27" monitor seems too big for a cabinet?!?

[Pasqualz]

Hi all, Long time MAMEr, first time cabinet builder! I have decided to use LuSiD's ver 7 plans for my first cabinet, but I have some observations and questions that I'm sure you experienced builders can help me with:

1 - LuSiD's plans call for a 38" cabinet depth at the base. Before I found his plans, I actually went to the local Mall and measured several arcade cabinets to get average dimensions. None of the real cabinets I measured were more than 30" deep. What gives? How come LuSiD's cabinet is so deep? What do I give up if I make it less deep?

1a - I'm ordering a SlikStik classic. The depth of this CP is 14.75", and according to LuSiD's plans, there is a 12" deep shelf for the CP to sit on, which means the SlikStik will stick out 2.75" from the front of the cabinet. Perhaps I can reduce the shelf depth to 10" by adding 2" of depth to the top proportions. This will also buy me extra space for the depth of the TV! Does anyone even understand my crazy talk? If you do, please comment.

2 - I can get a slightly used JVC D-Series AV-27D304 TV with S-Video and Component inputs! This TV seems like it will be great no matter which input I use, except for one issue. The TV is 30" WIDE because it has stereo speakers on each side of the tube built into teh cabinet. I'm not sure if modifying LuSiD's plans to be 30" wide (inside width) will make it look totally awkward! Anyone have any insight into my predicament??

3 - I'm contemplating performing a "hacksaw alteration" on the TV and cutting off the side speakers! As long as this does not disturb important wires or the TV's PC boartds, it should not cause an issue and I'm estimating that I can get the TV width down to 26". Does anyone think that there is a noticeable difference between a 26" and 30" cabinet? anyone have an opinion on whether I should go through the trouble??

Thanks in advance for your speedy, pertinent, and informative replies! Pasqual.

[Witchboard]

Well, I'm afraid I can't be very helpful seeing as how I'm not even familiar with LuSiD's plans, but I was wondering why you don't build your own control panel instead of buying one?  You could make it whatever size you wanted and you wouldn't have to worry about changing any plans to make it fit.

I would probably take off the outside of your JVC and check to see if the speakers are removable.  It may not be necessary to use a hacksaw if it's only a few bolts keeping them mounted.  Just don't kill yourself playing with the bare components of the TV please.

[Pasqualz]

Thanks for a fast reply Witchboard! I'm not building my own CP for 2 reasons:

1 - I'm married with a 3 year old son and have zero time anymore! If I was doing this 4 or 5 years ago, you bet your life I would've built my own CP and I probably would've put 4 extra buttons, 3 trackballs, 2 spinners and a partridge in a pear tree on it! LOL

2 - I added up the cost of all of the controls (Happ) on the SlikStik classic, the Optipac and I-pac and the cost was only about $100 cheaper than what SlikStik charges for a completely built, perfectly functioning out of the box CP! I didn't even add in the cost of the wood and laminate, not to mention the estimated value of 10 hours of my precious time!!!

I'm definetly going to remove the TV cover before cutting to make sure that the speakers don't just unscrew and that there are no important wires/parts in the way!

[Witchboard]

I know how that is.  My son just turned 1 this past Sunday.  I'm planning building my cab from scratch, so I figured that makeing a CP wouldn't take much longer than the whole thing.  From the looks of it, it's the artwork that will take the longest to get done.  Plus, I'm a tight ass when it comes to money. ^_^  Sometimes that bites me, but most of the time I come out ahead.  Good luck on your plans and remember to post in the project announcements forum when you start.

[mahuti]

As far as the size of the monitor is concerned, modify whatever you have to. I personally don't see the reason to have such a big monitor... but it depends on the shape of the cabinet. A 27" on my Defender cabinet would be WAY too big since the monitor is already in your face. On one of the MK style cabs where the monitor is a bit further away, 27" is cool.

[bionicbadger]

I built a modified lucid design for my cabinet, and use a 27" TV for a monitor.  I had to make the cabinet very slightly wider (an inch or inch and a half or something) and slightly deeper to fit the TV.  You could modifiy the disgn to be 30" wide pretty easily.  Only thing is you might need more wood.  Lucid's Cabinet is deep because of the TV.  If you use an arcade monitor without all the extra TV casing and stuff you could probably shrink the cabinet a bit.  Build a mock up using card board or cut out a TV shape the same scale as lucids drawings and place it over the cabinet.  Youll see that the back of the TV is very close to the back of the cabinet.  Almost all the other space is empty.  If you really dont want a deep cabinet, you could cut a hole in the back of the cabinet to let the back part of the TV stick out, but I wouldn't reccommend it.

When you stand in front of the cabint though, you wont notice the extra 8" or whatever depth.

A 27" TV is a great size for a monitor, it plays vertical games at a good size and other games look great at that size.  I have no regrets at all about the size of the screen.

I would build the cabinet 30" wide, and leave the TV as is.  You could use the extra space on the sides to put instructions on your bezel.

[Pasqualz]

Thanks for the input Badger! I was contemplating removing the plastic case from the TV so that I could prolly get back an inch on the sides and a few inches on the back. Did you contemplate doing this? Also, is the extra inches on the cabinet noticeable? I guess I'm trying to ask if teh cabinet still looks like an authentic arcade cabinet even thougfh the dimensions are apparently significantly larger than most real arcade cabinets??? I guess ultimately, i should wait until I have the TV in my posession before I plan anything else. . .

[pointdablame]

Definitely take the TV casing off, it'll save you some space and some weight. Just be careful near the tube and don't touch the anode

As far as the 30" you won't even notice it.  In the grand scheme of things, its a negligible difference, and the cab looks fine.  I've seen a Lusid cab that was wider than the original plans and couldn't even tell until my friend said it.

One thing to note though, is that most of the doorways in my house are right around the 29-30" mark.  If you plan on building the cab in a room that ISN'T its future home, make sure you can fit it through every doorway or stairwell you'll need to go through to get it to its new home.  I had to take off 2 sets of railings to get my cab down the stairs, heh.

[big_garryb]

Definitely take the TV casing off, it'll save you some space and some weight. Just be careful near the tube and don't touch the anode

If the inside of the tv is touching the wood at the back - would that be ok? i have the same prob having used a 25" tv.....wont fit, nearly fits with case off - wasnt sure if it coulod touch.

garry

[Pasqualz]

Point, thanks for your input! I'm feeling brave enough to take off the cover. i know that TV's can hold alot of voltage in their capacitors for a long time after their unplugged, so I'll prolly use rubber gloves! I should have the TV on Friday and will remove the cover this weekend, so I'll have a report back on Monday!