WTB Another Pair of Cabs, Want Recommendations As To Which

[ATAndTruong]

I can confidently say that I've been in the hobby for about a year now, and currently, I have the following in my lineup:

• Two Vewlix Diamond Blacks
• One Sound Voltex
• One Chunithm
• One WACCA (currently en route)

At this point, after going to several different arcades, I just know I want another pair of candy cabinets, and initially, I was looking at getting another pair of Taito Vewlix Diamond Blacks (I'm a huge fan of aesthetics), but I figured I'd ask you all just in case: Should I get another pair of Diamond Blacks, or is it really a game charger to get a pair of different cabinets? Net Cities / Blast Cities / Astro Cities appear to be in abundant supply, and just between those, I'd more than likely lean between a pair of Blasts or a pair of Astros. However, I have no experience whatsoever with all of the maintenance required for a CRT candy cabinet. I do love looking through the restoration threads and admiring the pictures of the finished products, but at the same time, I'll wholeheartedly admit that I'd be at a complete loss if a pair of candies (that were in a state of disrepair) landed at my doorstep.

Hell, even IF the CRT candies landed at my doorstep in decent, running condition, I'd be at a loss if something crapped out and required some degree of maintenance.

That said, given my lack of experience with CRTs and all of the work required with older candy cabinets, do you think it'd be best to just stick with the original plan to snag two more Diamond Blacks, or are CRT candies that much better that I should consider getting a pair? Appreciate all of the insight and look forward to reading through all of the answers!

 

[bagheera369]

Honestly, if you are not tech oriented, and not prepared to pay solid money for spare monitor chassis (for backup) and deal with CRT adjustment, weight, etc.....stick with LCD cabs.
Now I personally have been through roughly 25 crt candy cabs, myself, but I worked in the arcade industry, knew how to repair, what to horde, etc, and am setup quite well on the 4-5 crt cabs i'll have remaining.

I don't think any of the importers are dealing with CRT anymore (thought I could be wrong)


Being already familiar with the ins and outs of the vewlix, you'll have a faster, easier time, just sticking with them and a mister, as so much of what's good on CRT is now easy, convenient, and relatively cheap via those, compared to CRT maintenance and PCB hunting.

Just my 2c, take it or leave it as you will.

 

[Kagaden]

I think the biggest question to ask yourself is what do you want to play and who will you be playing with? Many of the older games just look better and "right" on a CRT and if you're looking for that experience it'll be hard to replicate on LCD. That said, if you're not picky about looks and are open to using emulation or fpga - you're not going to miss much on LCD if you don't love the look of a CRT.

With this many cabs, will you have company over to enjoy them with you? What do you think will get the most play? Does variety matter or will everyone only play a few games? Are they modern or oldschool games they're interested in?

So to summarize I'd think about it this way:
- Too many cabs for me to play myself, do I want more variety for solo play?
- What would keep others entertained? Some CRT variety or more Modern games running?
- Can you/others make due with emulation or FPGA for classics?
- Do emulated scanlines or shadow masks get you mostly there for LCD cabs?
- Are you ready to learn to fix or pay for hardware maintenance due to age?

Eg - If I was only ever going to have 1 guest at a time over, and willing to jump in the rabbit hole of maintenance - I'd go with 2x CRT cabs for the variety.
On the other hand...
If my 3 other friends were hype AF for SF6, I'd pick up 2 more Vewlix Blacks for our training dojo because 2 seats on an HD/Modern setup would be more valuable.

For aesthetics - I think 2 more Vewlix Blacks would look great together. Personally I think cabs really start looking nice together after 2 of the same style when they're in rows.

Good luck!

 

[ATAndTruong]

Definitely appreciate the insight from both of you, as a lot of times, it seems like I see more of a preference towards CRTs when it comes to Japanese arcade cabinet enthusiasts.

In my use cases (have had a considerable number of guests from the age range of 6 - 65 on my cabs), I can honestly say that emulation fits the bill. Going further, I can confidently say that no one in my social circle gives two shits when it comes to CRT versus LCD and they all just want to sit down and have some fun.

For me, I know my friends and family don’t give a shit about authenticity and want to be able to play Pac-Man / Street Fighter 2 / Puzzle Bobble / whatever the fuck they feel like with a few clicks of a button. None of them know the difference between an emulator or a Mister, and I’m sure they couldn’t care less if I had 2 CRT candies versus two more Vewlixes. I just want my guests to have a good time and come away from my home with some nostalgia and memories besides (alongside a healthy dose of shit talk).

Despite this, I want to reiterate that at the end of the day, CRT candies look gorgeous in person, and if I had the requisite skill / time / resources, I’d have absolutely resolved myself into buying a pair of CRT candy cabs.

 

[socalcade]

I really like the look of the Pras and G-balance cabs, in case you haven't seen those!

 

[ATAndTruong]

I really like the look of the Pras and G-balance cabs, in case you haven't seen those!

Yeah, I have, but at the end of the day, I really, really love how the Vewlix looks, so those aren’t in the running for me.

 

[notsonic]

In my opinion, CRTs are in the same boat as records and other obsolete hardware. They have pros and cons and offer (sometimes intangible) experiences that aren't fully replicated with modern equivalents. I like having CRT cabinets because it adds that extra something to the experience.

I think there are certain CRTs that are reliable and ones that aren't.

Anything with an MS9 is going to be about as reliable as you can get for a CRT. The downside there is you're (effectively) limited to low res. The upside is New Astro Cities are probably one of the cheaper and easier cabinets to find. Everything else with an MS9 is rare or at least desirable.

I think the Toshibas in the New Net City are generally reliable but they're flat tubes (could be a preference concern) and probably not as sharp as some other options. I wanna say that they do have the disadvantage of being more complex and digital, so repairs are less well known.

I don't think there's any other reliable tri-sync chassis. The WG monitors are both bad and unreliable, plus you wont find em in a Japanese cabinet anyway. Wei-Ya is trash. MS 293x series is unreliable, hard to repair, and is alleged to cause tube damage when failing. MS2931 (Blast City) is still my favorite looking monitor though.

 

[Aurich]

For me, I know my friends and family don’t give a shit about authenticity and want to be able to play Pac-Man / Street Fighter 2 / Puzzle Bobble / whatever the fuck they feel like with a few clicks of a button.

Just get some more Vewlixes. Anything else would be a waste of time and money and create headaches for you that nobody will even appreciate. And that's two more CRT cabs for someone who does give a shit about authenticity, so it's win-win for everyone.

 

[bagheera369]

In my opinion, CRTs are in the same boat as records and other obsolete hardware. They have pros and cons and offer (sometimes intangible) experiences that aren't fully replicated with modern equivalents. I like having CRT cabinets because it adds that extra something to the experience.

I think there are certain CRTs that are reliable and ones that aren't.

Anything with an MS9 is going to be about as reliable as you can get for a CRT. The downside there is you're (effectively) limited to low res. The upside is New Astro Cities are probably one of the cheaper and easier cabinets to find. Everything else with an MS9 is rare or at least desirable.

I think the Toshibas in the New Net City are generally reliable but they're flat tubes (could be a preference concern) and probably not as sharp as some other options. I wanna say that they do have the disadvantage of being more complex and digital, so repairs are less well known.

I don't think there's any other reliable tri-sync chassis. The WG monitors are both bad and unreliable, plus you wont find em in a Japanese cabinet anyway. Wei-Ya is trash. MS 293x series is unreliable, hard to repair, and is alleged to cause tube damage when failing. MS2931 (Blast City) is still my favorite looking monitor though.

From what I understand, NAC's are hitting 3k retail (even rough), 2-2500K on the collector market in nice condition, 15-2k in ok shape. OK Baby's and some lower end cabs below that, but everything else above that, easily, unless in an area where they are just falling off trees.

Crt cabs will NOT be going down in price for the next 5-10 years....so if you have to have em, get em now, cause they wont be cheaper till a lot of us are gone...and you should find 2 spare chassis per cab you have, if you can find/afford it.

Just get some more Vewlixes. Anything else would be a waste of time and money and create headaches for you that nobody will even appreciate. And that's two more CRT cabs for someone who does give a shit about authenticity, so it's win-win for everyone.

@Aurich - always working that angle for the rest of us!!

 

[Kagaden]

Eh... I personally wouldn't FOMO into a CRT cab as an investment on a primary basis. They're meant to be enjoyed and maintained, not collect dust. Doubly so with the current economic trajectory.