Can anyone recommend a good speaker for Murphy Models Class 141/181

[mmie353]

I am wondering, what would be a good speaker today for a Murphy Models Class 141/181? I got a speaker for a 141 in my local store, but I am not very happy with the sound from it, I think I need something better, before I go about and get more speakers as to be honest, I have brought a few to see how things go, what would others suggest could be a better fit, I got a soundtraxx speaker currently in my 141. 

[murphaph]

Well it depends on the decoder first and foremost as some decoders require a high impedance speaker and some require a low impedance speaker. If it's  Loksound I can recommend the following which I have installed in a 141:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254366688403

Great sound IMO from these double iPhone speakers and they fit. I think I may have had to trim another tiny bit of housing off but not sure. In any case it was trivial if I did.

Edit: Man alive these things are expensive these days. I just checked. I paid 30GBP for 4 back then. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by murphaph

[Joe Keegan]

A “ Baby Boomer”  @ £10 speaker available from You Choos in the UK .

Sound decoder from Murphy Models 121 567 or 645 depending on which 141 or 181 loco .

You will have to trim inside the bonnet /chassis and chamfer the speaker top edges to fit inside the bonnet 

I have installed this combination in over 30 Murphy Models 142/181’s to date .

Take your time installing and enjoy the sounds .

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Joe Keegan
Spellcheck

[flange lubricator]

Certainly the baby boomer speaker is more in the price range , the double iPhone when landed will be somewhere near €50 !!. When you add to this the chip it makes fitting sound to the B GM loco a little expensive. 
Wonder has any one done a comparison sound of both speakers ? 

[murphaph]

The double iPhone can be made up yourself with 2 iPhone speakers wired in parallel (halves the 8 Ohm impedance to 4 Ohms) with the plastic housing trimmed a bit and shrink wrapped in heatshrink. Oddly the speakers are waaay cheaper on the Roads and Rails website. At least I think these are the same ones:

https://www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/collections/speakers/products/35x20x7mm-double-iphone-speaker-4-ohm

I highly rate good smartphone speakers because they are designed to produce a lot of sound in a small form factor. They have to fit in a space much smaller than a loco and reproduce high fidelity quality sound while doing it. They housings have baffles and whatnot to create the bass almost out of nothing. It's quite remarkable how they manage it.

[flange lubricator]

On 24/1/2022 at 8:35 PM, murphaph said:

The double iPhone can be made up yourself with 2 iPhone speakers wired in parallel (halves the 8 Ohm impedance to 4 Ohms) with the plastic housing trimmed a bit and shrink wrapped in heatshrink. Oddly the speakers are waaay cheaper on the Roads and Rails website. At least I think these are the same ones:

https://www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/collections/speakers/products/35x20x7mm-double-iphone-speaker-4-ohm

I highly rate good smartphone speakers because they are designed to produce a lot of sound in a small form factor. They have to fit in a space much smaller than a loco and reproduce high fidelity quality sound while doing it. They housings have baffles and whatnot to create the bass almost out of nothing. It's quite remarkable how they manage it.

Ordered some on Monday from them Qty 4 plus 1 free for £35.95 incl postage which worked out at €43.99 Road and Rails took off the Vat, I had to Pay An Post a futher €13.23 in Vat and handling making a total of €57.22 so each speaker worked out at €11.45 landed at my door which is not too bad .

[mmie353]

I ordered the iPhone speakers that @murphaph advised, I read on Joe's post and I do not fancy trimming much inside the loco, hence why I went with it. The speaker that I used in one, it did require me taking a little off the speaker bracket that is inside the loco so I am waiting for the iPhone speakers to turn up at this side of the large pond. 

[skinner75]

On 24/1/2022 at 7:11 AM, murphaph said:

Well it depends on the decoder first and foremost as some decoders require a high impedance speaker and some require a low impedance speaker. If it's  Loksound I can recommend the following which I have installed in a 141:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254366688403

Great sound IMO from these double iPhone speakers and they fit. I think I may have had to trim another tiny bit of housing off but not sure. In any case it was trivial if I did.

Edit: Man alive these things are expensive these days. I just checked. I paid 30GBP for 4 back then. 

Found similar for a lot cheaper!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254107829332?hash=item3b2a01c454:g:OjwAAOSwn4ZcVv6F

(This is actually Road & Rails ebay page)

Edited January 28, 2022 by skinner75

[flange lubricator]

2 hours ago, skinner75 said:

Found similar for a lot cheaper!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254107829332?hash=item3b2a01c454:g:OjwAAOSwn4ZcVv6F

(This is actually Road & Rails ebay page)

I think if you read it you will find that its 'From £2.04ea ' but when you look up the same speaker the price is pretty much the same carraige via ebay is higher and that dosent include the charge from the postman ,I will stick with dealing direct .

Edited January 28, 2022 by flange lubricator

[flange lubricator]

 

 

My  five sets of 2 x iPhone speakers duly  arrived and fitted one  to MM182 along with a GM 645 sound chip sounded a little loud when compared to my MM126 so I turned it down a little .

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by flange lubricator

[mmie353]

Mine arrived on Friday, I have a couple of things I am looking for at the moment, I do have a LOT of DCC sound decoders to buy yet but I am loco hunting at the moment. I am hoping in a few weeks to get a few sound decoders for my 141 and fit one of these and see the difference against the only one I have a sound decoder installed on at the moment. 

[Adrian]

@mmie353 I literally just finished sound testing a load of different speakers on my 141/181s - I get them from Roads and Rails as well. You might find this useful...

1. The playlist of different speakers tested is here and you can judge for yourself (I found a combination of a sugarcube and megabass worked best for bass and higher freq sounds): 

 

2. There's a direct comparison video of double iPhone vs sugarcube & megabass in that playlist as well - second last vid

3. Here's a few pics of how to file off the lugs (4 metal on the chassis, 1 plastic inside the roof of the loco) and fit the speakers (get some black tack from Roads & Rails if you are ordering, it's class):

You can get a set of files from Woodies for a few quid

Make sure and mask up to stop the filed metal falling into the motor

Metal lugs filed off

Cut / file off the plastic lug on the right in this picture

Black tack is very handy for sticking down the speakers - I covered over chassis with black tape as a speaker base - left a gap in the tape for air to circulate around the motor (not sure if needed but was being cautious )

4. And the finished result is here
 

Hope that helps your decisions!

Edited February 26, 2022 by Adrian

[mmie353]

@Adrian many thanks for going to all the trouble of comparing the speakers, I did find it useful, I hope it does help out others if they are looking for speakers not just for the 141 but for any locomotive as this should help. I did pull the trigger on the double iPhone speakers and I have a few sound ESU loksound chips due for delivery on Monday. Soon as I have them delivered, there are plans to order 2 more at the end of next week. I may look at getting a megabass for a 181, have not fully decided yet as I am planning to use on of these on the 181

Besides the iPhone speakers, would you happen to have links to the other speakers that you used in your testing? I am grateful once again for the trouble you went to. 

Edited February 26, 2022 by mmie353

[Adrian]

3 hours ago, mmie353 said:

Besides the iPhone speakers, would you happen to have links to the other speakers that you used in your testing? I am grateful once again for the trouble you went to.

No worries! All the speakers I bought are on Roads and Rails and have the same names as I used in the video titles  

 

Also if you are using a single speaker it’s needs to be a 4 or 8 ohm. If you are using two speakers they need to be 8 ohm. Using double 8 ohm speakers wires in parallel will give an impedance of 4 ohms which the chip can handle. If you use two 4 ohm speakers in parallel you get an impedance of 2 ohms which will let too much current through the chip and blow it!

The speakers on Roads and Rails all display their ohm rating so it’s easy to buy what you need

[Adrian]

And last but not least, here's a full tutorial for the 141s if you are fitting your speakers and need to file down the chassis to make them fit - might be helpful!