Hornby TTS Sound Decoder Speaker Upgrade Experiment

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Күн бұрын

Hornby TTS sound decoders are a more affordable way to add sound to your locomotives, however, quite a few people have told me that the sound quality can be dramatically improved by replacing the standard speaker with a better quality one.
So I a picked up a speaker from DCC Supplies that claimed that it will "considerably improve sound reproduction over the 'traditional' sealed speaker design".
In this video we do an experiment to see how much difference changing a speaker can make and whether it's worth the effort.
Link to DCC Supplies speaker: www.dccsupplies.com/item-p-10...
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:25 Original Speaker
03:02 Changing Speaker
03:49 New Speaker
04:55 Analysis
07:31 Summary

Пікірлер: 31

@stephenpike3147 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting, my view is the newer speaker sounds better. The reason is it has a flatter frequency response across the larger part of the measured range that I can hear i.e. it reproduces the sound with less distortion than the original speaker. The Hornby distorts the sound - hence the massive variation low to high frequency peaks. So for the newer speaker turn the volume up a bit - or as I find listening to the trains I lower the volumes anyway so they do not become annoying and stay pleasant to listen to! But sure try another speaker until you get one you really like,£6 to £10 its worth experimenting with a couple plus also ensuring a good baffle - try adjusting the airflow - that alone can make a noticeable difference! A good review, thank you. Stephen

@LittleWicketRailway 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Stephen 👍

@pierre-de-standing 3 жыл бұрын

I have also used iPhone speakers from Roads and Rails. They are a slight improvement, but the main thing is space. In Bachmann and the high end Hornby models, there is very little space to play with in the diesels. This is a pet hate of mine, that these manufacturers are not leaving space for sound when it is becoming increasingly popular. Having to take a dremel to the fuel tank as some people do goes against the grain for me - I don't have those skills anyway and will also reduce the value of the model. BTW, to my knowledge, all TTS chips are 8 ohm and it is always safe to increase the impedance, but reducing the impedance to 4 ohms will blow the audio output. I recently bought one of the ltd edition Hornby Black Fives and was pleasantly surprised to see that the tender was designed to fit the TTS speaker with a purpose designed well. The sound was good also but maybe the harmonic content of a steam train suits these speakers more than a diesel?

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

I'm with you, I wouldn't modify a model to fit a speaker. All manufacturers need to do is say if a model can accept a speaker and which ones will fit. Or list on the decoder which models it's designed to slot into.

@ciaranburke3243 3 жыл бұрын

The hornby one, as bubget sound goes is pretty good not sure it's worth the swap, cool review 👍

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ciaran!

@Bobs1Models 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Rob I have had a lot of success with the IPhone replacment speakers

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Bob, where do you get these from?

@EsotericArctos 3 жыл бұрын

The guards whistle was a lot clearer on the new speaker, but overall the new speaker wasn't as crisp from what I heard. It had more base, but at the expense of losing the highs. I tend to agree that the gain was likely not worth the cost or time with that particular speaker. A lot swear by the sugar-cubes, but I am not even sure they produce that much of a sound improvement. There is only so far you can go with micro-speakers.

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

I've used sugar cubes before, I'm not sure about the sound quality, but the reduction in volume was noticable.

@Steamplug 3 жыл бұрын

Rob try an iPhone speaker from roads and rails. Got one in my class 37 TTS and it a huge improvement

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

Road and Rails Iphone speakers seem to be getting some support, so I think I'll have to give it a go, thanks for the tip 👍

@chefblanc 3 жыл бұрын

very good stuff.. ive found it it quite difficult to tell what speakers are best-mainly for 66 schemes and wondered if it was worth it to change from the one tts supply. Other types ,like 37 schemes do benefit from a beefed' up speaker- to my mind. Be interesting to see the graph on your other analysis. Been a yr for graphs.. not all are the truth though!

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

I'd say it's definitely worth upgrading the TTS speaker, but probably not to this one. Check out the selection at Road and Rails. I did a review of some of their small speakers recently and some of them were really impressive. You've got quite a bit of space in the 66 so you could fit something quite impressive in there. Email Richard from Road and Rails and I'm sure he'll give you some good advice 👍

@newlynnrailway 3 жыл бұрын

I have to say, i`m with you, it doesn`t seem to much improvment at the cost of volume to, A little cleaner and takes the hiss out, i`ve bought a few from the well know site in china to try with a pair 37s with TTS chips but theres not a lot of room to play with in the bachmanns. I have a Hornby class 40 which being the tts version has a bit of space, I salvaged a pair from on pc monitor to try in that.

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

Space is a problem. A PC monitor! You'll own the world's loudest Class 40! 😮😂

@raymondrubira8827 3 жыл бұрын

Hello I enjoyed your presentation, on Hornby boxes on brand con can change some orders, that they are the decoders of the game is how to change them. Bonjour j'ai bien appréciée votre présentation, sur boites Hornby on marque con peux change certain commendes, qu'elle sont les décodeurs de la game est comment les modifier.

@cravensdmufan4449 3 жыл бұрын

Good review, thanks for posting. Not much difference, not really worth upgrading with that particular speaker which is expensive at £7 IMO. Like others have said, I find iPhone speakers best for TTS. I use two small ones wired in series per loco to give a nice balanced sound; quieter and much better. I get mine from Richard at Roads and Rails.

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, sounds like I need to pay a visit to Road and Rails 👍

@Gasher82nd 2 жыл бұрын

i am new to hornby trains and when i was a lad it just went round track and if you were lucky it had a soundbox in tender. simple clicking thing. I have no idea how to even try to use a TTS sound engine but was looking for a video that could show me what makes the sound go to the engine or sound part in the engine/Tender?? There is Bass improvement thing that came with train that was supposed to be fitted in tender. i have picture of where it goes but not how to conect it. I have a Princess class firebox engine but do not have a clue where sound on this is, unless it is in the tender where the attachment is supposed to go. if anyone has seen a video that can help please post and i will check back for link. Thanks

@breintonjunction791 3 жыл бұрын

Where did you get the TTS 66 from for £33 pounds please

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Alan, it was from Amazon, but it looks like they've sold out. The cheapest I can find now is £34.99 (includes postage) from Time Tunnel Models, I've bought from here a number of times and the service was good - www.timetunnelmodels.com/live/catalog/hornby-r8121-sound-decoder-class-with-speaker-p-62431.html Hereford Model Centre have them for £33.95, but I think you'd have to pay for postage (£4) unless you were local and could collect - herefordmodels.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=12034 Looks like Rails of Sheffield were selling them for £29.50 at one point! But again, all out of stock. Hope that helps

@breintonjunction791 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much 👍

@newlynnrailway 3 жыл бұрын

@@breintonjunction791 try antics online, i bought mine for 32.50

@MalcolmCrabbe 3 жыл бұрын

In terms of improvement for the investment, I'd agree not worth it. - Mind you it would be more disappointing if you had got the same results with a speaker costing three times as much

@LittleWicketRailway 3 жыл бұрын

True. Worth a try. A few people have suggested iphones speakers from Road and Rails. I think that might be my next experiment.