The Siren Board

This is a discussion I have had with a couple members on here in recent months.

I've always felt that Sentry makes some of the most reliable, well built mechanical sirens on the market. They keep it simple, while still offering impressive outputs. It seems like they definitely have mastered the concept that if it ain't broke, then don't fix it. We see this from the M-10 still in production today as the 10V series, and until a few years ago, even the impressively low pitched 5V.

In the last 10 years we've seen several new models come to the market, and it seems all have been quite successful (less the Defender, though I think even that was a good product with solid engineering.) This begs the question though; are the 13 models they offer now beginning to get redundant? Might it be time to start slimming down the lineup some to help the bottom line?

These are my thoughts on that subject:

The 3V8 is great. It fills a niche in the market that really no other manufacturer (mechanical) can really fill. The Model two is really the closest thing I can think of, and even that is essentially 2 times quieter. Perhaps the skirted option doesn't make a lot of sense for most communities, but I think it has a very important place in an industrial setting. I'd keep that one for sure. The added battery function will do very well too, as many tiny towns can faithfully rely on these for warning and VFD needs.

Moving on to the 7V8(/B) series. This is definitely a killer siren, and an excellent add to the lineup. But it very much is taking away from the standard 10V. Is the 10V really that necessary anymore? The 7V8 is slightly quieter, and the -B is twice as loud. I hate to think of a world without them, but I just don't see the economic value of continued production.

Now the 10V2T, on the other hand, is just awesome. It's loud and has a very distinct tone, but it again is eclipsed by the 7V8-B. I'd be very interested in seeing this siren live on, though. It's somewhat popular, and I think does serve a market somewhat.

Unfortunately I don't see a reason for the 15 and 20 anymore, though. They are big, loud, and not nearly as efficient as the battery powered 16V1T, and new 14V. I'm actually surprised that both models are really produced at all anymore. They have pretty demanding power requirements, and you just don't see many new installs to a significant extent.

The 14V and 16V are just monsters. I think they are definitely a great place for Sentry to be right now, and I am sure the battery features of each will make them popular choices for many years to come.

Lastly is the 40V2T series. Might it be time to see the AC version make a very sad departure. Is the extra 800-1000 feet of coverage over the 16V worth the production costs? I haven't seen the 40V2T-B specs yet, but I imagine that true to any -B variant, it is at least 2dB louder than the AC-only, which would give it a large advantage over the 14 and 16 series sirens. I imagine this siren isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

This definitely isn't a jab at Sentry, more just some things to think about. I welcome input from users here, and I would definitely like to hear some insight from Sentry or Ed Wise about what the future may hold as far as consolidation of the product line.

In my opinion, for those locations that literally see a couple tornado warnings a year or less, it makes no sense to have battery backup. Just more things to go wrong, and I've seen it myself what happens when chargers go out, or batteries go bad. I think keeping the 3-phase sirens where 3-phase is available is the way to go.

I wouldn't be too distraught if the 3V8 was canned, it's small, but I can't remember seeing a recent 3V8 install online anywhere.

Well, considering Sentry's tendency to form horns, skirts, housings and mount brackets from sheet metal rather than investing in molded castings -save for maybe the choppers and stators, some of which still probably carry over between models- their manufacturing methods probably aren't as technically intensive as those used by ASC or Whelen, and as such they can come up with a whole range of different products in their small facility using minimal tooling and avoiding an overly huge budget devoted to engineering. With such relative convenience in production, Sentry does seem to thrive on leaving the customer spoilt for choice.

Spencerlovestrains wrote:I wouldn't be too distraught if the 3V8 was canned, it's small, but I can't remember seeing a recent 3V8 install online anywhere.

Dalton Nebraska recently had one installed.

SirenMadness wrote:Well, considering Sentry's tendency to form horns, skirts, housings and mount brackets from sheet metal rather than investing in molded castings -save for maybe the choppers and stators, some of which still probably carry over between models- their manufacturing methods probably aren't as technically intensive as those used by ASC or Whelen, and as such they can come up with a whole range of different products in their small facility using minimal tooling and avoiding an overly huge budget devoted to engineering. With such relative convenience in production, Sentry does seem to thrive on leaving the customer spoilt for choice.

I concede with your thoughts entirely, though I just (and I hate to compare...blasphemy) can't help but think of Federal 1965. "Oh let's make a siren for literally everything, regardless of that fact that it's redundant as hell!" The best example is, and always will be the SD-10 and 7T. Because flipping a siren upside down is going to make it...a whole new siren.

Anyways back on track. I see your point about ease of manufacturing with these units, and again, I certainly agree that it's not difficult for them to produce whatever the customer wants, but offering such a huge variety of options seems to be almost intimidating. I certainly am not suggesting going the Federal "Ya get 4 choices" way, or the Whelen "Ya get ALL of the choices way (RE: 29XX)" I'm just saying that it seems a little much.

Just my opinion.

The sirens are made to order, so the size of the lineup really isn't affecting the bottom line that much.

If their bottom line looks good and their not in the red then they probably won't axe anything from their lineup. They got rid of the one thing that wasn't profitable which was the Defender. From what I gather few were sold. The only two I've ever seen were in Golden City MO.