Audio/sound question about my CRT TV...

[dave4shmups]

This TV is in excellent shape, and it's about 8 or 9 years old-but on the front of it, it only has the yellow and white RCA inputs, not the red. I know that you can get a Y adapter, but I'm skeptical as to how effective that would be, and which input I'd need to plug it into. The TV also has a headphone port on the front, and I have a friend who had this TV, and somehow hooked up what looked like PC speakers to it. Unfortunately, I never asked him where he got them.

I don't have the model number for this TV, but it's a Magnavox Smart Series. There are CRT TVs that are larger and that have a 3 RCA inputs in front at places like the Goodwill, but I wouldn't know what kind of shape the picture's in until I got one home, so I'm not sure if I should go that route.

[Ed Oscuro]

This TV will only accept and output mono audio. In some cases (but not sure about this TV) combining the separate signals isn't guaranteed to play nicely. When I used my 360 on a real cheapie set like the one you mention, I just plugged in one audio output and just dealt with it. Personally, I wouldn't bother with any of this.

Goodwill should allow you to test out a TV. I asked once and they said it was OK (I never took them up on that offer though). Just plug it into the wall and show a picture from one of the very many wondrous VCR devices and the newest VCR tape there. It might not give a perfect indication of how the set will work with your gaming systems, but it's better than nothing.

I wouldn't buy any TV from Goodwill unless it has at least S-Video (if you're really desperate) or, ideally, component inputs, and is a recent manufacture (i.e. no earlier than the late '90s, and preferably no earlier than the mid-00s). I would be really suspicious of any that looks very dirty, because that means that it's probably spent some time being poorly stored, and might have been harmed by exposure to temperature changes / moisture / other nasties.

[dave4shmups]

This TV will only accept and output mono audio. In some cases (but not sure about this TV) combining the separate signals isn't guaranteed to play nicely. When I used my 360 on a real cheapie set like the one you mention, I just plugged in one audio output and just dealt with it. Personally, I wouldn't bother with any of this.

Goodwill should allow you to test out a TV. I asked once and they said it was OK (I never took them up on that offer though). Just plug it into the wall and show a picture from one of the very many wondrous VCR devices and the newest VCR tape there. It might not give a perfect indication of how the set will work with your gaming systems, but it's better than nothing.

I wouldn't buy any TV from Goodwill unless it has at least S-Video (if you're really desperate) or, ideally, component inputs, and is a recent manufacture (i.e. no earlier than the late '90s, and preferably no earlier than the mid-00s). I would be really suspicious of any that looks very dirty, because that means that it's probably spent some time being poorly stored, and might have been harmed by exposure to temperature changes / moisture / other nasties.

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd notice a difference in audio quality; especially with an older console from the 1980s or 1990s. That's cool that Godwill allows you to test out TVs. I don't care about S-Video or component inputs with older consoles. My brother found a larger CRT TV at a garage sale this past summer that was manufactured in the year 2000, and had all 3 RCA inputs, but the picture was crap.

[Ed Oscuro]

You can still weed out inferior quality tubes with alarming regularity by just disregarding stuff that doesn't have S-Video at a bare minimum - your bottom-shelf makers like Orion and so on for sure, but even "reputable" manufacturers like Samsung put out some notably cheap quality sets. Even ones with S-Video - like the 27" from 1998 that I used to use; nice enough picture and about 30-40 pounds lighter than the Trinitron replacement I got for it, but I would still say quite a cheap tube and design (not to mention the front headphone jack got loose; typical problem from a junky design).

Actually, we've both arguably been missing the boat about audio. NES is mono, so the TV should handle that fine, but even many good TVs won't handle audio nearly as well as a good set of speakers or a pair of headphones, so you can just use a female RCA-to-stereo adapter and plug your console's audio into the jack of your choice.

[BazookaBen]

I think some systems automatically output mono if you just plug in the white plug. I know the gamecube does.

Either way, don't sell the sound of classic systems short. Some genesis and SNES games had very good sound design, and they really shine on HiFi speakers. At least pick up some bookshelf speakers while you're at goodwill.

[dave4shmups]

I have heard people talk about the Commodore 1702 monitor, and Sony PVM monitor. Now, the Commodore 1702 can (AFIK) accept a PAL video signal, which I like, because there's at least one PAL console that I'd love to pickup. But other then 4Jays: http://4jays.net/store//page131.html , I don't know where to find one. (They go for over $100 on Ebay.) As far as Sony PVM monitors go, I wouldn't know which model of PVM monitor to buy, or where to get one.

[Ed Oscuro]

Dave, the PVM 20L5, and possibly many others, is specced to display a PAL video signal. (Out of curiosity, what is the PAL system you had in mind?)

I would not screw around with ancient Commie monitors at this point unless you had a very specific application in mind (maybe). Especially at $100, they're just too old.

[dave4shmups]

Dave, the PVM 20L5, and possibly many others, is specced to display a PAL video signal. (Out of curiosity, what is the PAL system you had in mind?)

I would not screw around with ancient Commie monitors at this point unless you had a very specific application in mind (maybe). Especially at $100, they're just too old.

Well 4jays are selling the 1702 for about $50. I need to email them and ask them if they can please email me some photos, because I want one that's in excellent condition. I've had my eye on the Amiga CD32 for about ten years now. And the only real option would be a PAL CD32, because the mouse trick-which is supposed to allow you to change regions-doesn't work with what few NTSC CD32s there are out there.

[Ed Oscuro]

I thought that might be the case! I did a bit of snooping around for you (just the usual Google stuff) and I discovered a few things:

First, this post on the Retrogaming Roundtable has some good information about NTSC vs. PAL on CD32s. I also found some other people talking about NTSC vs. PAL mods - it looks like they can be done but might not be perfect.

Important: I also looked at some pictures of the Commodore 1702 online. Apparently people sometimes find (within the last 5 years I think) these for $2 at local thrifts. Moreover, the damn things only support something like S-Video via two separate cables, so you'll need to find or have made a cable to deal with that. If Wikipedia is right, there are some French versions floating around with RGB already - of course this could also be modded in. You might still need to have a cable made up.

Note that the CD32 has a few interesting unique titles on CD - I am not sure if these can be used on an Amiga 1200 or some other Amiga system. Of course, in a situation similar to the FM Towns Marty, you lose the flexibility of using a real computer system.

In summary, what I believe is: This is not going to be a plug-and-play solution.

- Commodore 1702 for $50 is an outrageous scam. Get a real monitor instead, or even just a regular TV with S-Video will be no worse for some unmodded CD32s (assuming that you have the regions matched!). There are other Commie monitors that actually support RGB in some fashion or other (many people like the 1084). Not all Commodore monitors are alike! Without knowing any real advantages to the Commodore monitors vs. the Sony monitors, I would stay away from them. Note that you might be able to get a real PVM in 17" for not much more than 4jays wants for that 1702 (not impressed with 4jays right now, at all). One other thing: I doubt their inflated figure includes shipping. Since you'll be taking it on the chin to get any monitor shipped, I'd just go whole hog and get something worthwhile.

- CD32 is a standards nightmare

- How many games will you be able to realistically find and play on the CD32, especially since some of them are rather sought-after? (No words about piracy here, but emulation will certainly allow more flexibility in the range of software you can use.)

[dave4shmups]

OK, thanks for the advice! I'll stay away from the 1702 and the CD32.