Finally: a 12mm x 8mm OEM speaker available

[jdcolombo]

Hi folks.

A friend e-mailed me this news last night:

Digikey is now stocking cell-phone type speakers from a company called Soperton, Inc.  The lineup includes that elusive 12 x 8mm speaker that is ideal for narrow-hood diesel sound installs:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/soberton-inc/SP-1208/433-1130-ND/6099104

The specs on this look pretty darn good - useable output to 500hz in a 500 cubic millimeter enclosure and decent THD down to 400 hz.  The only concern is a rather low sound pressure level of 63db at 10cm, but that is in free air; the speaker will be much louder when put in a sealed enclosure.  Also, it's power-handling capacity is rated at .5 watt, so you'll need to dial down the output volume on 1-watt decoders like the Soundtraxx or ESU.  Still . . . I'm going to buy a few to try and maybe do a comparison to some older 12x8's that I bought a couple of years ago made by Star Micronics.

John C.

[woodone]

John,
I just checked the spec on the link you provided. I noted that it is rated for 250MW and a MAX of 500MW
The Max is only for a short time or am I wrong?

[jdcolombo]

Yes, that's correct - peak handling is 500mw, average is 250mw.

On an ESU LokSound, I'd probably start with the main volume at something like 80, instead of the 180 that is the factory default.  That's a little over 1/4 of full volume, but less than 1/2.  This is one of the reasons I want to test this speaker - to see if the sound output is reasonable given the low power handling rating and also to see what an appropriate volume level would be (I currently set master volume to about 120 on my LokSounds). 

John

[Philip H]

As long as we get one of your usual and thorough write ups all will be well.

[jdcolombo]

I ordered a couple to try them.  Should have a report in about a week.

John C.

[Peter Amling]

Can't wait to read the results of your testing.

This combined with the rumored narrower LokSound decoder could make this the best time to upgrade my narrow hood diesels to DCC and sound!

[Cajonpassfan]

Me too
Otto K.

[wmcbride]

Me three.