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Tried to install a sound digitronics decoder in atlas gp38. no go. Am disapointed w/results. Would like to purchase a n scale loco with sound and motion without breaking the bank from a reputable supplier. Does any one have ideas. Have tried inter net . Don't know if I trust e-bay.Also want to send the current one somplace for install. Need help am a roukie and learning the hard way.
Thanks to all who are willing to help.
Ray
A GP38 will never be an easy install unfortunately, as with most any other hood unit. You're basically limited to either cramming a speaker into the cab which will be visible through the windshield, and that's assuming the front drivetrain components aren't in the way, or you hide it in the fuel tank.
Car & cowl bodied units make for an easier install, such as E/F units or an F45/FP45. Athearn make the latter with Tsunami sound preinstalled, they did a rerelease of some roadnames Sept '11 so you could probably still track some down. I have seven of them without sound and they are amazing runners that will out-pull any other loco in my fleet with ease.
The other (usually more expensive) option is steam. Here you can put sound in just about anything because of the empty space in the tender. The only steamers with preinstalled sound that I can think of right now are Athearn's Big Boy & Challenger, both of which are due for a rerelease over the next few months. They're not cheap at just shy of $500 on Athearn's website, but they're also beautiful models and incredibly detailed.
a couple of dealers run $220 for an n scale loco with sound decoder. I never bothered to mess with sound decoders... I play with N scale and HO and if I want sound, I just buy the HO locos with the sound in them
I have had some experience with the N-scale sound decoders, not with installation, but with use, and have been very disappointed. Quality does not match the price you pay for having the sound decoder. It's amazing that you can get such great sound from a miniature cellphone speaker, but you can't get the same quality from an N-scale decoder speaker. Someday maybe?
I have installed sound in 2 steamers, a AC12 cab forward and a Bman N&W Jclass 611 (both DCC ready). I also installed the same type decoder in a Radio Shack port-audio speaker-amp. I love the steam sounds, simply great, however diesel sounds do not impress me much. I have a couple DD40 diesels with tons of room, even in N scale, but not impressed enough to bother, not yet anyway.
IN the portable speak/amp I added one jack for track power and another for programming. I can flip a small DPDT switch and select run or program mode. That way I can set the amp to whatever loco # I want to use it for, then flip the switch to run mode and have control over the sound volume, much better and louder than the tiny tender speaker. Another obvious plus is it works with any loco with its own sound or without installed sound.
JD
I have a couple of P42's w/MRC sound decoders, a J-Class 4-8-4 B-mann with MRC sound all self installed. Also an AC12 w/sound from intermountain. Sounds not difficult to install just time consuming. Right now I'm working on a A/B set of FT's with sound. And all this is N-scale.
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