What exactly is a "showcase' cabinet??

[Pasqualz]

As i've been trolling around the net for ideas on my first cabinet, I keep seeing people talking about their "showcase" cabinets. I'm assuming the connotation here is that they're building a really nice cabinet, but is the an actual definition for the term "showcase cabinet?" I'm just curious because I think I want my first cab to be a showcase piece, but maybe after I'm educated on this term, I'll change my mind...

[AmericanDemon]

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=19851

this thread has a good picture of one.  Also visit the Project Announcement page and see Mamestrosity, its a showcase.

Basics:  Showcase cabs generally have a 33" or greater monitor with the CP distanced from it.  Connected generally by a base.

[Pasqualz]

Ahhhh! now I know I DEFINETLY do NOT want to build a showcase cabinet!  

[AmericanDemon]

Why not?  Thats what I am designing for right now!

[Pasqualz]

3 reasons why I do not want to build a showcase cabinet

3 - Cost.
2 - Space.
1 - WIFE!!!

[AmericanDemon]

:::  

Understandable, just giving you a hard time.  Luckily mine [Ed: Wife] has forced me into it.  So thats what I am doing.  

[Ken Layton]

Showcase cabs are are large two-piece cabinets best suited to large arcades that have double doors to get them thru.

[DrewKaree]

why would you need double doors?  The base connector detaches, making it a three-piece operation that woul fit through a single door (monitor section, base connector, CP stand)?

[Grauwulf]

why would you need double doors?  The base connector detaches, making it a three-piece operation that woul fit through a single door (monitor section, base connector, CP stand)?

Heh, you would think so, but that only works if you have a newer house with doors that are wide enough to pass the monitor section through.  I just went through this trying to get my showcase cab into my game room. Out of the six doorways it needed to go through it would only fit through two. It's in there now, but I can tell you that when I move next time, I will be paying a moving company to do all that stuff for me.

[AmericanDemon]

:::  Do you have pics of your showcase or the progress of the move?  

[Grauwulf]

No I don't *lol* But is was a PITA to take apart, let me tell you. What I ended up doing was separating the monitor part of the main body from the base and then taking the monitor out of the head entirely. Those 34" monitors are HEAVY! Then I basicly dragged (literaly) the pieces through the house to the game room. I put the monitor face down on a blanket so I could slide it across the floor without scratching it and then dragged it by the blanket through the house.   The base would then fit through the doors on its side, walking it through the openings like you would a couch or chair with legs that are just slightly too long to fit. Got everything in the game room and put back together and back upright with a little bit of help.

So I only have two pieces of advice if you're going to buy/build a Showcase cab. First is the obvious make sure it's gonna fit through the doors. Second is make sure you have help to move it! I managed to manhandle it in ans out of the truck, into the house and tipping it on it's back and upside down to take it apart, but Dynamo's weights listed on the website are probably close. The monitor section probably does weigh about 550lb. Save your back, get help.

[hulkster]

ah, finally another showcase cab post other than the ones i post!!!    the mamestrosity is mine if you didnt know, and its built so that it comes apart in 4 pieces.  cp, cp base, monitor, monitor base.  it will fit through any doorway if angled right.  pretty cool if you ask me.  it was pretty expensive but not more expensive than a regular upright.  well maybe a little, but not much.  just 3-4 sheets of mdf is all you need!  and lots of l-brackets and patience  but definitely make sure you have enough room before you build it.  i was building mine in my moms house, and will eventually move it into my place (getting married in about 3 weeks!....and yes she has seen it) but im not going to make my huge cab the focal point of our apartment.  if its too big, then ill just wait till we get a house in about a year.  oh well.  thats life.

[big_garryb]

i am building a 'normal' cab with a 24" tv. Im not making a showcase cab - money isnt the issue, nor space.......... just the wife........it was bad enough trying to explain why i should have a normal cab.

In fact my normal size cab still isnt allowed in the house - just the garage, which i am now having to spend cash to convert the inside nice and warm......never have to see the wife again - except to be fed

[Tiger-Heli]

3 reasons why I do not want to build a showcase cabinet

3 - Cost.
2 - Space.
1 - WIFE!!!

The other side of that is you could almost make the argument the other way (others have done it).  Put your 33" TV in an Armoire type of deal, hook a computer with TV-out up to it.  Have a nice stereo hooked in as well.  And build a stand-alone pedestal for your arcade games.

Now except for the pedestal and CPU, you haven't spent any more or used more space than you would on the entertainment center, you have a nice TV and a stereo to play MP3's from the computer HD, and it only looks like an arcade game when you want to play on it, otherwise it looks like a piece of furniture, so the wife is happy(er . . .)

Just playing Devil's advocate.