Opinions on Blast City cabs
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alphagamer
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I like the look of the Blast City cabinets. How is the monitor, any burns?
alphagamer
Aero Fighters Flyboy
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Have you seen a Blast City in person (or even this particular one)? How'd you like it?
Yes, the monitor can be rotated. I just recently got one off a group buy a few months ago and I love it. I'm actually getting another one hopefully this weekend. I really like the look of them and having the speakers right next to your ears is awesome. I'm not sure how big they are in comparison to other cabs but judging from pics they seem to be on the larger side. Blasts are definitely larger than NAC's, I can tell you that.
This site might be of some help.... http://hard--candy.com/
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yeah the Blasts are great! rotating the monitors is not too difficult, similar to an Astro but with an easier bezel rotation.
Love the huge marquee space and versatility of having JVS power. Of course there is the concern of the monitors, as many have found they can be more flaky than others, but at least there are replacement chassis available and possibility of repair if you are unlucky.
On the ones I have had the hi res and low res picture has been great, even played model 2 in medium res.... beautiful!!
Very versatile cabs, awesome stereo audio, look great and are very solid.
Love the huge marquee space and versatility of having JVS power. Of course there is the concern of the monitors, as many have found they can be more flaky than others, but at least there are replacement chassis available and possibility of repair if you are unlucky.
On the ones I have had the hi res and low res picture has been great, even played model 2 in medium res.... beautiful!!
Very versatile cabs, awesome stereo audio, look great and are very solid.
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I never cared for the look of the Blast City but is very versatile w/ Sega 001 Loom. It was actually really easy to move around despite being bigger then most candy cabs. The ability to remove the control panel is just boss...
My issue with the Blast City is the chassis & monitor...Which is the most important part of an arcade cabinet. I could never get the convergence right & then of course my chassis ended up dying on me. My most problematic cab that i own, i probably wont buy a replacement & im thinking of just parting it out. Its awesome cab but i dont want the headaches. Then again it could have just been my cab but from what i've read from other forums, its a common occurrence.
My issue with the Blast City is the chassis & monitor...Which is the most important part of an arcade cabinet. I could never get the convergence right & then of course my chassis ended up dying on me. My most problematic cab that i own, i probably wont buy a replacement & im thinking of just parting it out. Its awesome cab but i dont want the headaches. Then again it could have just been my cab but from what i've read from other forums, its a common occurrence.
lantus360
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i have a blast city cab. im running a 2930 chassis and its just an solid cab all round. It looks really awesome at 31khz and fantastic at 15khz.
My particular cab has been going strong since March - ive had zero issues with it at all. I would say if you have the opportunity to get one which is in good shape go with the Blast.
My particular cab has been going strong since March - ive had zero issues with it at all. I would say if you have the opportunity to get one which is in good shape go with the Blast.
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I've been thinking about the rash of issues with Blasts lately and I think a lot (not all) of it has to do with the number of them that are suddenly out there. You used to see none of them in North America, but then all the group buys got them and there are piles. Of course if 10% fail after 10 years then we'll have more complaints with 100 cabs out there than 10.
Either way, yeah its fair to hesitate cause of the concern over stability.
In a few years we'll probably read all about the issues with New Net Cities cause they'll be more available and starting to age as well.
Either way, yeah its fair to hesitate cause of the concern over stability.
In a few years we'll probably read all about the issues with New Net Cities cause they'll be more available and starting to age as well.
Dr. Jigglin
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Between the E3 and the Blast, Blasts are a lot easier to source parts for I've heard. The construction isn't as sturdy as a NAC but it's not that bad. Being able to remove the control panel was a huge plus, I would not have gotten the cab into my house otherwise. The power supply is beefy and provides 3.3v straight off the bat which is incredibly helpful when running a Naomi setup.
Mine originally came with a 31k only chassis (MS-2932) but I ended up scoring two 15-31k MS-2930's off of Yahoo Japan Auctions and did a chassis swap. It's very easy so the whole 'dead chassis' problem is easily corrected. Cost roughly $150-200 shipped for one. So don't turn down a Blast solely based on chassis issues.
On the up side the Egret 3 has a load more PCB space which I would LOVE to have, fitting a Naomi gdrom setup in a blast is very tight.
I am completely biased
Mine originally came with a 31k only chassis (MS-2932) but I ended up scoring two 15-31k MS-2930's off of Yahoo Japan Auctions and did a chassis swap. It's very easy so the whole 'dead chassis' problem is easily corrected. Cost roughly $150-200 shipped for one. So don't turn down a Blast solely based on chassis issues.
On the up side the Egret 3 has a load more PCB space which I would LOVE to have, fitting a Naomi gdrom setup in a blast is very tight.
I am completely biased
If you do buy a E3 make sure you get the control panel you want with it. They are kinda hard to find, at least not all "extra hole" drilled out anyways. Thos single player Atomiswave panels with the card reader are total BS. The monitors are also said to be rather poor at 15khz, but fine at 31khz... Having never seen one first hand I can't say if this is true or not, be aware is all I'm saying.
Blasts are very very easy (comparatively speaking) to get parts for. The monitors are the biggest problem with them, so make sure you get a Nanao 2930 manual sync chassis. The 2931's get the black goop of death! Ask Lemony how long his auto sync lasted, I think he said one day after pickup it died. They all have convergence issues as far as I can tell tho, but with a little work you can fix this with home made strips applied around the back/under the flyback. We've got a thread about it in Arcade Central, check it out.
Blasts are very very easy (comparatively speaking) to get parts for. The monitors are the biggest problem with them, so make sure you get a Nanao 2930 manual sync chassis. The 2931's get the black goop of death! Ask Lemony how long his auto sync lasted, I think he said one day after pickup it died. They all have convergence issues as far as I can tell tho, but with a little work you can fix this with home made strips applied around the back/under the flyback. We've got a thread about it in Arcade Central, check it out.
Lemony Vengeance
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Jeez, the 2931 lasted less than 24 hours, but it wasn't a black goop issue.. Mearly a voltage issue. I ended up getting a 2933 and I love it!
Yeah, I was surprised how little room there is in there. Naomi GD Rom system with capcom I/O and 2nd psu and that's about all you can fit. Changing GD Rom games becomes a bit of a pain in the ass also. For me, other than that, it's fantastic.
Dr. Jigglin
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It might be worth mentioning that I've got a fully working 2930 chassis that has the black goop of death. That goop however is as solid as a rock. Not sure what's going on there.
I think the looks of the Blast City are top notch! To me it always stands out next to other candy cabs because of it's unique style. It also has a bit more of a high quality feel compared to an EIII. The one thing that I'm not crazy about is that the control panel does feel a little more flimsy compared to an EIII. ie. it flexes a bit when heavy handed players are using it.