Zeke, I have the same

Zeke, I have the same question. I do remember that someone posted a diagram showing where to cut, and where not to cut. The enclosure for the speaker plays an important role in the sound quality of the speaker. Maybe Bill has that info, and wouldn't mind re-posting for us guys with such great memories....

Randy

I think that was the iphone 5

I think that was the iphone 5  with lug removal, but it may have been the small 4 version an I missed that post. Is there a difference in quality sound between the two ?

ipone 5 Speaker

Hi Zeke,

I use the iphone 5 speaker (not the same as the iphone 4), but this: 

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/24891

gives the details of how I cut and sealed the open "port" for use. It might give you some ideas. General cuts shown below for the iphone 5 speaker (smaller and more flat than the '4:

'Hope this is of some help.  Have fun! 

Unfortunately, I have the

Unfortunately, I have the iphone 4 speakers. Are there any recommendations for those?  Bill ? Anybody? Is this thing on? Damn microphone! 

Thanks in advance for more info on these puppies.

Randy

iPhone 4S speaker

Cutting the 4S speaker is not recommended.

If you want to cut one, here is what the inside looks like.

I would cut it where the foam begins and see what it gives you.
Make sure you seal off any new openings you make.

Thanks Bill. I might chop one

Thanks Bill. I might chop one down at the foam,seal er up and do a comparison with one unmodified stock speaker.

Randy

Great!

Randy: I look forward to "hearing" the results!

I did cut one approximately

I did cut one approximately half way of the foam, did not see any difference from the complete one sound wise.  I did seal the end with styrene and fitted  a piece under it to fit a TCS WOW speaker enclosure kit installed in a Atlas RS3.  It was a remarkable improved difference from the TCS speaker in the kit, volume increased to  the point it could be decreased thru the CV's.  I also added a full iphone 4 speaker to a Digitrax   SDH166  (GP38)sound decoder in a CF7 that I was disappointed with because it had almost  no prime mover sound through the Digitrax speaker. it increased the volume to the point I was completely satisfied, had to  turn down the horn.  What an improvement for $0.99 cents.

I've heard

I've heard they are the best sounding speaker for locomotives, you can't beat the price! I ordered 16 of them, I can't wait to get them all installed, and get the layout up an running!

Ohm rating for iPhone speakers

Does anyone know the specs for these speakers, 4Ohm or 8 Ohm... If you wire two 4Ohm speakers in series, you get an 8 Ohm speaker, right?  Does the sound quality increase with two speakers vs. one?

"Quality"...

Dear Kirk,

In order of appearance:

- The iPhone 4 and 5 speakers I have here both measure out at 8-ohm impedance.

- If you wire any 2x speakers together in series

 -- wire -- speaker 1 @ 8ohms -- wire -- speaker 2 @ 8ohms -- wire -- 

then the speaker's "ohmage" is added-together
(IE the above two 8-ohm speakers in series = 16 ohms total load,

just like series-connecting normal carbon resistors ).

- Respectfully, not exactly sure what you're referring to by "quality"
(What does "quality" actually mean in an aural sense? How does one measure that?)

However, connecting 2x speakers in series to a typical DCC sound decoder output will:

* Assuming all "Volume" CVs are common,

make for a slightly-softer (lower dB-SPL) result when compared to a single 8-ohm speaker load.

(Given that many modellers find a single-speaker situation too-acoustically-loud,
and have to turn the Master Volume CV DOWN,
there should be plenty of room to turn the Master Volume CV back UP to compensate for the higher-load impedance)

* Assuming the speakers are aimed and acoustically "summed" together properly,
(IE all the speakers are "pushing OUT" in the same direction at the same time,
the speakers are not "phase cancelling" against each other),

will make for a more-efficient transfer of electrical energy --> mechanical ("soundwaves thru air") energy.
(two speakers pushing on a given block of air in-sync/as-a-team
have a easier time individually than a single speaker does trying to move the same block ammount of air).

* Assuming the speakers are aimed and acoustically "summed" together properly,
will encourage a lower sustained clean (no distortion) frequency response.

I hope this helps...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

I make box from 1x1.5 mm

I make box from 1x1.5 mm styrene strip and .5 mm styrene sheet and place it to cab.

for English turn on subtitles

Regards, Vlad.

Shameless Plug...

$6 US including shipping for 4 speakers, delivered in 3 to 6 days from PDC.CA...

IP4SPK - iPhone 4s Speaker 4 pack

iPhone speakers will fit into some tight spaces.

Here's an iPhone 4 speaker that I fit pretty much unmodified into an Athearn RTR SD40. ​I did cut the little mounting tabs off however. This was a massive improvement over the factory speaker, practically like night and day to my ears.

Fellow MRH poster Tim Moran brought over a Atlas GP-7 with an iPhone 4 speaker enclosure that he said was chopped down to pretty much just the part with the speaker. I thought it sounded great and I wouldn't have known if he hadn't told me. I don't recall if he sealed the end or not.

I did experiment with the iPhone 5 speaker by putting one in a BLI Heavy Mikado and wasn't too impressed by any improvement over the factory dual speakers. Maybe my expectations were too high after the Athearn SD40 upgrade.

iphone speakers not very good

The sound quality of iphone speakers is not very good, they are cheap but you get what you pay for. very tinny with not much bass. there are much better options out there. Try supersonic minis from tonys train exchange, much better sound and they are pretty small. Make sure you get the enclosure with the speaker or build an enclosure,

HTC One M8 Speaker

I've actually come to prefer this speaker for size and sound quality. The enclosure is smaller than any of the iphone ones as well, Their advertising for the actual phone was their "Boomsound" technology ....

Mark.

HTC One M8 Speaker Dimensions?

Do you happen to know the dimensions of that speaker?

iPhone speaker not good? (show me the numbers)

Dear Randy,

Do you have any comparative measurements available?

Just trying to understand why you're hearing markedly different results compared to many other modeller's reports in recent times....

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

HTC One M8 speaker - how to connect?

Dear Mark,

How do you connect the speaker? Do you have to try and solder to the ribbon-cable?

NB While it's likely just marketing bumpf, at least the HTC website attempts to give some useful comparison numbers, with a stated "95dB" (dB What? SPL? At what Distortion figure?) and speaker enclosure capacities of 0.85 cubic cm (top speaker) and 0.80 cubic cm (bottom speaker). 

http://www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-one-m8/boomsound/

Also prompts the question, Mark, which speaker (top or bottom) did you obtain/test?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

HTC One M8 Speaker

You want the loudspeaker (bottom), not the ringer (top). The ringer is usually just the speaker, where-as the loudspeaker comes in the enclosure as in my picture above. Not certain, but I believe the top speaker utilizes an ear-piece enclosure that is a separate piece of the phone to act as the enclosure for the top speaker.

To solder the wires, I cut off the curved portion and scrape off the protective coating for soldering. As you can see in the picture, the very end of the original ribbon cable separates into tiny contact points that's almost impossible to solder to without bridging.

The dimensions are 45mm X 11mm X 6mm at the extremes.

These things are all over ebay. I got my last batch for less than $1.50 each from one of the many China sellers.

The speaker itself has a soft foam (?) surround. You can press the speaker "cone" in and out quite a bit compared to other cell phone speakers. I'm sure this additional cone movement contributes to the increased bass response (I know - I know .... bass).

Mark.

iphone speakers

of course sound is all personal opinion and preference, just my opinion on how I hear the sound, everybody is different but a side by side comparison using same decoder/engine and installation I found to be a marked difference in "quality" between the iphone speakers and supersonic minis. I don't know any method to measure sound quality and don't really care what any measurements might show, I go with what sounds best to me. I'm sure that 30 years of working around heavy equipment has affected my hearing and how I perceive sound. But i have yet to find anybody in my circles who choose the iphone speaker over the supersonic minis in a blind test and it's not even close.

iphone speaker

Pretty decent sound for only about $2 I thought...

Does the iphone speaker even need a separate enclosure to be added?

I would hope the supersonic mini  sounds better, otherwise why spend the extra money to get it.

It's hard to beat Bill's price, IMO.

Regards,

No enclosure needed

Kevin, see my photo on page 2. No enclosure needed it has it's own already. I pretty much slapped the iPhone 4 speaker as is right on top of the Athearn gear tower. 

Sure enough!

Thanks for pointing that out Chris!

Regards,