My first arcade cabinet. Scratch build. Way over my head.

[Arc Kalocal]

So I've decided to build my own arcade cabinet. I downloaded Sketchup and I've got a draft of what I'm thinking of using. It'll be a 4 player 6/4 button setup with a 27" LCD monitor.
I've set the width of the cabinet to fit the monitor almost flush for a built in look. Right now I'm stumped on what to do with the marquee and speaker mounting. Any ideas? Comments? Questions? Concerns?

I'm sure I'm forgetting some important details but here's a picture and the sketchup file for you to look at and critique.

[DaOld Man]

Looks good, that is something different on the marquee, but it could work. Maybe put the speakers in that same panel, between the monitor and the marquee (guessing you are going to put a marquee picture of some sort near the top of the panel?)

[micahman33]

I agree with DaOldMan. Split the marquee section you have now in half, and make half of it speakers, and half of it your marquee picture/display.

[dandro]

Yup, I think that would look nice... Would be very clean and smooth looking if you used one solid piece of plexi for the whole marquee/speaker area (paint the speaker section only from behind with speaker holes drilled out)

[Arc Kalocal]

I really had no idea just how close my design was to Gauntlet! Never crossed my mind, now I have a weird sense of excitement. I made a quick draft and took the Gauntlet legends CP and I think it might work better for a 4P 6/4 cab like I want. What do you think?

To clarify, you mean cutting holes through the plexi as well? I've never worked with plexi before so I'm not sure about its tolerances. I like the idea of splitting the marquee, or maybe a double sized marquee with the speakers behind it somehow. I'm horrible with photoshop though so I'm reserved here still. Maybe keep it simple. I don't know. I suppose I need to find the speakers before I worry about where they're going to fit. Has anyone had any luck with mounting the speakers outside the cabinet on the sides? I don't want them become a nuisance to P3 and P4 though, that may put them right in their face...

[dandro]

yeah, on second thought, might want to ignore my suggestion about drilling the plexi, that didn't go over well with mine (cracked)..

[micahman33]

I just used a set of PC speakers, pulled them out of their housing, then mounted them inside a 1.5" hole in my cabinet under my marquee...my cabinet looks more like a traditional cabinet where the marquee sticks out though. Judging by your drawings, you could do the same thing. Even if you didnt mount the speakers behind plexi, you could do a marquee frame like dandro drew to hold your plexi, and do speaker covers/grills for your speakers underneath.

[mcseforsale]

+1.  On the gunslinger, I just wrapped speaker cloth around the speaker panel a'la seat cushion and stapled it on the backside and mounted the speakers.  It looks pro if the holes for the speakers are well executed:



AJ

I just used a set of PC speakers, pulled them out of their housing, then mounted them inside a 1.5" hole in my cabinet under my marquee...my cabinet looks more like a traditional cabinet where the marquee sticks out though. Judging by your drawings, you could do the same thing. Even if you didnt mount the speakers behind plexi, you could do a marquee frame like dandro drew to hold your plexi, and do speaker covers/grills for your speakers underneath.

[dandro]

LOL tis true!! My speakers are covered with a black t-shirt, but you can't tell the diff. you never know until you try

[mcseforsale]

That's actually a good idea.  Although all my t-shirts are sacred!

AJ

LOL tis true!! My speakers are covered with a black t-shirt, but you can't tell the diff. you never know until you try

[Arc Kalocal]

LOL tis true!! My speakers are covered with a black t-shirt, but you can't tell the diff. you never know until you try

That's an ingenious idea. I love it. Probably cheaper and easier to find than a real speaker grill cloth.

[Arc Kalocal]

Final(?) draft. Added cup holders! I'm thinking cut out the space entirely and use a cloth cup, similar to like a pool table, if I can get it to look classy enough. Increased the angles on the CP to fit 4 players at comfortable angles. Going to try and start building next weekend!

Also, is there any way I can set up two buttons as volume control? I don't want a knob or dial, but rather I'd like two independent buttons for Volume Up and Volume Down.

[EMDB]

Final(?) draft. Added cup holders! I'm thinking cut out the space entirely and use a cloth cup, similar to like a pool table, if I can get it to look classy enough. Increased the angles on the CP to fit 4 players at comfortable angles. Going to try and start building next weekend!

Also, is there any way I can set up two buttons as volume control? I don't want a knob or dial, but rather I'd like two independent buttons for Volume Up and Volume Down.

An iPac has inputs for volume up and down. You can use dedicated buttons or shifted ones (I use shift-joystick up and down to control the Windows volume control myself.)