Speakers for 2 player full size mame cabinet

[Terr1]

Hey

I'm trying to find speakers for my new 2 player full size MAME cabinet..

I have an old Logitech Z-680 5.1 THX sound system:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2003/09/30/logitech_z-680_thx_5_1_speakers/1

However the sub is very large and weights ALOT, not even sure if my cab buttom can withstand it. I have tried disassembling the speakers and they can easily be mounted in the cab..
My question is, isent this WAAAAY overkill (mainly thinking about weight and power), will I be better off buying a cheaper 2.1 system that dosent weigh as much? The only real requirement would be I'm able to disassemble it to mount the speakers, else I will have to put car speakers on it.

[paigeoliver]

That set you linked is way overkill.

I have a fairly large collection of real games and none of them have anything close to an audio setup that big. Your average arcade game had a single 4" speaker pumping out mono sound from a low powered onboard amp and the best you normally get is a pair of 6x9's still running off a low power amp (I THINK my Pole Position cockpit has 4 speakers). You really never saw a subwoofer in anything newer than 1981 (Asteroids and Turbo both mounted a pretty big speaker).

[Terr1]

Yeah I thought so..

Will this amplifier do the trick?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2CH-500W-CD-USB-MP3-Digital-Player-Stereo-Motorcycle-Car-Audio-Amplifier-MA150-/330856621606


I read about it in another thread I belive.

And a pair of cheap 6x9", 4 ohm, 75 Watt RMS ?

[CoryBee]

I just go to my local thrift store and grab the nearest PC amp\speakers I find for 4 - 5 bucks.

If I can't get those or am too lazy I search ebay for $10 or less pc amp\speakers, like so.

I make sure to always get a pair that has a potentiometer and not buttons for volume so I can extend the volume knob to the outside of the cabinet for easy access.

Good luck!

[Terr1]

I have a stupid question... Why is it most people extends volume buttons and such on the amps/speakers, instead of just controlling the OS volume using 2 buttons hidden somewhere (up/down)? just seems easier to me.. Guess some ppl prefer to have a volumne knob instead?

[Terr1]

I just go to my local thrift store and grab the nearest PC amp\speakers I find for 4 - 5 bucks.

If I can't get those or am too lazy I search ebay for $10 or less pc amp\speakers, like so.

I make sure to always get a pair that has a potentiometer and not buttons for volume so I can extend the volume knob to the outside of the cabinet for easy access.

Good luck!

Do you do this to get the little amplifier inside the speakers and hooking them up to car speakers, or do you just use the speakers as well?

[CoryBee]

I de-case the thing and use all the parts. $10 or less gets me everything I need in the form of sound, no need to buy extra buttons or anything or configure Autohotkey or whatever you would use to change the OS sound volume.

So, use the speakers from the thing and use the amp. Mount the thing in your cabinet and use three wires to extend volume knob (pot) to the outside. Provides a classic fluid change in volume opposed to buttons.

I do it on every cabinet, on the bartops I use these, can get them cheaper from china, that are powered from USB and still have a volume knob. Not the best quality but it works and like paige mentioned and I tell to my customers that want a big sound system is that you are emulating games that mostly used mono. $70 sound system is overkill.

[Terr1]

I can get thoes locally as well (Logitech S-120).. I will keep these in mind if I don't find anything else.. Thanks for the tip, nice to know that these can be disassembled and used without too much hassle.

I was thinking of using my shielded speakers from my Logitech Z-680, it seems like its these:
Rated as 8ohm, max 25W:
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1208_03/w3-594sb.htm

Would these work with a cheap LP-2020A+ amplifier (seems to get better reviews than the kinter I previously linked):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049P6OTI/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p23_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=00083DQMCRJXQW5X67CC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846

A "downside" of using such instead of car speakers is no speaker grills, but I guess I could buy 4" grills and cover the speaker, even thou its smaller, you can see that

[shponglefan]

I'm going to throw out a bit of disagreement into the thread.  IMHO, audio quality matters and there is a noticable difference between low-end speakers and higher end, at least for 90's era onward.  For older 80's era games and earlier, probably not so much.

Right now I have a cheap 2.1 Logitech setup on my test rig.  The main satellite speakers are underpowered, so the sub picks up some of the mid-range, as well as bass duties.  But the sub itself is muddy and doesn't sound so great.  In contrast, my main PC uses Klipsch Promedia's (imho, the best computer speakers you can get).  Bass is extremely tight, no mud, and the mid-range is where it belongs: coming from the satellite speakers.  Even playing something like Street Fighter II, I notice a difference.

So just IMHO, but if you're mainly playing 90's era games and later, it's worth putting a little money into a half-decent audio setup.  You don't have to go completely over-the-top, but the difference between the bottem of the barrel and something in the mid-price range is noticable.

[Terr1]

It will be used for alot of 90's stuff, since this is my child period.. Like NES / SNES.. So I guess I see your point.. With my last setup re-using my speakers I would miss the sub..

Just hard to know if I should go for car speakers 6x9 no subs, or decent 2.1 pc systems that can be disassembled.
I want decent sound.. Budget isent limited.. Nothing too fancy panzy though

[CoryBee]

I used these for a 4-player build that focused on N64 gaming and fighter games of the 90's+ and they worked out splendid. I agree that there is a difference when it relates to older consoles and later arcade games.

You can find more like it and more expensive, but these are nice and have a richer sound to them then the 2.0 ones I linked before. There is also a huge difference when I play games on my main rig which has a quite expensive 7.1 setup, but that is the nature of things when you pay for more.

[ideacipher]

I'm also in the planing stages for sound. The hard part for me is the cab isn't built yet so it is difficult to know what they will sound like until mounted in the cab. My current plan is to use an amp from an older Boston BA635. This kit is much better than the creative set I tried taking apart before. I'm not sure on the Watts but it sounds good in test and I hope it will sound even better when finished. I like adding the sub just a little to fill in the lows plus you can feel the rumble. I have the Boston sub and tweeter and my main speaker is an aged Rockford FRC1206.

[Terr1]

Will 2 6x9 car speakers be sufficient,  or will a dedicated sub be better?

[j.fitzenr]

Caveat: I'm a total noob (actually, I'm whatever the step before noob is.  I'm only planning my first foray into building this stuff!) but I'm a professional musician so I've given this plenty of thought for my own project.  (Also, because I was a huge beatmania fan back in the day, so I think I'm going to need at least reasonably decent audio on my cab!)

Mounting and wiring issues aside, I do believe the best option for cheap, decent audio would be one of the common PC 2.1 setups... I'm going to go with something like that myself. 

I know that for authenticity's sake, a lot of older cabinets didn't have a sub, etc.  but the way I look at it is that older games *probably* won't sound ridiculous since there probably isn't much going on in those low frequencies.. but for 90s and later games... I mean there is a certain glory to hearing CPS1 music completely jamming while every cross-up fierce kick makes your balls shake.   I still actually remember the first time I got to play SF2 on a showcase cab with the audio cranked through a big system at our local skating rink.  So.  Awesome.  Even a mediocre 2.1 system with a sub is going to sound more 'powerful' than cheap car 6x9s ('better,' maybe not, but definitely more 'powerful')

To OP: If you're that concerned about size and weight I personally would say that switching to a lighter smaller 2.1 setup would be the way to go.