Tank Speaker
by Chris Shinn, Winnipeg, Canada

Soundtraxx DSD-AT100LC in Atlas RS3
(see Soundtraxx product list)

I recently purchased one of the above decoders from you and it is working flawlessly in my Atlas RS3. I noted your "tips" regarding using the 1/2" speaker mounted in the fan grill and must imagine the sound would be somewhat disappointing...very little low frequencies.

This is a note to tell you what I did. Perhaps you could supply speaker setups similar to your customers. They would be very pleased with the sound.

I made my setup using an Intervox S11X16VNS (1" x 1.5" oval) speaker. This speaker produces far better sound than a 1" round speaker could. Your new 20mm x 40mm speaker might be a better choice, as the Intervox is a tight fit with little railhead clearance.

I removed the plastic fuel tank and cut off the weight that the tank hides. I used a dremel tool to remove as much material from the underside of the motor mounts without weakening them.

I made the speaker enclosure from styrene, and it is just the outside dimension of the speaker. The enclosure is slightly oversized compared to the original fuel tank. I used 2 - 330uF polarized caps (couldn't find bi-polars here in anything under 50V...way too big) and mounted them "half" into the fuel tank. With a couple brass straps they look very much like air tanks. When the whole tank is painted black it looks quite good and the oval speaker produces very good sound.

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