I want candy (cab)! Advice appreciated for EU

[kamiboy]

Having been a purebred console lad all my life I think the time has come to dip my foot into unfamiliar waters.

Actually, more like take a dive off of the waterfall, into shark infested waters.

While I have a wealth of knowledge about what and where to look for and look out for when it comes to consoles I understand that really very little of that is transferable to the world of arcades. So knowing almost nothing about the subject I thought I'd see if I could draw upon the knowledge of those more well versed in the subject.

First order of business is acquiring a candy cab. Super guns attached to bare PCB's is just not my style. While half assing it has been the tried and true general life philosophy of mine, it has been so in all but gaming it seems, so candy it is.

Living in Denmark muddies my prospects of tracking down a reputable, easy to deal with source to purchase such esoteric import hardware. So priority one is finding out a list of local EU vendors who can ship to my location, so as to avoid the hassle of import duties.

Second order of business then becomes deciding which candy cab models to be on the lookout for.

Third order of business, finding a source for boards so I'll have something to play when all is said and done.

Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Of special interest, places to buy, and ballpark prices that should be considered "fair".

[waiwainl]

Excellent decision

Cab sources, plenty; the one's I know and trust are:

http://www.shadaloo.eu
http://www.rklok.nl

Both get regular containers in.

Which cab?; depends on many factors; you can look here for info: http://hard--candy.com or http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Main_Page

PCB's you can find on this forum as well as lots of info about dealers/shops who sell PCB's. Go have a browse in the Sale/Market forum here.
And of course many other forums.

[kamiboy]

Thanks for the info. Problem with those arcade information pages is that reading the page for each model does not really give you any basis for comparing different models, outside of mundane details like whether they are multisync or not.

I understand that the Taito Egret II's are highly sought after, but have no idea why. I also hear mixed things about the image quality of trisync monitors. Is it safe to assume that 15khz performance comes at the cost of 31khz capability?

The Egret II's seem to demand a hefty premium, so I think I'll steer clear of them. But what other recomended models are there? How about the screen, any model perform better? Seems Nanao screens are respected, but any particular model or all of them?

Maybe I should mention my needs. 15kh performance is of utmost importance, then the potential of longevity. I am not sure what sort of boards I'll be getting, but maybe a cheap single slot MVS to start with.

[Xyga]

Egret II: just as good as the New Astro City (same monitor) with the addition of an easy monitor rotation mechanism.

[waiwainl]

IMHO Most Trisyncs do not capture the original 15Khz feeling. But they are great for 31Khz!
Try a Konami Windy or a Sega (New) Astro City cab - relatively cheap (500-800 euro, shipping around 175 euro).
Most PCB's are 15Khz anyway. Checkout http://www.system16.com for all the systems that were created.

Monitor wise; probably there are many reasons to get a certain brand; but my advise would be to simply sit behind the cab you want to buy and judge for yourself if you like the monitor.

Longevity, I really don't know. My cabs + monitors are from 1996, they still work perfect. At one time the monitor will die - it is part of the hobby.
Same for PCB's, some live long, some don't. But pac-man from 1980 is still running in some cabs.

Oh - be prepared spend more money than you were planning for, it is highly addictive and you will meet great people with the same love.

[kamiboy]

Sitting in front of the cab I want to buy and meeting people are pretty much out of the question. As I said, I live in DK. Any cab I buy will have to be shipped to me from another country, sight unseen. If any flies should be in the ointment I'll just have to live with it as by the time I lay eyes on the actual cab things will be way past the point of no return.

Basically I have one shot at getting this right, so if you have any recommendations regarding a particular brand please let me know so I can take it into consideration. I am going to have to rely on second hand impressions on this big purchase.

[MKL]

Get two Naomi Universals (so you won't care for the Egret rotating mech) and convert them to Jamma. Replacing the monitors with 15khz ones isn't difficult. Some of the advantages of this choice: these cabs are available in any European country, they're cheap (got mine for 150-250 euros), replacement parts are easily available, they can be dismantled in smaller parts than other cabs so it's not a problem to fit them into cars or move them in or out of any homes, they can be chopped down to look like (New) Net Cities, etc.

[kamiboy]

I won't be needing TATE capability actually, but your suggestion is a project in itself. Not really interested in that kind of hassle, I just want to pay one lump sum and end up with something ready to use out of the box.

[MKL]

Get an Astro then.

[kamiboy]

Yeah, the Astro and New Astro seem to be mentioned a lot. I also like the their aesthetics, they are much more in line with my vision of a candy cab than the Naomi Universal.

[ckong]

Get an Astro then.

+1

I bought my first Candy cab, a NAC, 7 years ago. I've owned lots of different cabs since then, like the AWSD, E2, E3's, Naomi Universals, NNC, Aero's and Blact City. All of them didn't last, but my first NAC stayed Together with a very nice Blast.

Says enough about the likability of the NAC. your choice no.1!

[kamiboy]

Since you've had both. How would you say a Blast City performs, 15khz wise, compared to a New Astro City?

All things being equal I think I would more lean towards a Blast City. 31khz ability is not a must, but might be nice to have, and the Blast's are newer cabs, so chances are they are less worn, though many other factors are at play here.

[ckong]

The Blast is very nice for 15K gaming, and great for 31K gaming, although 'all' Blasts suffer from some convergence issues, the one more than the other. This issue is more noticable in 15K than in 31K. My Blast has a MS2931 chassis with just a little bit of a mis-convergence in one corner.

However, how great the monitor of the Blast may be, nothing beats the MS-9 for 15 K gaming! And that one happens to be in the NAC and the E2! The MS-9 delivers superb (the best) 15K game output. So, if you don't care that much for 31K gaming, but are addicted to very nice lowres gorgeous scanlines and good screen convergence, then go for the NAC. But the Blast will be a very good pick also.

Or go for both and have the best of both worlds! As I did.

Here is my NAC, a while back:

[lettuce]

I want a Jaleco Pony Mark 3....2 in fact dont need monitors as i have 2 new 25" 15khz ones here!. But they appear to be hard to come by

[ELabit]

Do you even really have a choice? If you want to buy here it's more of a what's available when you are looking to buy. Lots of buyers and not many sellers unless you want to ship a blast city from across the country.
Most of the main cabs are all good. Astro, new astro, blast, egret, SNK, windy. If you have a choice get the one you think looks the best and is in nicest condition. If you want a different one that comes up in the future, sell the one you have to buy the new one.

[ckong]

You should contact rklok (Ronnie) in The Netherlands. He very often has a nice collection of Candy's for sale, even rare and dedicated ones, he is very reliable and he can ship worldwide for very fair shipping rates. Just google rklok for his website with contact info, or search him on FB.

[kamiboy]

Acrually it seems RKLOK currently has a New Astro City for sale right now. Descriptions says no visible burn-in, which is a plus, but cosmetically it is not as nice looking as I would want.

I care a lot about aesthetics as I am buying a candy as much for its looks as part of my decore as I do for its function. If it had less discolouring, and fewer scratches I'd go for it. I am not in a hurry though, I'll wait for the right unit to come along.

[LEGENOARYNINLIA]

Sitting in front of the cab I want to buy and meeting people are pretty much out of the question. As I said, I live in DK. Any cab I buy will have to be shipped to me from another country, sight unseen. If any flies should be in the ointment I'll just have to live with it as by the time I lay eyes on the actual cab things will be way past the point of no return.

Basically I have one shot at getting this right, so if you have any recommendations regarding a particular brand please let me know so I can take it into consideration. I am going to have to rely on second hand impressions on this big purchase.

Isn't there a library in Aarhus that has two NAC's for public use? It's a small country so you should be able to go there to try them out. The library is called Dokk1. The guys who put them there have an arcade club, so you might be able to try out more cabs if you contact them.

[kamiboy]

I am planning on going down there this monday actually.

[neorichieb1971]

I dived in to the cab scene and was happy for years.

But on of my NAC's has a dead monitor now. Just needs caps i think since sound and boards still work. Had an issue where the PSU was clicking and the monitor had a rolled edge across the top. It sorted itself out eventually when it worked, but then it died.

I've never gotten it fixed because I don't know who to trust and nobody will come to my house to have a look. So bear this in mind.. unless you are a wizard with electronics and know what you are doing.

[kamiboy]

I've done mods and cap changes before, so repairs of that simplicity I can handle on my own. For more complex problems I luckily have people close to me with expert knowledge to call upon.

As for your problem, changing caps is a very simple procedure, even with no prior experience you should be able to handle it yourself. I learned to do it on my own.

[kamiboy]

So, I've pretty much decided on a New Astro or Blast City, whichever shows up first in good cosmetic condition, for a reasonable price I'll be jumping on.

As for PCB's, well, there will be very little cash left for that after the cab, so it is going to have to be a one slot MVS.

Trouble is there are so many versions to choose from. Anything particular to look out for when shopping for a one slot?

[ckong]

So, I've pretty much decided on a New Astro or Blast City, whichever shows up first in good cosmetic condition, for a reasonable price I'll be jumping on.
......

Excellent decision!

[kamiboy]

Today I finally got my ass to mars, I mean down to see those arcade cabinets in the public library. Aside from two custom job ugly US style cabs with LCD screens fitted into them, #shudder#, there were two New Astro City cabs there.

I got a chance to sit down and sample the full candy experience. One was running Puzzle Bubble on Neo Geo, and one some Street Fighter. The cabinets were actually smaller in real life than I had imagined.

Also the screens in the cabs were not as vibrant, or sharp as I had imagined them to be. I must assume they both still sported their original Nanao MS9 CRT's. The image quality was quite soft actually. Nothing like a PVM, more like one of my B&O TV's, only with more pronounced scanlines. Maybe that is how an arcade is supposed to look, or maybe those CRT's were getting a bit long in the old tooth, what with them prolly being 15-20 years old by now.

That aside the feeling of playing a game with your nose rubbing right into a 28" screen was pretty great. I need candy!

[cfx]

.

[kamiboy]

Nah, I had a mint PVM 2530 once. It had the best CRT picture that I have ever seen. The Nanao's were very different.

[ckong]

.... Also the screens in the cabs were not as vibrant, or sharp as I had imagined them to be. I must assume they both still sported their original Nanao MS9 CRT's. The image quality was quite soft actually. Nothing like a PVM, more like one of my B&O TV's, only with more pronounced scanlines. Maybe that is how an arcade is supposed to look, or maybe those CRT's were getting a bit long in the old tooth, what with them prolly being 15-20 years old by now......

You know that this can be caused by a few things, like out of focus (adjustable by the focus pot on the monitor chassis), or the brigtness and/or contrast knobs were not in the most optimal position (controlled by a little pcb under the control panel). Or maybe the monitor has so many play hours that a capkit is due (A pretty easy task, which makes the monitor like 'new' again). Normally a NAC monitor has very nice, bright colours, sharpness, vibrance etc., but I imagine that a public library is not a place where proper candy maintenance skills are present.

And indeed, it's not a PVM.

[kamiboy]

I think it is mostly due to the Nanaos being shadow mask. They really reminded me of my B&O's, which use the same tech. I guess I just prefer the look of SONY's grill monitors. Grill monitors are sharp in a different way.

There was a lack of vibrancy though, and I think that might be due to age. May be overdue for a decap attack.

As for the library, they just got those cabs in this summer. I think they are on loan from some local arcade heads that I believe I've run into on a few occasions.

[cfx]

.

[kamiboy]

I was thinking about lightgun games. Astros were not made for such games obviously, but has anyone tried to rig some guns onto their cab?

If so I'd be interested to hear the details around how and with which type of guns.