Prosport and the standard TX have SHROUDS with a couple partition baffles over there shorty barrel.The Hunter carbine has a shroud too, but barrel is right at the end of it .. so cosmetic only.
I've had experience w/ the backyard-friendly issue, and here's my experience. It's very difficult to talk about sound levels/backyard friendliness in the abstract. Subjective impressions intrude. So ideally, you'd want to be able to shoot a TX and/or a PS, or have someone else shoot them while you stand 20 feet away (off to the side!). Where the PS and the TX are concerned, the loudness will depend to some degree on the tuning. From the factory, with factory spring, my PS (.22)was louder than I anticpated, and not exactly backyard friendly. But with a lighter spring (QX 4600 from ARH), and tuned to 11.5 fpe, it got quieter. But by far the biggest improvement came from a Neil Clague moderator, which slips over the barrel of the PS, and is secured by a grub screw. Put on a factory gun shooting 13-15 fpe, the moderator won't help quite as much. But get it down to 12fpe, and the improvement is pretty dramatic. I don't own a TX, but I'm not sure if you're able to put a moderator on it--certainly not the kind that slips over the barrel, since the cocking arm is in the way. But maybe a screw-on? I don't know. Still quieter , of course, is an s510 with a moderator. 800 fps and is about as loud as an office stapler.
Thanks again to all that replied to my post. My only experience is with a Benjamin Trail NP / 22 cal that I shoot in my basement and backyard. The only modification I made to the rifle was the Charlie Tuna trigger. While that was a huge leap forward in accuracy I am still looking for a higher quality best in class springer that is accurate out of the box, less hold sensitive, and at least as quiet as my Trail NP. I would not say that I hunt with my pellet gun, but I do eliminate squirrels that have ruined patio furniture and cedar trim. I primarily shoot targets in my basement in the winter and when the weather is bad. I want to be able to shoot an out of the box Pro Sport in the basement w/o freaking out the dogs or anyone upstairs. My basement target is set at 55 feet. My backyard target is set at 100 feet. I enjoy reading all the different posts related to tuning springers but I have a fundamental problem with the need or presumption of need to tune a brand new higher end springer. My question regarding backyard friendly was driven by Paul Cappelo's (sp?) review of the Pro Sport and the output of his decibel instrument . He gave it a resounding "Yes" to backyard friendly but I wanted to reach out for actual owner perceptions knowing it is a personal subjective answer. I will admit I do have a double take on parting with close to $1,000 for the Pro Sport and a high quality scope and then think I need to "tune" it down to 12 FPE etc.
Joanie, what caliber is your Prosport? I heard that the .22 is harder to cock than the .177. Would you have anyway of verifying that?