is there a sound amplifier in an arcade machine

ela2

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And how can I turn it down. Plugged in two different boards and very loud. Can turn down volume on PCB but its distorted because of the amplification. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Most games do not have separate amplifiers - they're usually built onto the game board. This is certainly the case with Jamma games. Other games, such as Atari games, use an offboard amplifier that is part of the power regulator board. Still other games have separate sound amps - like Universal games. Nintendo games use a sound amplifier that's mounted on the monitor chassis.

If you can't find an amplifier, just follow the wires back from the speakers and see where they lead to.

What game are we talking about here?

-Ian
 
All of them have sound amps of some sort whether they are on board or remote. Most games have a volume pot just inside the coin door to adjust the volume. Some are software based and need to be adjusted in a menu accessed in test mode.
 
Yeah I totally understand about the pcb but there must be a separate amp as two different boards give the same result - too loud. Strange. Will look again thanks for the advice
 
he posted the info in the arcade,video game discussions thread

Great! Not! I mean, I'm glad he got the help thread here where it's supposed to be, but I didn't read the other section first, so coming into this thread to help is kind of hard when it doesn't have all the information I need.

Now I don't even know if I need to offer any help at all since there are other threads with people responding to them...
 
Did anyone tell him that the Namco Anniversary caps have a volume pot inside the coin door near where the coin counter and test buttons are?
 
Yes we told him that and he tried and still no luck

So he tried turning down the pot on the PCB (is there one?) and the volume pot, and still has an issue? Sounds like he has a bad speaker or audio output, then, or a bad volume pot...
 
So he tried turning down the pot on the PCB (is there one?) and the volume pot, and still has an issue? Sounds like he has a bad speaker or audio output, then, or a bad volume pot...

yes he tried the pcb and they are buttons now on the new machines pcb instead of pots and still no luck and told him to check the wiring going to the speakers
 
Hi,

Sorry to double post, I was worried about being to specific in regards to my arcade (i.e. maybe a common problem among lots of arcades). I have a brand new pacman 25th anniversary UR. I've seen the volume knob in the older versions of this arcade and it does have a knob inside under the front and another on the board. This one is all buttons (board and front). Its almost like there is an amplifier in the unit and imagine you try to over amplify a weak signal to the point where you hear a lot of distortion, this is my problem. Right now I have the volume set to 2 and it is reasonable but distorted. Now if I go up to 4, the sound is fantastic but its waaaaay too loud. Funny thing is that the unit goes all the way up to 30 and let me tell you the neighbors will hear me playing pacman with it set that loud. Again sorry to double post, don't want to tick anybody off. Any help would be appreciated. I e-mailed namco, if I get a resolution from them I'll let you know. And one more thing, it has to be the machine because plugging in one of those 60 in 1 boards yields the same result - way to friggin loud.
 
Hey pinman,

Yeah I did follow the speaker wire inside the unit but didn't see anything that looked like an amplifier. Maybe its up in the speaker itself. Would have to remove the marquee to get to it I assume?
 
Hey pinman,

Yeah I did follow the speaker wire inside the unit but didn't see anything that looked like an amplifier. Maybe its up in the speaker itself. Would have to remove the marquee to get to it I assume?

thats what modess was saying it could be bad speakers
 
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