I have to pick, Astro or Blast City?

[EveningCommuter]

Hey peeps.

So I am currently in the market right now for an Astro City or Blast City. I have purchased a Candy Cab in the past, it being a Aero City but when I learned that parts were extremely difficult to come by I have decided to sell them.
In addition to parts I do not have much love for the Aero City, I love the aesthetics and the construction but no nostalgic attachment that I have for the Aero/Blast.

Is it difficult to obtain parts for an Astro or Blast if cosmetic replacements are needed?

I understand they both run Tri-Syncs but if needed is it difficult to source a chassis?

Are there any major points of failure between the two cabs?

When shopping what should I look for?

Any red flags when purchasing either cabinet?

If I need to replace the tube on the monitor due to burn is it possible to do a tube swap with the nanao chassis?

[cools]

Astro's are not tri-sync.

Buy whichever one has the better picture on the monitor.

[markedkiller78]

It depends where you are in the world, but parts for an Astro are generally easier to find.

The Astro shipped with an Nanao MS8 or MS9 (15/24k). The Tubes and chassis tend to be easier to source as they are used in lots of cabs.

But as with anything in this hobby, easier isn’t necessarily easy. It can take time, lots of money or both to get what you want

[arcadista]

It depends where you are in the world, but parts for an Astro are generally easier to find.

The Astro shipped with an Nanao MS8 or MS9 (15/24k). The Tubes and chassis tend to be easier to source as they are used in lots of cabs.

But as with anything in this hobby, easier isn’t necessarily easy. It can take time, lots of money or both to get what you want

So true!
Where I live, Argentina, the Aero City is the most common candy cab, Astro City is rare and Blast City just does not exist. Anyway, most Aeros are in poor shape or have been used to donate monitors for Daytona USA cabs which is also super common here.
I would go for the Blast City, but because I know I can't have one myself here.

[mrjamma]

My decision would be solely based on repair resources and part availability in your location

Where i am,the crt repairer i use is rightfully hesitant to work on tri res chassis from the blast (apparently can be time consuming , difficult - some even ooze out goo onto many components) , but will happily repair dual res astro nanao chassis any day of the week.
I also dont have any 31k high res game boards

Easy choice for me. Depends what its like in your situation .

[phillv85]

I'd go for the one with the best monitor. If the Astro is tri-sync, then it's a replacement monitor, or at least chassis. If chassis, then it'll likely be a Rodotron chassis, which, quite frankly, is a piece of sh*t compared to a genuine Nanao.

[brad808]

I have both and like both. They are very similar and realistically both nice. here's my take:

Blast

Pros: much better design functionally, removable CP, better design to rotate Mon, tri Rez,

Cons: monitors are known failures, monitors have convergence issues, ugly design with the big stupid marquee area (only thing worse is the new versus... Yuk), harder to find psu and other parts, speaker panels known to cave in

New Astro:

Pros: look a lot nicer aesthetically, better 15k picture on an ms9, a lot more ms9 parts avail, easy to find psu

Cons: known to crack @ CP sides, no support for 31khz, have to remove full front panel to rotate Mon, no removable CP

[kuze]

I have both and like both. They are very similar and realistically both nice. here's my take:

Blast

Pros: much better design functionally, removable CP, better design to rotate Mon, tri Rez,

Cons: monitors are known failures, monitors have convergence issues, ugly design with the big stupid marquee area (only thing worse is the new versus... Yuk), harder to find psu and other parts, speaker panels known to cave in

New Astro:

Pros: look a lot nicer aesthetically, better 15k picture on an ms9, a lot more ms9 parts avail, easy to find psu

Cons: known to crack @ CP sides, no support for 31khz, have to remove full front panel to rotate Mon, no removable CP

Wasn't aware that NAC CPs are hard to remove, good info!

I only have Blast City cabs but the removable CPs have come in handy when moving them through narrow doorways.

[DaveyD]

I like the looks and functionality of the Blast, but not the monitor issues. So ive stuck with Astro City

[nem]

If I could swap all of my Blasts to Astros I would.

[Jan]

I like the looks and functionality of the Blast, but not the monitor issues. So ive stuck with Astro City

+1

Blasts are great Cabs, if they are working. In all my years only very few Cabs died on me beyond Fixing , all were Blasts ( 2x ms2931, 1 x ms2930 )

Still one of the nicest looking cabs.

[EveningCommuter]

Hello again and thank you for the replies. I am leaning more or less towards an Astro at this point for CPS games. I have recently picked up a Naomi setup and would like to place that in a Blast. Whichever one comes first I will more than likely pick up a Blast first if anything.

I am in Southern California so in the order it goes (from my experience):

Most to Least Common

Astro City
Aero City
Blast City
Taito EGRET