(Topic ID: 117652)

Transformers Pro worth speaker upgrade?

By tezting

9 years ago


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  • 29 posts
  • 12 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by tezting
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#1 9 years ago

Hi,
I have been thinking about upgrading my backbox speakers because I find the sounds very "thin" and not very detailed. But when reading about upgrades it is mostly people with music based themes.

Is it worth upgrading the speakers on Transformers Pro?

#2 9 years ago

Throw an external sub on it. It will REALLY give a sound boost. The external sub and Invisiglass were the two best mods I made on my TF.

#3 9 years ago

The sound will actually bring out the voices really well. When Megatron and Optimus speak, it will rumble the machine. And, of course, it also brings out the booms of all the guns and explosions that go off in that game.

#4 9 years ago

I added a set of FF speaeker upgrades in mine and blackout mode is booming! I think its a great upgrade for this game.

#5 9 years ago

External sub on TF is awesome. Highly recommended.

#6 9 years ago

Was it the sub that did the biggest change?

#7 9 years ago

I had flipper fidelity in mine and it was amazing! One of sterns best sound packages

#8 9 years ago

You won't regret it. The bass was the biggest improvement. I had a Flipper Fidelity kit in mine, but I'm sure an external sub would be awesome. Do one or the other at least.

#9 9 years ago

I've got FF kits on all my games but one right now. TF by far was the biggest improvement of which I would consider a speaker upgrade a must for now.

#10 9 years ago

Thank you all for the great feedback, I am convinced
I would love to buy the FF kit but it is very expensive here in Europe

Do you know of a cheaper alternative for Europe?

#11 9 years ago

I'm going to disagree. Adding just a sub with crossover does great for this game. The stern 4" backbox are ok for midrange only sounds, which is all you need for this game. Backbox replacements here are a waste of money. I had a sub, stock backbox, and shaker and the sound package was fantastic. You might check and see if stern put one of the caps on your backbox speakers. If so, remove it.

You can do a cheap sub upgrade yourself if you don't want to fork out the money for a ff kit. I've posted how to in this before. It'll require a high efficiency 8 or 10" woofer, a 6 or so mH inductor, and a 20 ohm resistor or l-pad for the backbox.

I hate external subs for pinball. You can get fantastic bass without rattle internally.

#12 9 years ago
Quoted from Eskaybee:

I had flipper fidelity in mine and it was amazing! One of sterns best sound packages

Ditto. Hell yes!!!

#13 9 years ago
Quoted from markmon:

You can do a cheap sub upgrade yourself if you don't want to fork out the money for a ff kit. I've posted how to in this before. It'll require a high efficiency 8 or 10" woofer, a 6 or so mH inductor, and a 20 ohm resistor or l-pad for the backbox.

That sounds awesome because filter and l-pad also costs a lot, do you have a link for the specific post?

#14 9 years ago

With TF, it was the only one of the games I felt that the backbox speakers were an upgrade. For plug and play it's a great solution. If you want to go DYI, there are always better and less costly alternatives thus why they are DYI and not kits.

#15 9 years ago

When looking at Sub, is 4ohm 87dB/SPL good enough? Or should dB be higher?

#16 9 years ago
Quoted from tezting:

When looking at Sub, is 4ohm 87dB/SPL good enough? Or should dB be higher?

If you want to stay 8" then grab this instead. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000CQEIZ0/ref=mp_s_a_1_1
It's 8 ohm. But 96db so it will still have double the output of the 87db 4 ohm even with the lower loss from being 8 ohm. It also doesn't require a spacer since the cone does not protrude.

And this would be quite a bit better if you're willing to pound out the studs and screw this down over the hole.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/MCM-AUDIO-SELECT-55-2981-/55-2981
It's 10" 4 ohms and has a decently low frequency resonating range. This is the one I would get.

And grab this to cross it over: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/555-25630

#17 9 years ago

I am about to install the new speakers for the backbox. The new ones are 4 ohm and I can see the old ones are 8 ohm. Can I reuse the all ready used wires or should I wire the speakers differently?
I think I read something about overheating the amplifier if the ohm was wrong?

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#18 9 years ago

The kit should come with new wires. They plug into the factory harness. Been using it that way for 3 years now with no issues at all.

#19 9 years ago
Quoted from 85vett:

The kit should come with new wires. They plug into the factory harness. Been using it that way for 3 years now with no issues at all.

I did not buy the kit. But doing low budget upgrade. So I dont have an extra wire...

#20 9 years ago

Definitely upgrade the speakers. I always upgrade my Sterns as soon as I get them. I don't like paper cone speakers. And since the speakers are out, light em up with leds as well.

#21 9 years ago
Quoted from PersonX99:

Definitely upgrade the speakers. I always upgrade my Sterns as soon as I get them. I don't like paper cone speakers. And since the speakers are out, light em up with leds as well.

How did you wire them if they are 4 ohm?

#22 9 years ago
Quoted from tezting:

How did you wire them if they are 4 ohm?

If you use 4 ohm speakers, they should connect the same way. LEDs are connected via seperate 12V.

#23 9 years ago

Just hooked up an external subwoofer to my TFLE this morning. Not an audiophile by any means, but the difference is amazing. I was expecting just to hear the woofer with the background music track, but didn't realize how many sound effects and voices went through the sub as well. So many callouts and effects pack such a punch now, it is awesome.

I have no desire to upgrade the stock speakers, they're clear and sound good enough, but go with a upgraded sub, it is well worth the money on Transformers (which IMO is the best sound package done by Stern thus far).

#24 9 years ago
Quoted from PersonX99:

If you use 4 ohm speakers, they should connect the same way. LEDs are connected via seperate 12V.

So I don't have to wore them different? They are 4 ohm less. It would be less work if I only should replace the speakers but I don't want to damage the amplifier?

#25 9 years ago
Quoted from tezting:

So I don't have to wore them different? They are 4 ohm less. It would be less work if I only should replace the speakers but I don't want to damage the amplifier?

tezting, I suggest you give this a read (well worth it):

http://www.dziedzic.us/wpc_speaker_replacement.html

Great info from a great member of the pinball community.

If you use speakers with the same impedance, you won't need to replace anything else and no damage will occur. If you use a lower impedance, it will put more load on the amp, but it doesn't kill it immediately (avoid this if possible, but I have done it in pins and had no issues with it).

#26 9 years ago

I don't know how you guys make spacers for the speakers but I did something that turned out better than I hopped. I took a 125mm hole saw and after that a 100mm hole saw. It fits perfect!
I wired them in series.

Next step replace sub!

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#27 9 years ago
Quoted from markmon:

If you want to stay 8" then grab this instead. amazon.com link »
It's 8 ohm. But 96db so it will still have double the output of the 87db 4 ohm even with the lower loss from being 8 ohm. It also doesn't require a spacer since the cone does not protrude.
And this would be quite a bit better if you're willing to pound out the studs and screw this down over the hole.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/MCM-AUDIO-SELECT-55-2981-/55-2981
It's 10" 4 ohms and has a decently low frequency resonating range. This is the one I would get.
And grab this to cross it over: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/555-25630

I am trying to find an alternative that I can buy in Denmark (or Europe).
If it is 4ohm is 91 dB good? Or what should minimum be?
And what is minimum dB for a 8ohm sub?

Is this an ok option:
Monacor SP-202C ?

#28 9 years ago

91db 4 ohm sounds good enough for that spec. You may need to dampen the backbox further and turn the volume up higher but the amps should have the necessary headroom for it

1 month later
#29 9 years ago

Hi,
Just wanted to tell what I ended with and have one small question

So I bought SP-202E 8" 4 ohm 93db.
I am glad I did not buy a L-pad because this bass gives more than plenty of power!

I have one question, how can I tell what speaker wire is + ? I would like to be 100% sure that Stern did it correct because I just wired the new speaker the same way as the old one.

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