Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

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spndrg
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Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by spndrg »

I'd like to buy my first candy cab, but I'm not sure which one I should look for. I'd eventually like to have at least three cabinets for my three favorite platforms: CPS2, CPS3, and Naomi. I'm consider an Astro City for the CPS2, Capcom Impress for CPS3, and Blast City for the Naomi.

My questions are:
  • Do those seem like reasonable choices for each platform? Are the monitors and sound systems optimal, or would you recommend different cabinets?
  • The wiki states "Due to its heavily-plastic construction (which is prone to yellowing and cracking), uncommon CRT, esoteric design, and relative rarity, the Impress has a reputation of being problematic to maintain and restore, with some considering it "flimsy" or unreliable." Is that accurate? Any other recommendations for what I should eventually pick up for a CPS3?
  • If I'd like to use the first cabinet for all three platforms at the beginning. Would the Blast City be a good choice for each of them? It looks like it uses a tri-sync monitor, so that's good.
I don't think I'd ever need to rotate the monitors. (Are there any vertical Naomi games that require monitor rotation?)
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by Chempop »

Where do you plan to get all these candy cabs in the northeast USA exactly?

A little advice, get what you can when the opportunity presents itself -- astro, blast, egret, w/e it is just get it :D
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by spndrg »

That's my next question, lol. Any suggestions? Just trying to get an idea of what the ideal hardware would be before I go looking. Yeah, that's good advice, thanks! :lol:
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by ChrisBEANS »

I’m new to all of this, and I’m in the UK so no idea how supply is in the US, but it sounds like you’re after a Blast City, and then once you’re familiar with that, you can make more educated/relevant choices on what to get next...

I went from getting my first cab, to getting three cabs in about three weeks, and realised it was not the move.
Ended up selling the Blast (kept two MVS cabs).

Start smaller than you think you need to, and take your time.

Granted cabs are getting more expensive by the day, but there’s more ‘value’ in a cab you’ll really get to use and enjoy, than three cabs you’re never quite satisfied with.

Good luck on the hunt though, it’s a fantastically satisfying hobby once you get into it :)
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by spndrg »

Yep, that sums it up. Oh wow, that's a whole lot of cabs in a little bit of time. Nice that you have access to so many cabs, at least. For sure, my timeline is looking like one cab for now, maybe more to house all the hardware a few years down the line. Thanks for the warm welcome! :)
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by mRCaESaR »

A blast city would be the most *ideal* cab to get for all three systems being a tri sync.

Now the biggest challenge you will face with a blast city is a couple of things:

- Monitor. Not many people will do maintenance on a 2930 (analogue tri sync which you have to manually sync via dip switches) or the 2931 (digital tri sync). So in the event you find one that has a faulty chassis, trying to find people that service them is quite difficult. I know Jomac here in AU doesn't like to do maintenance on them, but doesn't mean he can't. Also, the tube on the blasts are of the rarer tubes as it's not curved like the astros or flat like NNC's, it's more of a semi curve, so it might be difficult trying to find a donor tube if you wish to do tube swaps. Also something to note with these monitors is they tend to have horrible convergence and bowing. Can always be adjusted, but definitely worth pointing out.

- Speakers. A lot of blasts have rotted speakers and as a result, sounds terrible. You can get speaker alternatives, but it's not a perfect replacement. Also, to replace speakers is the biggest PITA to deal with, you have to split the cabinet in half to access the speakers. You can take out the monitor and bend the brackets, but I've always been scared that I would crack the fibreglass area where the bracket screws into the body.

Outside of those items, the blast is a relatively solid cab. I used to despise them, but now I've got a fully operational one, I can see the reason why they are liked by so many.

Astros for me are my favourite cab, looks nice, easy enough to get parts for and the MS8/MS9 are rock solid monitors that a number of people still work on with ease. You can't beat the picture quality in 15khz and if you were only running CPS2/3 I would really recommend the Astros. Yes, you can run Naomi in 15khz, but most games don't look that great in 15khz vs it's native 31khz.

The real question is, what's available to you for purchase? If you have the ability to purchase an operational blast, it would probably be the "better" cab for all 3 systems you want to use, but may not necessarily be the most "first time cab friendly cab". As long as you're willing to get your hands dirty and learn about cabs, you'll be fine with whatever cab you go for.
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by spndrg »

Awesome, thanks so much for the detailed summary! Maintaining the monitor and replacing the speakers in the Blast sound painful, but I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I'll look for one, especially if it's been worked on. I'd be perfectly fine with playing in 15khz for a while if I happened to find an Astro.
I love the profile pic, nice setup :D
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by copados33 »

mRCaESaR wrote: June 10th, 2021, 1:28 am Yes, you can run Naomi in 15khz, but most games don't look that great in 15khz vs it's native 31khz.

You can easily mod a MS9/ MS8 to accept 31khz 480p resolutions, i.e. Naomi, Atomiswave, Namco s246 etc....just saying.
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by nem »

copados33 wrote: June 19th, 2021, 2:41 pmYou can easily mod a MS9/ MS8 to accept 31khz 480p resolutions, i.e. Naomi, Atomiswave, Namco s246 etc....just saying.

Hardly ideal as they were never meant to run resolutions that high. There's some caveats explained on Mike Moffit's page on the MS9, here.

This said, it's still something I want to try out on a MS8 though. Have you done it?
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by copados33 »

Only the sharpness+ mod, but a friend of mine has x3 tri-sync NACs equipped with 24/31khz switches.
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by nem »

But you mentioned MS8 too. That's the one that interests me. 31khz on a MS8-25 would be pretty cool.
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Re: Recommended Starter Cabinet for CPS2, 3, Naomi

Post by copados33 »

I have only seen modded MS8-29's, but 25's should work aswell since it's practically the same chassis.
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