# Any "sound" engineer out there?



## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

I'm confused...I'm actually installing Tsunami's in my Athearn N scale articulateds and in the procees,I found something I find rather strange.Removing the original MRC speaker to replace with a Soundtraxx speaker,I found that the original speaker was installed face down in a carved metal block that is totally closed with the exception of a very tiny vent hole in the bottom.That makes me think that the sound that could be heard before came from the backside of the speaker filling the tender with soundwaves.Is this a good installation?

I always believed that the right way to install a speaker was facing the listener and that the enclosure should be behind it for better sound.Am I wrong?Or is it that MRC do a sloppy install?Would it be better if I install my new speakers "face up"?Thanks for any infos.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I've seen several sound baffles that have the speaker facing into the baffle.

The baffle is important in creating better bass and it also makes the sounds louder. The baffle prevents the speaker output from going around to the other side and cancelling out your sound. 

As far as the direction, as long as there's a baffle on one side, I don't believe you'll see a lot of difference in the sound quality based on the direction the speaker faces. They mount them like that because it works out physically.

Try some experiments and see which installation yields better sound.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Thanks for the reply.Thinking about it,it makes sense.A speaker being a vibrating diaphragm,it is logical that it will sound on both sides,equally in theory.How much the magnet interferes with the sound opposed to the unobstructed other side may be minimal indeed,but if I get a nice result this way I'll be happy.The tender is reassembled and ready for testing wich I'll do when my prog.track booster setup is completed,likely tomorrow.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have several commercial installations that have the speaker in backwards, it doesn't seem to affect the sound quality.

I will say the baffle will make a HUGE difference in both volume and bass response. I did a Thomas conversion and originally just dropped the speaker in to see how it would sound. It must have doubled the volume and gave it a deeper tone to add the little baffle on the back.

Here's the speaker with my little home-made baffle installed.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

I install them either way with equal success.
I will most of the time install them with the speaker face toward the baffle if there is any chance of anything hitting the face, like the wiring.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

It's me again...another question concerning speakers.According to Soundtraxx's instructions,one could wire two 8 OHMs speakers in series (total 16 OHMs) without any harm to the decoder.This I get,fair enough.But my question is...when installing two speakers in this fashion,won't they have a tendency to lose some volume due to the extra hardware?
Then,I have a couple other questions on my mind like:
-Assuming the correct polarity and load are respected,can two speakers share the same enclosure,meaning a side by side install with a rectangular enclosure?
-Then pushing it further,can two speakers be installed back to back,meaning like at both ends of a tubular enclosure?Would they fight each other?Or worse,destry each other?

These may sound silly asking this,but elecrical issues I understand but sound is another thing to me.I knew how decibels work,now I'm learning about frequencies,harmonics,etc.I'll have to install speakers in a near future and know I'll have space issues,so knowing more about sounds is a plus.Thanks.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

First off, the speakers should be phased for optimum sound, if they're out of phase, they will sound tinny and lose a lot of the bass. Personally, I'd have each speaker have it's own baffle. Even if they in a side by side install, I'd provide a separation between them. However, if they're in phase, they should work together even without the separation. If they're out of phase, they'll indeed fight each other.


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## UPBigBoy (Jan 2, 2012)

If the enclosure is metal (speaker face the metal enclosure) and you turn it around so the back of the speaker is in the enclosure, make sure the magnet on the speaker isn't touching the enclosure. Also back to back, the same has to be watched out for, magnets can not touch each other.

Jim


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