thoughts about the sound in my cabinent

[shayvidas]

ok so in the final stages of my cabinet, and thinking about how to make it look more serius looking and to actually have sound lol

i know allot of guys are using car speakers, but the thing is that i think they don't sound that good right ?
and also the amp is soo expensive... i don't want to invest 200 $ for speakers + amp ... (and tha'ts the minimum price i think...)

i think i'll just go with a decent pc speakers, thing is i'm afraid they won't "do the work" or adleast wouldn't look good...

what do you think ..?

and also,
i'll post some images later if you guys could point me at some tips on how to make it look more professional i'd love it..
personal i think t railing adds a big of professional touch but i just don'e like it...

[lamprey]

Are you just looking for speakers that are not seen, just hidden inside the cabinet? If so, you can use inexpensive ($30ish) PC speakers just fine. There is no NEED to spend hundreds of dollars on speakers. Buy, some cheap speakers and then upgrade later if it isn't working for you. I think I bought a ~$50 set for my cab and it works just fine.

[yotsuya]

If you really want it to look authentic and professional, you shouldn't be able to see the speakers at all.

[dkersten]

You can get the Lepai 2 channel amp for like $20 on Amazon to power the car speakers.  But personally I don't like the look of car speakers on an arcade cab. 

I use a router to route out my speaker "grills" and place the speakers behind them.  I have used the Logitech 2.1 setup found here: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-LS21-Stereo-Speaker-System/dp/B0015C30J0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1408399753&sr=8-3&keywords=logitech+2.1

I put the speakers behind the grill and the subwoofer down in the bottom of the cabinet and it is more than capable of hurting your ears if you crank it up.  I usually set windows to about 3/4 volume, and the speakers to about the same (it has a remote volume control) and it is perfect for most games.  I route the grills above the monitor so the sound is focused down on you and not spreading throughout the room as much. 

Here is a quick photo rundown of what I do:
First I draw a circle where I want the speaker holes to be, then I use a straight edge guide with the router to route 1/4" wide slots.  I keep the slots within the circle I drew to give it a shape, but you could do just a square too.  (You could also use pegboard as a drilling template and just drill out the holes within a circle or whatever shape you want)
I then paint it from both sides at all different angles so the insides of the slots are blacked out.  This helps with the painting later so you aren't getting drips trying to get enough of your finish color inside the slots.


Then since I use those Logitech speakers, I cut blocks that fit tightly in the squares below the speakers, line up the speakers and glue and nail the blocks into place.  There is a slight taper on the blocks because the speakers are slightly tapered.




I then run one small screw through the bottom of the speakers securing them to the blocks.  The wires always end up just barely long enough to connect to the subwoofer, which houses the amplifier, but if I needed extra length, a regular 3.5mm extension would work just fine. 

[shayvidas]

If you really want it to look authentic and professional, you shouldn't be able to see the speakers at all.

really ? as i remembered the speakers in the old arcade cabinets were shown no ?

[shayvidas]

Are you just looking for speakers that are not seen, just hidden inside the cabinet? If so, you can use inexpensive ($30ish) PC speakers just fine. There is no NEED to spend hundreds of dollars on speakers. Buy, some cheap speakers and then upgrade later if it isn't working for you. I think I bought a ~$50 set for my cab and it works just fine.

thnx !

[shayvidas]

You can get the Lepai 2 channel amp for like $20 on Amazon to power the car speakers.  But personally I don't like the look of car speakers on an arcade cab. 

I use a router to route out my speaker "grills" and place the speakers behind them.  I have used the Logitech 2.1 setup found here: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-LS21-Stereo-Speaker-System/dp/B0015C30J0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1408399753&sr=8-3&keywords=logitech+2.1

I put the speakers behind the grill and the subwoofer down in the bottom of the cabinet and it is more than capable of hurting your ears if you crank it up.  I usually set windows to about 3/4 volume, and the speakers to about the same (it has a remote volume control) and it is perfect for most games.  I route the grills above the monitor so the sound is focused down on you and not spreading throughout the room as much. 

Here is a quick photo rundown of what I do:
First I draw a circle where I want the speaker holes to be, then I use a straight edge guide with the router to route 1/4" wide slots.  I keep the slots within the circle I drew to give it a shape, but you could do just a square too.  (You could also use pegboard as a drilling template and just drill out the holes within a circle or whatever shape you want)
I then paint it from both sides at all different angles so the insides of the slots are blacked out.  This helps with the painting later so you aren't getting drips trying to get enough of your finish color inside the slots.


Then since I use those Logitech speakers, I cut blocks that fit tightly in the squares below the speakers, line up the speakers and glue and nail the blocks into place.  There is a slight taper on the blocks because the speakers are slightly tapered.




I then run one small screw through the bottom of the speakers securing them to the blocks.  The wires always end up just barely long enough to connect to the subwoofer, which houses the amplifier, but if I needed extra length, a regular 3.5mm extension would work just fine.

that is awsome ! i wish i could do somthing like that sadly i don't have a router, just a jigsaw and drill ... so i can't really do these grills...

[yotsuya]

If you really want it to look authentic and professional, you shouldn't be able to see the speakers at all.

really ? as i remembered the speakers in the old arcade cabinets were shown no ?

Nope. See Dave's post on how to do it the right way. On original cabs, you never saw speakers. Flat grilles, maybe, but never speakers.

You don't need to make slots - just drill holes.

[shayvidas]

If you really want it to look authentic and professional, you shouldn't be able to see the speakers at all.

really ? as i remembered the speakers in the old arcade cabinets were shown no ?

Nope. See Dave's post on how to do it the right way. On original cabs, you never saw speakers. Flat grilles, maybe, but never speakers.

You don't need to make slots - just drill holes.

i think i'll do that... the thing is the car speaker do look awsome ! .. but yea i understand it's going to be a bit expensive to use thoughs...
and i will just drill some holes in there and hopefully it will be allright..

[dkersten]

Yup, just get yourself a piece of pegboard, draw a circle on the piece about the size of the "grill" you want to make.  Be sure to line up the circle so the holes in the pegboard are fairly uniform.  Then place the pegboard where you want the speaker, clamp it down, and drill out all the holes inside your circle.  You will have a nice uniform looking grill without having to use a car speaker grill or even a router. 

[lamprey]

Yup, just get yourself a piece of pegboard, draw a circle on the piece about the size of the "grill" you want to make.  Be sure to line up the circle so the holes in the pegboard are fairly uniform.  Then place the pegboard where you want the speaker, clamp it down, and drill out all the holes inside your circle.  You will have a nice uniform looking grill without having to use a car speaker grill or even a router.

To follow up on what dkersten said, that is pretty much what I did. I got a pattern/picture from the interwebs, pulled into Viso and re did the circles to match my drill bit size and made it perfectly uniform. Then print, stick and drill.

Here is a pic:

[shayvidas]

Yup, just get yourself a piece of pegboard, draw a circle on the piece about the size of the "grill" you want to make.  Be sure to line up the circle so the holes in the pegboard are fairly uniform.  Then place the pegboard where you want the speaker, clamp it down, and drill out all the holes inside your circle.  You will have a nice uniform looking grill without having to use a car speaker grill or even a router.

graet
thnx guys !

[rabidpuppy]

Grill options are endless

20140511_120739 by rabidpuppy, on Flickr

20140527_131937 by rabidpuppy, on Flickr

[jimmer]

graet
thnx guys !

grate ?