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First time buyer here looking for my first arcade cabinet - I've been talking to KC about Blast City, New Net City and I primarily want something to use with a MiSTer or other multi-game setups, potentially MAME, but less likely.

I've heard some folks say Blast City isn't a great cabinet for novices.

Any advice for me here about which I'm more likely to be happy with buying from KC? Also would be shipping whatever I buy to Oklahoma so, that's worth considering as well.

It's impossible to find anything I'd consider "local" so I have to buy basically anything sight unseen.
 
I thought the reason people say that about blasts is because they require a lot of tinkering to get the convergence and picture to be up to snuff. If your not familiar with any maintenance then it might not be the best cab but really in this hobby anyone getting into crt privately owned cabinets is going to experience it sooner or later, so personally I would go with whatever you like and think looks cool / works best for your use cases. A blast is a fine pick imo. Any of kcs cabinets are gonna need some tlc though.
 
I personally love the aesthetic of a Blast City, but I'm worried about dealing with monitor failures and trying to source parts/or someone to repair in Oklahoma.

I don't mind learning how to do something that is reasonable to do at home - but I also haven't done much CRT work before so it'd be a learning process for me.
 
bbickell said:
I don't mind learning how to do something that is reasonable to do at home - but I also haven't done much CRT work before so it'd be a learning process for me.
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"Something that is reasonable to do at home" is really subjective. Are you experienced in soldering and general electronics repair?

Tri-syncs aren't a good place to learn CRT repair in general, they're just more complex than 15k or 15/24 chassis.

Adjustments etc I'm sure you can learn no problem. But if it ends up needing repairs, you're going to have to send it somewhere, and only a few folks work on MS2930/31. Almost everyone seems to work on the Sanwas or Toshibas in the NNC though.
 
Novice at basic soldering and electronics repair. Experienced in software tinkering I would say.

Also exceedingly patient and have been involved in retro gaming and collecting for a long time, but finally have the space for a cabinet so I'm wanting to jump into it.

Does anyone ever take the Toshibas from the NNC and drop them into the Blast? Or, is that a physical cabinet constraint that doesn't work?

Like, for instance, if I went with a Blast and eventually had my Nanao fail, could I replace it with something else tri-sync?

I'm leaning towards a tri-sync monitor because I expect I've got room for a single cabinet and I want to have a lot of options for sources for games.
 
Boss....not impossible to find anything local....I just pulled 13 Blast Cities, and an Astro out of Tulsa.

Not saying that, to rub anything in, or to have stolen stuff out from under you.....just stating what happened. There are guys in Tulsa, and OKC with candies and knowledge.

I'm in Dallas, and have now been through over 25 myself, and have seen well over another 25 floating around down here. They exist in this area.....it simply takes time, patience, the desire to hunt, and the proper networking.

You grab from wherever you want....but please don't continue the fallacy that this area has no candy.





I would call a Blast City an advanced level cab for the following reasons....

Monitor - Semi curved tubes are NOT easy to find...so if yours is burnt or dying, its going to mean a lot of work to hunt a replacement, or tube swap.

Power Supply - due to the harnessing, the PSU block is also quite the pain. Cabinets like the Aero, can easily have a different PSU adapted in. Blasts make this extremely difficult.

Blast I/O pcb - excellent for versatility, but another complication in creating things like cps2 kick harness adapters or other options. Certainly makes tracing down wiring issues more difficult.

Cabinet - Monitor is difficult to get out, and must come out to be worked on. Cracks at Control Panel intersection with cabinet, fiberglass unibody, makes getting to things a pain and damage harder to repair.


I would consider things like Aero's, and Neo Candy's, or some of the older boxy style candy's as best beginning options.

These cabs can have many different monitor types dropped in, even if you may have go without a plastic bezel, or go with tinted glass to hide a lacking bezel. They are much easier to edit/repair wiring, and bypass power supplies if needed.

Hope this helps.
 
You have options, depending on what you’re willing to accept. I have a Makvision flat CRT is my Blast. It’s far from ideal, but it works for now. I have a Wells Gardner D9200 waiting for me to swap it into the Blast.
 
meybarra said:
You have options, depending on what you’re willing to accept. I have a Makvision flat CRT is my Blast. It’s far from ideal, but it works for now. I have a Wells Gardner D9200 waiting for me to swap it into the Blast.
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Yep...and if you can fit those, you can work in a PFX as well, even if its' not ideal.
 
Would +1 staying away from Blast as your first cab. I'm personally not a fan at all. I hate the way the CP bezel is designed/attached in particular, all of the usual problems notwithstanding.

Just get a Net City, unless you really want a 15/24 Nanao and don't care about hi-res.
 
Sorry guys, have to butt in again, too much shitting on the poor Blast.

bagheera369 said:
I would call a Blast City an advanced level cab for the following reasons....

Monitor - Semi curved tubes are NOT easy to find...so if yours is burnt or dying, its going to mean a lot of work to hunt a replacement, or tube swap.
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Net City will have the same problem.

Power Supply - due to the harnessing, the PSU block is also quite the pain. Cabinets like the Aero, can easily have a different PSU adapted in. Blasts make this extremely difficult.
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Never had an issue with a Blast PSU. I've had SUN PSUs die on me, Blasts no. Easy to recap even if you've just picked up a soldering iron.

Blast I/O pcb - excellent for versatility, but another complication in creating things like cps2 kick harness adapters or other options.
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If you don't want to run wires straight from kick harness to the buttons (which IMO is perfectly fine), you can connect them to CN8 on the IO and you have them then on the 10-pin AUX connector next to the 1P and 2P controls. What cab is somehow better? Astro for one are exactly the same, just with a different connector.

Cabinet - Monitor is difficult to get out, and must come out to be worked on. Cracks at Control Panel intersection with cabinet, fiberglass unibody, makes getting to things a pain and damage harder to repair.
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Monitor is admittedly harder to get out, but I can still take out a monitor and put it back in maybe 1/10th of the time it takes me to pull out a monitor from an Astro. No, I don't want to do it daily, but honestly, unless the cab has a rotate mech, it's not something I want to do with any cab. Also, top tip for owners, when you have the monitor out, make sure the bolts are correctly aligned. Realigning them is really easy to do and makes the procedure waay easier in the future.

Cracks are purely superficial. I had Bishi Bashi in a Blast for years, people hammered the shit out of the CP. It's still perfectly fine.

Pros for Blast:

Will run Jamma, JVS and Sega Model 3 with OEM harnesses. Super versatile
PSU is a beast. More amps than in other Sega sitdown cab (NVS-4000-01 is the same)
Control panel being removable is great boon to anyone that ever needs to move or store the thing. I don't see how it is a con in home use (although it stands up just fine in arcade use too). How many of these have you seen broken?

Cons:

Poor corner convergence on the MS2930, 31 & 33 (again, same problems on the Net City)
15khz looks wrong (problem with every tri-sync chassis ever made, Tosh PF included)
No perfect replacements available for the speakers if they are shot
 
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I think for my use I’ve settled on Astro/New Astro since 15khz usage is most important to me and monitor issues scare me the most.

I do however appreciate the impassioned defense of the Blast City!

Sounds like a fine cabinet, but just not for my first one.
 
ya @nem i like my blasts after Iv dumped probably 1600 into them recapped psu 2 new monitors and almost nos speakers well not totally shot like what came in mine there was no foam. But I learned alot from them

For someone having a first time cab i would try to get an aero.

Mind you I dont have problem taking out monitors out of blast myself I am 6'4 i can lift the monitors out myelf

But if your a small guy youll need help

Iv never had an astro (yet) so i cant speak for ease of use

But an aero would be an excellent cab to start off on or a madonna but good look with that one.

I would only suggest a blast If you are there in person to check out monitor. Make sure to bring a burner pcb check out monitor look for burn look for fucking horrible convergence. Mine had satan convergence..
 
At the end of the day you have to make sure you're getting a cab regardless of its type to have little to no problems on the monitor at least.

I have a blast and I'm happy with it no problems so far but I couldn't careless about the 31k don't know if I have to do some tweaking but I was unimpressed.
 
bbickell said:
I think for my use I’ve settled on Astro/New Astro since 15khz usage is most important to me and monitor issues scare me the most.

I do however appreciate the impassioned defense of the Blast City!

Sounds like a fine cabinet, but just not for my first one.
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This is the honest take away. I love my blast and think most here agree we just think it's complications are slightly above entry level. Its a great cab for anyone with the infrastructure set up to tackle it's challenges.
 
Not to derail, but I love the 15k on the 2930. 31k looks soft on it. All those semi curved tubes have some convergence problems- even the consumer sets.

Seriously though, first cab, get an Astro or New Astro. 15/24 chassis are much easier to source or repair if you have problems with it.
 
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