I have a bit of a conumdrum. The loco is a Bachmann SD40-2,which is DCC fitted. I want a loco with sound and this beast is a nightmare. The DCC board has 2 screws holding it down and its hardwired to the chassis. The chassis itself fills the body shell. I have advertised it for sale, but no takers so far. So. Do I withdraw the loco or bite the bullet and go for it. I don't know whether or not a Loksound Direct or a Tsunami TSU 1000 would be the better decoder. The chassis would have to cut for a decent speaker but as it's got so much weight I don't think that would be an issue. Any ideas would be welcome. The layout I'm building doesn't allow long, high speed trains, just a lot of switching.

My thoughts are "Silence is golden" but that's my opinion on the subject.As for your opinion ,do you like the loco? Are you satisfied with the way it runs ? There is a after market replacement decoder for the Bachmann locos (I forget who makes it) I don't know if there is a sound version for it though.

Anyway I would have to say if your happy with the loco then go for it.I would also suggest you find the sound files and listen to them a few times before you pic the one you want.

I would prefer the Loksound decoder. I think it's motor handling is superior but like Catt do I prefer " silence is golden".
But I thought about the installation of the speaker because the Bachmann design makes it not easy to modify the weights because the upper half is mandatory to keep the trucks in place. I assume the SD40-2 is designed ver much like the Bachmann GP38-2. Here is a YouTube clip with a possible solution to place the speaker. https://youtu.be/IHvK6JEjNqQ There is a lot of milling. That is not funny with a Dremel only.

I did watch that video. If you only have a Dremel you must be insane, or dedicated, to tackle that amount of work. Luckily, I have a bandsaw which take out the metal needed. I'll agree that, sometimes, I prefer silence, but it does add something to a layout, provided it's not too loud.