Example 1 - Hornby GWR Grange, some mods to get bigger kit in

Kit: MX645R; SugarCube24X15X06

The Hornby Grange could be a very straight forward DCC Sound install, but we wanted a better speaker than the 28mm round one that it is designed for. This meant hard-wiring, and creating more height for the kit, as the tender is very low, so very little space to work with.

The 8pin socket has to come out, as this is where we will position the dual SugarCube speaker.

There is so little height available in the tender that we cannot even put the 'sample' capacitor in that is supplied with the MX645R decoder, so a small hole is cut in the coal area where the capacitor will poke up through. We'll rebuild the coal afterwards, which is a very simple modification.

The MX645 decoder is hard-wired in, and we flatten the mount where the 8pin socket was, so that the speaker can sit flush down. The top of the speaker must be level with the top of the metal weight, otherwise the tender's body won't go back on.

All fits OK, so we make some minor modifications to the coal load and reattach.

Example 2 - smaller kit so no modifications required

Kit: MX648R or MS480R with Zimo LS28R 28mm round speaker

We're looking for a much simpler plug-and-play approach this time...

Initially we tried to get an MX645R (or MS450R) in, but the tender body just won't close up as the decoder is a bit too big.

So we switch to an MS480R. Even this is tight, but it will just go in as shown. The 28mm Zimo LS28R round speaker clamps under the tender's metal weight - it sounds respectable, though lacks a bit of bass, but at least the approach is easy.

Please note that these guides are provided as useful resources for you, as-is. YouChoos cannot be held responsible for errors in the information, or for any damage caused to your models or equipment if you choose to follow any of the steps detailed here.