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Hornby TTS Class 37 sound improvments


modelman14

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I've heard one, I think the speaker is fine, the problem I think is there is too much space in the loco body causing too much echo, I was wondering if a cube of foam either side of the speaker leaving a smaller sound chamber might help.

 

The sound is reasonable although not a patch on a Biffo sound in a quality DCC chip but you get what you pay for, the loco is rubbish too.

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Evening all....

Has anyone changed the speaker in their TTS class 37 to improve sound and if so to which one?

Cheers all....

 

Sealing in the supplied speaker would will improve the sound. Due to poor design / being produced to a budget ?  - the wires connecting the speaker stop it seating properly in it's mounting rim, this then allows the sound waves from the front of the speaker cone to reach the rear of the speaker - thereby muddling the sound. If possible also ensure the "box" the speaker sits in is a sealed air tight enclosure for best results.

 

EDIT: After dismantling the model, I discovered that the poor fit of the standard speaker was not due to the connecting wires fouling the metal casing as I first thought, the problem being the speaker is slightly too big in diameter to fit into the metal recess !  Tried a Loksound 28mm round speaker - it fits perfectly, with a little black tack to seal the gap where the wires exit - sounds better now !!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sealing in the supplied speaker would will improve the sound. Due to poor design / being produced to a budget ?  - the wires connecting the speaker stop it seating properly in it's mounting rim, this then allows the sound waves from the front of the speaker cone to reach the rear of the speaker - thereby muddling the sound. If possible also ensure the "box" the speaker sits in is a sealed air tight enclosure for best results.

 

EDIT: After dismantling the model, I discovered that the poor fit of the standard speaker was not due to the connecting wires fouling the metal casing as I first thought, the problem being the speaker is slightly too big in diameter to fit into the metal recess !  Tried a Loksound 28mm round speaker - it fits perfectly, with a little black tack to seal the gap where the wires exit - sounds better now !!

Hello tractor_37260,

 

Did you fit a 4 or 8 ohm speaker to the TTS chip?

I'm looking to fit mine to a Bachmann 37 then reconfigure the CVs to more suit the Bachmann loco.

 

Regards

 

Roy

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Hello all.

Finally got round to spending some time on the TTS 37 and have ended up fitting a bass reflex enclosure @8ohm in addition to the standard speaker.

I`ve sealed the factory fitted speaker,as noted it is a little too big to fit into the recess.

Overall the loco does sound better,but I may even remove the Hornby speaker,cant decide at the moment.

Some added weight,etched roof fan,new window surrounds,buffer beam detailing etc and weathered,the loco will be looking good.

Personally I think these locos are a good buy,some would probably say the models are rubbish compared to more recent models,BUT,look at a super detailed LIMA class 37......

Cheers all....

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Hello tractor_37260,

 

Did you fit a 4 or 8 ohm speaker to the TTS chip?

I'm looking to fit mine to a Bachmann 37 then reconfigure the CVs to more suit the Bachmann loco.

 

Regards

 

Roy

 

Hi Roy

           I fitted a 4ohm - 28mm Loksound , didn't have an 8ohm at hand to try.  As it's louder with the 4ohm, I also turned down the overall Vol - via CV182 to 2  (default = 4) 

 

HTH

Ken

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Hi Roy

           I fitted a 4ohm - 28mm Loksound , didn't have an 8ohm at hand to try.  As it's louder with the 4ohm, I also turned down the overall Vol - via CV182 to 2  (default = 4) 

 

HTH

Ken

Hi Ken,

 

Thank you for the reply, just making sure 4 ohm was suitable before ordering replacements.

 

Thanks

 

Roy

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TTS spec is for an 8 ohm speaker. See any TTS 'user manual' (leaflet).

Thank you, I was aware of that but I was looking to use a 4 ohm as the lower the resistance the better the sound, if the impedence was an Issue I could always use two 4 ohm in series.

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Thank you, I was aware of that but I was looking to use a 4 ohm as the lower the resistance the better the sound, if the impedence was an Issue I could always use two 4 ohm in series.

 

Of course the impedance is an issue. Why do you think the manufacturer bothers to tell you what impedance to use?

 

If you use a speaker with significantly lower impedance than the recommended minimum, you run the risk of overdriving the amplifier and ultimately destroying the output stage.

 

You may get away with doing so if you  turn the volume down quite a bit, but I would advise against because one day, someone will turn the volume up to '8' and that will be bye bye to your sound.

 

Kind regards,

 

Paul

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Thank you, I was aware of that but I was looking to use a 4 ohm as the lower the resistance the better the sound, if the impedence was an Issue I could always use two 4 ohm in series.

 

Yes an 8 ohm speaker is specified, however due to the low overall cost of the loco, the supplied speaker is not the best, quality wise, and it also does not fit properly/flush in the metal weight recess.  If using a replacement 4 ohm speaker It's best to turn down the volume so as not to overload the decoder's amp, the range being 0-8 via CV182. With a 4ohm or 2x4ohm in series fitted & "sealed in" - setting CV182 to 1 will more than likely be loud enough for most, along with an improved sound quality. 

A better quality 8ohm could also be used, but they are not so readily available.

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Thank you all, I didn't mean to sound rude. I was going to follow tractor_37260's suggestion of the single speaker with the volume turned down. But If I was worried about what pauliebanger & RAFHAAA96 mention I'd use two 4 ohm in series as I stated. Sorry if there has been any miss understanding, I know how things can escalate from a few wrongly said/typed words. Life is so much easier face to face when discussing things.

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  • 4 months later...
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Suggest you put in a larger speaker in the Hornby Model, bags of room.  Many about including the Large Bass Reflex from www.dckits-devideos.co.uk , look under speakers for the PRS229 Bass Reflex, more powerfull and a far deeper sound than the smaller bass reflex mentioned.

 

Charlie

post-3411-0-66036200-1436726927_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 years later...

Resurrecting an older thread, I have finally got around to doing something with my TTS sound decoder fitted in a ViTrains class 37. Quite some time ago, I bought the Hornby Network Rail yellow class 37 on special just for the sound decoder. I fitted it into a ViTrains 37, using the Hornby speaker with a plastic card housing, all sealed up with some black-tack. The sound was loud but the speaker was rather rattly and mushy, so I resolved to do something better. 

 

It has taken this long, but I recently bought some sugar cube speakers in custom housings - a double dumbo from YouChoos (http://youchoos.co.uk/Index-Shop.php?L1=Speakers) seemed like a good choice to fit the available space. I wasn't after volume so much as quality. The speakers did fit nicely in the top of the ViTrains body shell without fouling the chassis, so it was all put back together and tested. The sound was better but the sheer volume meant the speakers still rattled a little at idle, but that disappeared when revved up. A quick search for the Hornby TTS CV settings to adjust the volume suggested that CV161 should reduce the engine sound volume. Programming on the main, I successively set the volume at 5 (max is 8), 4, 3, 2 then 1. It is still fairly loud but that's the minimum, and it does sound quite reasonable now with the good quality speakers and their sound enclosure. Of course, it's not up to Legomanbiffo's standards, but for a cheap sound decoder at a fraction of the cost of an ESU (even with a nearly free locomotive thrown in!), I am happy with the result.

Incidentally, there was a known problem with this particular TTS release from Hornby, in that the lights worked back to front. That wasn't a problem with the Hornby locomotive as it had no lights anyway, but for the ViTrains locomotive, I used the simple expedient of swapping the yellow and white wires where they were soldered to the 8-pin plug. That means that if I remove the decoder and put it in something else, or sell it, it will work correctly in whatever locomotive it is put in.

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A simple enclosure for the 28mm round speaker can be made by slicing the top off a Humbrol plastic paint pot and making a notch for the wires to exit. As usual seal it in with tak stuff.

 

Sugar Cube speakers work well with TTS also.

 

The reversed wiring problem was smartly corrected in subsequent production. I found it easier to swap the yellow and white wires at the decoder rather than at the plug, as that was better suited to my soldering skills.

 

Rob

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