Thoughts on speakers / volume control?

[Sasquatch!]

For my next cab, I want to mount speakers underneath the marquee.  This cab will have a TV as its monitor.  I'm teetering between two ways of doing it:

1. SPLICE OFF OF THE TV'S SPEAKERS
Open up the TV, find the speaker leads, and splice wires going up to the speakers in the cabinet.  
Advantage: I'd be able to control the volume with the TV's remote control, so I wouldn't need to mount an external volume knob.
The questions: Will your average TV be able to power a second set of speakers?  And will I be able to use "regular" speakers (like car speakers) for this?

2. USE AN AMP OR A SET OF AMPLIFIED PC SPEAKERS
Advantage: I can get some monster crankin' sound out of it - subwoofer and all if I want.
Considerations: I would still like to use use "regular" speakers.  I don't care for the look of PC speakers with the volume knob poking out of one of the speakers mounted in the cabinet.
The questions: How would I be able to control the volume??  If I mount a knob somewhere, I have no idea how to get it to actually do the volume control.

Thanks, and stuff!

[JLR2000]

Sas-

I went with your option 2.  I bought a set of PC speakers with an amp(btw $15 - $20).  The amp had a bass and volume knob on it, not on the speakers.  First off, I didn't use the speakers, I bought 2 "car" speakers to mount above my TV.  I then took the audio out from the amp and split it to go to the TV in and to the speakers (this way the volume for both is controlled in one place). Then I opened up the amp and pulled out the little board that had the bass and volume knob shafts.  I basically made an "extension" cable to extend this small board up threw the cab into the control panel.  I just cut off the bass shaft after turning it all the way up (best sound that way) and then I drilled out the inside of the right side of my CP so that the shaft for the volume control would protrude enough to get ahold of.  I mounted the small board there, securing with screws and covered with duct tape to protect it.  For the shaft sticking out, I went to Radio Shack and bought a generic black knob and attached it. It works great, and you can reach it while playing for adjustment. It controls the speakers above the tv and thru the tv!  Hope this makes sense...here's a photo, note it's not the white "pinball" button....http://community.webshots.com/r1/5/98/58/21259858AYrnKnKKWR_fs.jpg

[Sasquatch!]

JLR2000,

So you ripped out the little PCB that had the volume knob out of the amp?  Hmmm.  Provided that I can't extend the knob or find one that I like, is there any other way of doing this?

[JLR2000]

Honestly, I was lucky enough for this to work the first time so I didn't research any other options. It really turned out to be a last minute enhancement....I figured I would have to open up the cab to adjust the volume but as the cab came together I decided to open the amp up to look around and viola....you have the rest of the info.  I didn't really extend the knob, I just drilled out the inside of the CP so that the thickness was less.  Could have done this with a router as well but the CP was already together.  You should be able to extend the PCB though, only a couple(?) wires and this was my 1st soldering attempt!  Good Luck.

[JLR2000]

BTW, here's the exact amp that I hacked...from the place I got it.  I'm not a real audio freak, but I think the Amp sounds good, esp. for the price.  http://www.pricepc.com/cgi-bin/sku.php?item=1510

[CthulhuLuke]

The one major thing you wanna make sure is that the set of speakers with the amp you buy is STEREO, or else you're going to be powering a mono output, which is no good for the gooood arcade feel, like x-men vs street fighter with mono? nooo.
 -When you've got the amp out it's a piece of cake wiring it to another set of wires, just cut the four wires that go from the amp to the speakers and match em up with the wires you want in your cab, and you've got it.
   -Cthulhuluke

[chanson]

Depends on what you want to do...  My first cab has mono on purpose becuase it's mainly for early-mid 80's games.  They had one speaker usually.

I took the same approach as JLR2000, but my amp came from walgreens because I was ready to finish my project, and needed one quickly.  It works great.

[pocketz]

mount the volume control pcb inside the cabinet by the coindoor so u can just open the door and adjust the volume.

[Sasquatch!]

mount the volume control pcb inside the cabinet by the coindoor so u can just open the door and adjust the volume.

Yeah, that's probably what I'll end up doing.  As much as I'd like for the volume knob to be easily accessably, it really wouldn't look too "authentic", would it?

[JLR2000]

I guess I understand your point, but I have to add this.....how "authentic" looking is a mame cab anyway?  I mean, unless you take a dedicated machine, with the original controls and hook up only those controls to play the mame version of the cab's original game, how "authentic" can you get?  I've placed this volume knob on the side of the CP, black on black, and basically you don't even see it.  Would it be more authentic to open the coin door to adjust the volume?  How many of us did this at our local arcade growing up?  Uh....I never did. How many authentic games had a trackball, a spinner and 2-3 joysticks etc.? None that I know of.  

I don't mean to harp...it's everybodies choice of how or where to do this, but let's not use "authenticity" as the reason for our choices.  Okay, I'm done.  

Please don't blast me too much for this.....

[Sasquatch!]

I guess I understand your point, but I have to add this.....how "authentic" looking is a mame cab anyway?

No no, you do have a really good point.  I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to tackle this, so all input/opinions are good to me!  I might try to get one of those speakers sets that has a remote volume knob and mount that somewhere...

[Bursar]

I think what you need to remember is that you aren't building an arcade cabinet to play an arcade game in. You're building a cabinet to house your PC that you will use to play many, many games.

I intend to stick a USB hub on my PC, and make a small cut for the ports under where the CP will fit. It shouldn't be too noticable, but will allow the connection of various other devices without too much hassle.

You just really need to do what you feel is right and fits with how you will be using the cabinet.

If you have a keyboard draw in your CP, then you could always slide it out, and adjust the volume using the extra buttons on the keyboard (if you have that kind of keyboard).

You can also get IR receivers for PCs that are fairly cheap. They can be programmed to do almost anything from volume controls to launching applications. You can then turn the speakers up fairly loud, and use the remote to adjust the Windows volume level.