Ideal Arcade Speakers

Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Posts
10
I have a Midway cabinet (MK2) that I'd like to make safe for a healthy variety of mono JAMMA boards and MVS. This implies 3 speakers and the MVS-to-JAMMA inline adapter from jammaboards.com.

I already have generic 8-ohm unshielded speakers that work OK (5W for MVS and 25W for mono), but before I finalize my decision and mount them I'd like to see opinions on speaker issues and see if there are better choices out there.

I don't want to resort to weird things like line level converters and external amps. Just want to hear my PCBs natively drive good quality speakers.

Shielding
Just how critical is shielding? Virtually no arcade games came with shielded speakers back in the day -- this MK2 cabinet certainly did not. MK2 had a 4-ohm unshielded 25W/15W woofer/tweeter setup, which I've removed for impedence reasons. On a Midway cabinet the speaker panel is oriented 90 degrees away from the CRT. Given this, is shielding really that critical for a Midway cabinet?

Frequency Response
It's also virtually impossible to find shielded speakers in the 4-6 inch size that can cover 20KHz frequency range.

Many arcade supply sites offer shielded speakers, but either don't specify frequency response or say they're in the 12KHz range or so.

Most deceptive are sites that claim 10KHz is "full-range".
http://www.parts-express.com/2-x-5-full-range-8-ohm-driver--299-366

Maximum Wattage
What's the best speaker wattage range to cover the best range of games?
The Neo-Geo manual asks for 5W speakers.
The Konami X-Men manual asks for 8W speakers.
Ignoring MVS connectivity issues for the moment, why settle for stereo 5W speakers if there are stereo games that can drive higher?
Shouldn't I just install, say, 10W speakers in the first place?


Example Suppliers Found
1. Bob Roberts offers shielded speakers, but is currently closed. :-( Get well soon!

2. Suzo Happ has 3 shielded speakers, but the best can only hit 12KHz range.
http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/jukebox_audio_equipment/5555-15298-00
http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/jukebox_audio_equipment/50-9005-00
http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/jukebox_audio_equipment/49-0228-00R

3. Twisted Quarter has shielded speakers, but no frequency range given
http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=1508&zenid=soiujm8jmk863evqsajfspjh94


Referenced Forum Threads
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?18308-Speakers-to-use-with-an-MVS-board-%28Jamma-%29
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?108327-MVS-to-Jamma-speaker-wiring-advice
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?249606-Connecting-Neo-Geo-to-Amplifier
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?221873-MVS-cab-speaker-replacement/page2
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?201885-Speakers-for-a-MVS-4-25-%28ver-3%29
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?94005-new-MVS-4-25-speakers
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?21377-Alpine-speakers-for-mvs
 
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