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 styrene strip and .5 mm styrene sheet and place it to cab.
https://youtu.be/9WtU1QxIZwQ?t=6m8s

for English turn on subtitles

Regards, Vlad.

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

IP4SPK - iPhone 4s Speaker 4 pack

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.

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,

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.

Do you happen to know the dimensions of that speaker?

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

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

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.