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Multi Speakers in SD45
Mel asks:
“I’m converting an SD45 to DCC with sound. I have room for an extra speaker. What will an extra speaker do for me?”
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I don’t know what effect adding an extra speaker will do, but one thing that occurs to me is that you need to check the decoder’s ability to power the extra speaker.
Why would you do that? In my (not so) humble opinion I think sound in locos is overrated, certainly mostly over volumed. Nah, it’s your loco and if you want to go ahead but supply me with earplugs when I visit. (PS Don’t take my comments too seriously, I don’t)
Mel,
Assuming good quality speakers 2 speakers will sound better. To do this you need t know what you are doing. Assuming they are 8 ohm nominal impedance speakers wire them in series ad you should be ok. Wiring them in parallel will be too demanding on the decoder and it will tend to overheat
Or you could see if you can find 2x 4 ohm speakers. In series you’d be back to 8 ohms.
As mentioned, the sound output of the decoder must match the speaker(s) impedance. The decoder specification will state the speaker impedance required.
Calculate this the same way as resistors in series or parallel. So for example, if an 8 ohm speaker is stated, it is also possible to use two 16 ohm speakers in parallel, or two 4 ohm speakers in series.
If you use a speaker setup of higher impedance, the volume will be reduced. If you use a speaker setup of lower impedance, the decoder sound output stage will overheat and may be destroyed.
The two speakers must be connected the same way round (like batteries in series or parallel), or the sound of each will be in anti-phase to the other. (You can try this to hear the difference.)