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Installing iPhone speakers in sound locomotives

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  • #1

    Installing iPhone speakers in sound locomotives

    I read an article in Model Railroad Hobbyist about installing iPhone 4 speakers in HO locomotives. This “sounded“ good to me as most of the time HO sound locomotives aren’t loud enough for me. Maybe I’ve been running Fn3 too long. The article went on to say it was probably iPhone 5 speakers.

    http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/28430
    Frank
    Tags: None
  • #2


    This is the part of the article that explained using iPhone 5 speakers and how to modify them. Very simple modifications, a few cuts and you’re done.



    What the heck, I went to eBay and checked out the 5 speakers. This is the link I went to:

    https://www.ebay.com/i/171873897912?chn=ps

    Wow, they certainly are cheap enough, less than $2 a piece and free shipping. I ordered 5 of them for a test. The order said shipping would take a about a month, I thought that was weird, I’ve received stuff from China in a lot less than that.



    Well, it took around a month to get them. I received them earlier this week and I installed one today.

    I installed it into my BQ23-7 Atlas/Bachmann conversion. I cut the wires going from the speaker plug to the speaker and spliced in new wires for the 5 speaker.



    I installed it with a piece of double-sided foam tape. There’s the original off to the side. Wow, I was impressed with the sound clarity and volume. Ding-Ding I’m in. Now it’s back to China for more speakers and back to the work bench to install more speakers.


    Frank

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    • #3
      Looks good, Frank. Are you using the original speaker too, or just the iPhone one?

      I've been using the iPhone 4 speakers, and the sound from them is impressive. If the 5 sound is as good, and in that small a package, I'll have to get some!

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      • #4
        Interesting all the modern day electronics we can fit into a HO scale engine and still be able to pull a decent cut of cars.

        Sure would have been even cooler if we could have done this 50 years ago.

        Wonder what model railroading will look & sound like 50 years from now?

        Thanx Thom...

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        • #5
          I must be going deaf!! I can't hear anything!!
          Jerry



          "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." A. Lincoln

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          • #6
            Marcus, in this version I used the original and the iPhone speaker. I installed one in a conversion loco with a TCS decoder and it’s just about as loud as the TCS speaker but clearer. i need to find amplifiers.

            Thom, 50 years ago I was more interested in sport fishing in the blue Atlantic.

            Jerry, make sure you put your goulashes and rain coat on before you head to the beach today.
            Frank

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            • #7
              Frank,

              Please bring it Wednesday so we can see it!!

              Tim

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              • #8
                I too have been using the iPhone speakers and love them. The price is right and the sound quality is terrific!
                Mark

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                • #9
                  Tim, i'll try.

                  Mark, that it is. Have you added amplifiers to them?
                  Frank

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                  • #10
                    quote:

                    Originally posted by Frank Palmer

                    Tim, i'll try.

                    Mark, that it is. Have you added amplifiers to them?

                    Frank, no. In fact, I usually have to turn the volume down! Most of my sound decoders are TCS WOW sound decoders with the Apple speakers. And they are loud!
                    Mark

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                    • #11
                      Fantastic, I'll make sure I use WOW DCC in the future. :up:

                      I ran across these things and at $.39 they're cheap enough to experiment with. The sound is unbelievable.

                      The mini amp is shown at about the 1:00 mark.

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEjinDN2_Ns


                      Frank

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                      • #12
                        Why would you need an amplifier? Every sound unit I've ever had experience with from the old BLI-QSI Hudson, Lionel QSI HO Challenger to the latest Loksound were way too loud to my poor ears, especially the (*&^&* Bells!, that I've had to turn them down, or if visiting someone else's layout, mute my hearing aids to crowd setting.

                        Also one add'l question. Frank, did you that you retained the factory speaker and the iphone speaker was added to it in the Atlas engine?

                        I've used sugarcube speakers for several years now with great success, I have a couple of the iphone 5, speakers on hand and 2 Loksound decoders due tomorrow and look forward to trying them out. I have an older Kato drive Stewart Baldwin DRS-4-4-1000 that has to be hardwired and probably a new board constructed to be able to shoehorn the the sound board in. The trimmed iphone 5 speaker will handily fit in the cab. I also have a keep alive to find room for as well.
                        Karl Scribner-Curmudgeon

                        Cedar Swamp
                        SW of Manistique, MI

                        Avatar image by Savannah Lyn Burgess 7-15-2022

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                        • #13
                          Karl, in the Atlas loco I have both the original cube speaker and the iPhone 5 speaker. In my older Bachmann with a TCS decoder I have only the iPhone 5 speaker. I wonder how it would sound with 2 iPhone speakers. They’re thin enough to stack one on top of the other.
                          Frank

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