ner38073
Enthusiast
A while back when I acquired my New Astro City the only thing that bothered me was when the machine was off and I would stare at the monitor. The stamped 'Player Racing' medium light burning mark caused by many battles in the arcade rooms. The burning is not noticeable at all while playing but when the monitor is off, you can spot the thing. What is good about the Toshiba A68KJU96X is that the factory Phosphor coating on the glass is dark. This hides the burning mark a lot. Well, from the pictures attached, you are seeing my second attempt at replacing this monitor. Let me share a description of the visual before I continue.
You see the cab with a monitor mounted, there is a second one just behind it, and then one more all the way at the rear view.
A year after acquiring the cab I saw this amazing opportunity to replace the monitor. The picture shows the first replacement I threw in to eliminate the original burning monitor. This was/is a super clean scratch and burning free, nothing, just perfect. The tube was not exactly the perfect replacement given the attractive details of no scratches, nor burning marks. This is a Hitachi tube with the same nanao MS9-29 chassis and matching joke to the Toshiba tube. However, as a lot of you might already know, the bezel fit was just way off. The corners were tight but the rest was just from a space of 1/8 of an inch to an ugly 1/4 of an inch. I never wanted to mess around with filling in the gap with no trash. I dealt with it for years as there was no burning nor scratches. At least that kept me happy. However, and again, the colors and picture quality as compared to the original Toshiba tube was not convincing me. I was used to the Tosh tube with those super colors and sharpness. Nothing I did to the potentiometers worked to my satisfaction. No purity issue nor convergence issues. But I do have to point something out. The Hitachi tube is just really good and I don't believe there is nothing wrong with it, just isn't. But I was used to the Toshiba tube in all its glory. The Phosphor coating on the Hitachi tube is lighter as compared to the Toshiba tube.
November 2025 came and I was curious to start searching out somewhere for a replacement. I went to offer-up and after searching and scrolling through pages, I found this guy whom I had heard of before but never thought I would cross roads with him. The offer-up ad had a 29 inch tube for sale (not a Japanese one). I went through it just like not even caring and just kept searching. The following week arrived and the ad popped up in my search again and I decided to actually read the entire description. Last line of text read "... several tubes more available..." This stumped me and I decided to message and ask if he would have any Candy Cab tubes that he had for sale. I went to sleep without thinking what I would find myself into. Next day arrived and there it was, the message from the great Gene I had heard of before. He said to let him know exactly the tube I was looking for. I replied with a picture and the tag showing as TOSHIBA A68KJU96X.
He quickly replied and said he believed he had the tube I was looking for. A picture came back and there it was, the great Toshiba tube I was looking for and in the reply he said "...and I have a good one with dust but looks clean..." I went the next day to his store. There it was, all dirty and dusty, dust from many years in storage. But what was hiding behind the dust was a burning free Toshiba 29 inch tube, the perfect match and replacement for my New Astro City. I only bought the tube with the yoke and frame as I always keep 2 chassis for back ups. The best of this is that he said to just give him $100 for it. I was about to explode in a scream because this was just a super give-away deal. Very light scratches and light marks but zero burning marks, nothing, zilch. I went home and cleaned it. While cleaning I gave it a few more stupid scratches as it needed a deep clean. But after everything, finding no burning was heaven for me. I was now ready to mount the back up Nanao MS9-29 chassis and the new replacement tube with zero burning. The stupid gap the Hitachi made with the bezel was gone again.
(All three guns on solid green)
Going back to the first picture attached, there you see the cab with the Hitachi about to be dropped. The next tube behind it to its left is the new replacement. The one all the way at the back is the original Tosh tube it came with. All three working good and all three have their own unique thing.
The original tube has a history and it is super scratched, with the burning mark. Colors are just super amazing and the sharpness blows your mind. The Hitachi has no burning, no scratches. The guy I bought it from said it had no more than 2000 hours of use. The chassis on it is super clean and looks like new. But the third tube and latest in the cab, the Tosh tube does have some light scratches but like the Hitachi, zero burning marks.
The New Astro City is now looking great and I am super happy since I get to enjoy the colors I was used to as compared to the original tube and there is no more gap around the bezel.
Going back to Gene, he has a super or I should say, Mega Arcade store in Glendale California. Check out the picture I took of one section of his store or warehouse. Without hesitation, the guy has at least 200 tubes in the store. He just wants to get rid of them. That is the reason for the $100 deal on the Tosh tube. He also sells cabinets but all are American cabinets. He said he had a couple of candy cabs but nothing like the City models.
My next project with this cab will be to upgrade the power supply as it seems to be dying. It does not output the -5volts any more. Some games that required this voltage won't play. The volume nob also seems to be unresponsive at times. I do want to switch to stereo sound. I recapped it and tried to find the culprit but to no avail. However, I do have a candidate to replace the cheesy power supply and all the old cabling. I am just waiting for it to give out.
From other monitors I have in the Blast and the Net City cabs, the Tosh tube with the MS9-29 Chassis is the best for me. Now the New Astro City has one thing my other cabs envy and that is of no burning marks. (By the way for your own interest, if you reside in the LA county area or its surroundings and are interested in the Hitachi burning free and scratch free MS9-29 set I am up for selling)
You see the cab with a monitor mounted, there is a second one just behind it, and then one more all the way at the rear view.
A year after acquiring the cab I saw this amazing opportunity to replace the monitor. The picture shows the first replacement I threw in to eliminate the original burning monitor. This was/is a super clean scratch and burning free, nothing, just perfect. The tube was not exactly the perfect replacement given the attractive details of no scratches, nor burning marks. This is a Hitachi tube with the same nanao MS9-29 chassis and matching joke to the Toshiba tube. However, as a lot of you might already know, the bezel fit was just way off. The corners were tight but the rest was just from a space of 1/8 of an inch to an ugly 1/4 of an inch. I never wanted to mess around with filling in the gap with no trash. I dealt with it for years as there was no burning nor scratches. At least that kept me happy. However, and again, the colors and picture quality as compared to the original Toshiba tube was not convincing me. I was used to the Tosh tube with those super colors and sharpness. Nothing I did to the potentiometers worked to my satisfaction. No purity issue nor convergence issues. But I do have to point something out. The Hitachi tube is just really good and I don't believe there is nothing wrong with it, just isn't. But I was used to the Toshiba tube in all its glory. The Phosphor coating on the Hitachi tube is lighter as compared to the Toshiba tube.
November 2025 came and I was curious to start searching out somewhere for a replacement. I went to offer-up and after searching and scrolling through pages, I found this guy whom I had heard of before but never thought I would cross roads with him. The offer-up ad had a 29 inch tube for sale (not a Japanese one). I went through it just like not even caring and just kept searching. The following week arrived and the ad popped up in my search again and I decided to actually read the entire description. Last line of text read "... several tubes more available..." This stumped me and I decided to message and ask if he would have any Candy Cab tubes that he had for sale. I went to sleep without thinking what I would find myself into. Next day arrived and there it was, the message from the great Gene I had heard of before. He said to let him know exactly the tube I was looking for. I replied with a picture and the tag showing as TOSHIBA A68KJU96X.
He quickly replied and said he believed he had the tube I was looking for. A picture came back and there it was, the great Toshiba tube I was looking for and in the reply he said "...and I have a good one with dust but looks clean..." I went the next day to his store. There it was, all dirty and dusty, dust from many years in storage. But what was hiding behind the dust was a burning free Toshiba 29 inch tube, the perfect match and replacement for my New Astro City. I only bought the tube with the yoke and frame as I always keep 2 chassis for back ups. The best of this is that he said to just give him $100 for it. I was about to explode in a scream because this was just a super give-away deal. Very light scratches and light marks but zero burning marks, nothing, zilch. I went home and cleaned it. While cleaning I gave it a few more stupid scratches as it needed a deep clean. But after everything, finding no burning was heaven for me. I was now ready to mount the back up Nanao MS9-29 chassis and the new replacement tube with zero burning. The stupid gap the Hitachi made with the bezel was gone again.
(All three guns on solid green)
Going back to the first picture attached, there you see the cab with the Hitachi about to be dropped. The next tube behind it to its left is the new replacement. The one all the way at the back is the original Tosh tube it came with. All three working good and all three have their own unique thing.
The original tube has a history and it is super scratched, with the burning mark. Colors are just super amazing and the sharpness blows your mind. The Hitachi has no burning, no scratches. The guy I bought it from said it had no more than 2000 hours of use. The chassis on it is super clean and looks like new. But the third tube and latest in the cab, the Tosh tube does have some light scratches but like the Hitachi, zero burning marks.
The New Astro City is now looking great and I am super happy since I get to enjoy the colors I was used to as compared to the original tube and there is no more gap around the bezel.
Going back to Gene, he has a super or I should say, Mega Arcade store in Glendale California. Check out the picture I took of one section of his store or warehouse. Without hesitation, the guy has at least 200 tubes in the store. He just wants to get rid of them. That is the reason for the $100 deal on the Tosh tube. He also sells cabinets but all are American cabinets. He said he had a couple of candy cabs but nothing like the City models.
My next project with this cab will be to upgrade the power supply as it seems to be dying. It does not output the -5volts any more. Some games that required this voltage won't play. The volume nob also seems to be unresponsive at times. I do want to switch to stereo sound. I recapped it and tried to find the culprit but to no avail. However, I do have a candidate to replace the cheesy power supply and all the old cabling. I am just waiting for it to give out.
From other monitors I have in the Blast and the Net City cabs, the Tosh tube with the MS9-29 Chassis is the best for me. Now the New Astro City has one thing my other cabs envy and that is of no burning marks. (By the way for your own interest, if you reside in the LA county area or its surroundings and are interested in the Hitachi burning free and scratch free MS9-29 set I am up for selling)
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