How much does an Amplifone add o the value of a game?

[SuperGunGuru]

I'm really curious to see an Amplifone in action. My Star Wars upright has a 6100 in it and you can definitely notice the bowing of the edges. If I had a tube, I'd be tempted to put an Amp back in it. I can't begin to imagine the cost of putting one together. Sounds like the tubes wouldn't be easy or cheap to find?

 

[ArcRevival]

Granted... I have NOT seen a 19" Amp next to a 19" WG... so perhaps the size of the tube makes the difference... the medium res 25" amp appeared to me to have about the same resolution as the 19" WG... but reduce the size of the tube to 19" and it likely would appear to have a smoother (higher res) image...

I think that is a good point and why you did not see a huge difference.

 

[bungy]

I do think you have to see them side by side to see the difference. And when you do, you will realize why the Amp is worth more. I will go one further, I think an Amp with the Pentran/Lexel/Wintron flyback looks even better than one with the Chinese made flyback.

The first time I saw a Star Wars, I knew it had the WG6100 from the screen bowing. I had never seen an Amplifone before that. After I saw an Amplifone I was sold on it's graphics being superior. I had the Chinese flyback before I got a Lexel, but didn't notice any difference, though I didn't have two side by side.

Not all Amplifone vector tubes (ex: Quantum) were medium res and I don't think the 25" tube was.

I recently tried a low res rig with my Quantum setup and it was disappointing compared to the med-res tube

 

[Altan]

I'm really curious to see an Amplifone in action. My Star Wars upright has a 6100 in it and you can definitely notice the bowing of the edges. If I had a tube, I'd be tempted to put an Amp back in it. I can't begin to imagine the cost of putting one together. Sounds like the tubes wouldn't be easy or cheap to find?

Probably not good enough, but here is an HD video of my amplifone Star Wars...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_kjBaLkjv8&hd=1

... Altan

 

[SuperGunGuru]

Probably not good enough, but here is an HD video of my amplifone Star Wars...

http://youtube.com/#/watch?v=H_kjBaLkjv8

... Altan

Thanks for sharing! It actually does seem sharper and crisper than what I've seen on mine.

 

[joeycuda]

Uhhh, I cannot say for sure about Quantum, but I can tell you that the 25" Amp tube is DEFINITLY med-res. I've seen several cockpits now, and two have 25" low res tubes with a WG chassis, believe me the difference is HUGE. The pixels are much more fine on the AMP.

Now about the Chinese vs. Wintron/Lexel HVT. Why would that be different, WHAT are the differences and how do you know ?

I mean the "only" thing a HVT does is provide a steady High Voltage DC. Unless it's not capable of staying steady (fi with the death star explosion) ....

I may very well be wrong about that. I'm fairly sure I've read that the Quantum monitor has a std res tube. Well, there are also some monitor guys that have said that a tube is a tube and you can swap a regular tv tube into a med res monitor and that what makes it med res is the chassis/yoke. I've yet to get a straight answer on that..

 

[jonathan1138]

I added a SW cockpit a few months back, had my SW UR pending sale, so i had time to compare firsthand.

The Cockpit only has a 19 inch amp (elusive 25 inch!), while the UR has a 19 inch WG6100.

Both were freshly capped. At first, they look nearly the same. In fact, i was a little disturbed at the similarity considering the hype amps get. Its during game play where the Amp really shines - it feels "faster" or able to keep up with the sprites better. The lines are also smoother and crisper, with the WG i could a little more jagged edges. Colors are about the same though.

After playing a few games on both, i could see the difference.

Amps are cool. I think to the OP question - at least 250+ increase. Amp set ups alone cost more than that - amp monitors are easily 150+, board sets 200+.

 

[chris25810]

I added a SW cockpit a few months back, had my SW UR pending sale, so i had time to compare firsthand.

The Cockpit only has a 19 inch amp (elusive 25 inch!), while the UR has a 19 inch WG6100.

Both were freshly capped. At first, they look nearly the same. In fact, i was a little disturbed at the similarity considering the hype amps get. Its during game play where the Amp really shines - it feels "faster" or able to keep up with the sprites better. The lines are also smoother and crisper, with the WG i could a little more jagged edges. Colors are about the same though.

After playing a few games on both, i could see the difference.

Amps are cool. I think to the OP question - at least 250+ increase. Amp set ups alone cost more than that - amp monitors are easily 150+, board sets 200+.

There's no question that an amp produces a far superior picture and after owning/selling many of these monitors, here's my take on what the monitor itself is worth.

Nice tube- $200+

Working yoke- $100 and i've seen/sold them for well beyond)

Rebuilt set of boards- $350+

Brackets- $50

So if there's anybody local with a complete working star wars for sale that has an amp monitor and you've been snowballed into believing it's only worth $700-$800 send me a pm cuz i'm buying all day long at that price.

 

[Level42]

Dezbaz, why do you think the Lexel HVT is better than the Chinese one ?

 

[Altan]

Thanks for sharing! It actually does seem sharper and crisper than what I've seen on mine.

You are welcome. Sorry I messed up the link, but I see you must have figured out how to fix it. I corrected the link in the original message.

(FWIW, it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_kjBaLkjv8&hd=1)

... Altan

 

[kilgers]

So, which one do you want to trade for the chair?

I have a Star Wars with an Amp and 2 with WG's....just curious how much you guys think the Amp adds t the value of these things.

 

[jehuie]

That would be another one entirely. It's rougher than the others. It has good working game boards but the monitor isn't working. It's a WG6100. I haven't spent any time checking it out but I just ordered some parts for it since it looks unlikely that the chair will be showing up any time soon.

Once it's fully working I may (or may not) rescind my offer.