motor and sound controller, waiting on the promises of the large scale Soundtraxx Tsunami (6 years), and when the QSI came out, it's what I wanted, lots of features, great sound and low cost. 


Regards, Greg


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg,

I was looking at QSI's website and if someone wanted just a sound board, would that be a good choice? It looks like it is designed to plug in to the aristo socket, which doesn't exist on a USAT GP9. So, how would one go about wiring that up? Is that part of that base unit that you were talking about? Does it come with a speaker, too? Even at $208, the PB9 is cheaper than the old 2K2 cards. To trigger sounds, does the QSI allow for reed switches and magnets? We should be telling a new guy that for either of these two units, he's going to want to get a programming cable for an additional $$.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Mark, you need to look at the "magnum" version that uses the identical electronics with screw terminal connections. 

We've gone over the installations in a number of threads. No, no $6 speaker comes with it. Yes the new PB9 is less costly than the 2k2... but that's not what the discussion is about. I already addressed the trigger inputs. 

No, he does not need a programming cable, both Phoenix and QSI can do limited programming without the cable, and they both do have extra cost programming interfaces so this is equal... He's price sensitive (no harm in that!) so he wants a less expensive solution. He can do what he wants w/o the programming cables.

Bottom line, it's EXACTLY as I said: 

*The simple answer, is bucks in = sound quality out. In my opinion the QSI is quite a deal on DC if you don't want to trigger with magnets or have to use a R/C system restricted to "trigger inputs" *

If the goal is not to confuse someone, you might want to start another thread for "learning questions"... your questions have been discussed many times in other threads. 

Regards, Greg


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg,

Thanks for the reply.

Your last line is a bit much. Take it easy, I genuinely curious. Should we just tell anyone that asks a question to do a search? 


That's pretty cool about the QSI. I guess just looking at their website, I couldn't gain all the info you already have on hand. Since you are so active on here, I just asked away. Why bother with a search when I can rely on you?! 

Have a great day!

Mark


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

No, I was trying to keep this thread focused on what the poster asked 

AND (big and) 

Trying not to spiral it into a "my remote control system is better than yours". 

Even though this is not in the beginners forum, I'm treating it as such, and another thread on installs will, of necessity, wind up being "receiver/decoder" specific, and then we're off to the races again, like Revo vs. DCS vs. RCS vs. DCC. 

I think this is a great thread, it's a good question, and even limiting it to the question asked, it has a lot of different ways to go. 

Regards, Greg 

p.s. why don't we piggy back on one of the existing threads on USAT installs... Jerry M has a bunch of them.


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