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This question is mainly for Rudy Trubitt, sorry to post it here, but Rudy, I don't have a direct email address for you in your profile.  And maybe it is of enough general interest to post here anyway.

My question is whether there is any way to increase the volume in the new BluTooth Polar Express set, beyond the maximum setting on the IPhone app?  My set's volume is quite low, even at max, so that when running on Fastrack, you cannot even make out the dialog when the set is running.

I've sent this question to "Talk to US" but have not received a response.

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gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm not Rudy, but I can think of a couple of ways, one easy, and one not so easy.

The easy method is to change either speaker or add a baffle to the existing speaker.

The more complicated method involves adding a small amplifier module, they're readily available, and there's room in the tender of these as there's not much in there.

John, do you happen to have a specific purchasing source, manufacturer, and part number for a small amp module that would work best for the new bluetooth LionChief P.E. and easily fit in tender?

The same maximum volume is reached either using the dedicated remote or the LionChief app. At high speed, depending on your layout, the acoustical/mechanical sound volume of the train running on the track can be loud enough to impact the intelligibility of dialog. This is something I pay a lot of attention to when creating the sounds for our products (sometimes we get posts from people who think they are too loud!). If you feel the volume level of your engine is dramatically lower than other LionChief engines, there may be a hardware issue with your particular engine. Customer service would be able to assist in that case.

The efficiency of the speaker and a proper baffle will go a long way to making better and louder sound.  Just by dropping a good baffle over an existing speaker, you can make a dramatic change in both the volume and bass response of most speakers.

FWIW, I will add the following. I've recently been modifying one of the recent Legacy E7 SuperBass B units to put it in an E8/9 MTH B unit shell. I don't think that these latest engines have quite the booming sounds of some earlier SuperBass units, although whether that's a function of the sound file, amp specs or speaker/baffle size I can't tell.

Anyway, to adjust for different placement of the smoke unit outlets, I had to modify the stock baffle/speaker enclosure. These are pretty odd looking (see photo, which shows current E7 in the back and an older, more squared off, SuperBass one in front). They are slightly saxophone- or maybe trombone-shaped, and I don't know exactly what the theory behind them is. However, shortening the taller part of the E7 enclosure (in order to get the smoke unit placed correctly relative to the outlets) made no significant difference to the sound; but not having it at all, or substituting a much smaller/flatter enclosure, certainly did.

2_B-Unit_Speaker_Enclosure

The flatter enclosures are fairly typical of what I have seen in Lionel diesels and indeed steamers that have two speakers. I have only really achieved an increase in the depth/resonance of sound by putting in a bigger enclosure. As people have noted here before, the round plastic top of a rattle paint can can be used for this purpose if you have room in a tender to do so. The absence of any baffle makes a huge difference.

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Last edited by Hancock52

There are actually experts in audio design that can compute the size and shape of the enclosure needed for a given speaker or speakers.  Some of the best examples of big sound from tiny speakers are the laptop speakers.  They come in all shapes, and many of them are also ported to enhance the sound.  It's actually pretty amazing the "big" sound you can get from a one inch or even smaller speaker!

I do know that my personal experience has been for really good bass, a somewhat larger enclosure is usually best.  I just experiment with the speaker/baffle combination until I get the best sound I can.

I agree with all the advice that has been offered about baffles. One additional thing to bear in mind is that the sound set for each locomotive was tuned for the bass response of the system as-shipped. So for instance, if you put a sound board from an NW2, which had a small pancake-style speaker into a super-bass B unit enclosure...well, I'm sure it will be louder and fuller, but it won't go as deep in frequency as you might hope, because those lowest frequencies were intentionally trimmed down in the NW2 sound set.

This isn't meant in any way to discourage experimenting! Just pointing out that the original sound set itself is another factor to keep in mind.

The expertise and knowledgeOf of members is amazing you can tell there's a true love for the hobby I think what frustrates me so much as an end-user it seems that everything Lionel does today is driven by cost over $400 for a train set and a seven-year-old being extremely disappointed in the sound thanks to all that offered advice!!!!!

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