Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to award the best fire alarms. Here are my thoughts
Best looking: Wheelock exceeder
Best sounding: Simplex truealert
Most versatile: Gentex commander 3
Let me know what you think
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I don’t know about the first two, but I think I can definitely agree on the third: the Gentex Commander 3 is pretty useful for a number of applications (moreso since it’s one of the few 4-wire devices still in production). Too bad the Commander 4 (the ceiling-mount version) is lacking some of the 3’s tones (for whatever reason).
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As @NewAgeServer said, it’s the Swiss Army knife of fire alarm signals. The tones on the commander 3 which the commander 4 lacks are probably seldom used. My brother has a small collection as well, and his commander 2 doesn’t have the chime or whoop tones either.
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Mhm. I know the whoop tone is good for mass notification purposes (Gentex sells MNS versions of the Commander 3 & 4), & the chime tone I’d imagine probably also has its uses. Yeah, not sure why only the Commander 3 has all those tones & the 2 & 4 don’t.
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I think the later commander 2 has those tones.
I like how the truealert is effective without being obnoxious (I prefer a buzzer tone to crickets on crack or a jackhammer tone.) I like the addressable ones because of their thin tone with noticeable dissonance. (It’s almost as if they use an analog tone generator.)
I think the design of the xenon exceeder is unique and modern.
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Oh, I guess then I’m going by mine which are early models & thus don’t have those tones.
Yeah. I most certainly do not like the sound of TrueAlertES devices though; they’re just too high-pitched compared to the original TrueAlert’s sound.
Mhm.
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It’s not necessarily that it’s higher pitched, it just sounds more thin. I actually prefer that sound. Do the truealerts use an analog generator?
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I’m pretty sure they are higher-pitched than standard TrueAlerts. I have no idea if they use an “analog generator” (not that I even know what that is).
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Maybe the overtones are more pronounced. An analog generator uses oscillators to make the sound rather than a sound file.
(I personally find the sound of a “truealert chorus” ever so slightly more pleasant than a spectralert advance.)
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Maybe. It might be that; all I know is is that the TrueAlert uses some kind of electronic horn, I don’t know what drives it though.
I can agree on that as well.
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Anyway, back on topic, what do you think are the best looking and sounding fire alarms?
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I’m honestly not sure when it comes to my personal picks, but I agree with the ones you think are such.
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Several of the schools/school buildings I’ve been in have had TrueAlerts. TrueAlerts sync’d on code 3 actually sound pretty pleasant to me. I would much rather have that than the Advance “shriek”.
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I’d have to agree with you there. Which alarms do you think are best looking and most versatile?
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Here is a category you missed
Best looking speaker/strobe
Best sounding speaker/strobe
I will let you guys talk about it because I have only had Truealert speaker strobes
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Wheelock E50 good looks with a speaker with high sound quality. Wheelock makes good speakers. The E70s don’t look bad either
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I agree, I don’t have an E70, but judging from the looks of my CH70 the E70 would win the design award
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The ET80’s look nice too
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I award best tone to SpectrAlert advance.
B
The proper spelling is: “Exceder”. I know. It’s weird.
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I honestly can’t remember how to spell it for the life of me
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