Has anyone installed the TZ Subwoofer Sound Kit (by PinBallPro)? Is it worth it (the approx CD$175.00)? How much does it add to the experience?

If your looking at this option you should also contact Elio (80's fan) on here. He builds superior kits for lesser cost.

Thanks Necro. I might have to do that after Christmas if I have any money left.  

But how much can the sound be improved. I think my TZ is great as is but I have never had the pleasure of playing one with the improved subwoofer. Kind of like comparing two TVs, you have to see them in order to judge - or you can go on the basis of knowledgeable MAACA experts.  

Any opinions on whether it is a worthwhile mod?

Quoted from tom_454

Any opinions on whether it is a worthwhile mod?

Yes.

Can't comment on Elios's kit but PinballPro kicks a** and it's plug and play - all items needed for the installation are included... I believe Elios uses better quality speakers but a smaller sub..


Had it in TZ, LOTR, and now MB although in MB it doesn't sound as impressive as TZ.

Mike

Quoted from tom_454

Thanks Necro. I might have to do that after Christmas if I have any money left.  

But how much can the sound be improved. I think my TZ is great as is but I have never had the pleasure of playing one with the improved subwoofer. Kind of like comparing two TVs, you have to see them in order to judge - or you can go on the basis of knowledgeable MAACA experts.  

Any opinions on whether it is a worthwhile mod?

Basically I found the largest improvement came from being able to reduce the volume in the head with the supplied pot and up the power going to the sub. The sub definitely gives you more bass and for many of the effects (lightning etc.) it is impressive. The better quality speakers up top add some clarity as well. All in all I would say worthwhile if you really like the game.

By the way I have one of Elio's kits which is well thought out and constructed.

As someone who has Elio's speaker kit in my TZ,
I can say that the most noticeable sound improvement is with the backbox speakers.

Elio's kit replaces the stock speakers, with much higher quality ones (...and bigger cones...),
so that the sound is spectacular. The "crashing" sound is amazing,
and the TZ "chime" is crystal clear.

There is also improvements on the bass with the new sub,
but it is smaller than the PinballPro so it's not quite a loud.

Still, the overall package is impressive and gives a great sound to the game,
...without being too "boomy".

I'm quite quite happy with it...

Cheers,
Steph

Thanks for the great feedback.

So do both Elio's and PinballPro come with a Pot to adjust the volume in the speakers? Are they both plug-n-play?

Any other comments geared towards which one would better complement the game?

Elio's kit on my Tales of the Arabian Nights has a custom harness (that plugs in and looks factory) that runs the pot to a nice mount and dial mounted right behind the coin tray. Very handy and well executed. I can't comment on the TZ version or Pinball Pros though but this one was very well done.

Quoted from tom_454

Thanks for the great feedback.

So do both Elio's and PinballPro come with a Pot to adjust the volume in the speakers?

Elio's kit has a POT to control the sub only.
In reality, it's used mostly to lower the sub's volume if you increase the backbox speakers
via the adjustment switches.  
ie. as you raise the volume for the machine, the sub can over-power the backbox speakers,
so the Pot is there to balance/reduce the sub.

I think on the Pinball pro, it's really just a volume control on the sub.

Quoted Text

Are they both plug-n-play?

Not Elio's kit (...well not entirely..),

Since he provides bigger backbox speakers,
you need to replace the wooden speaker panel
(...which is provided in the kit ).
To do this, you need to remove the TZ Plexi that is glued to the wooden speaker panel
and re-attach to the new panel ( Elio provides "sticky strips" for the plexi to hold on )

The whole process takes about an hour...
(...and Elio was even kind enough to drive down to do it person !   What Service ! )

I'm including a few pics taken during the installation...

cheers,
Steph

Here was a previous thread on the subject.

http://archive.maaca.org/s107351202.onlinehome.us/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m-1162857763/

Hey guys, glad you liked them and thanks for the comments.
Again, my purpose of these kits was to have a $50 cheaper than solution than Pinball Pro at the time (for us Canadians importing/buying a USA company product).  A complete kit (backbox and sub) from Pinball Pro was about $195 CDN.  I guess it is only $175 CDN now with better exchange.

Steph, one correction, the L-PAD in my kit is to modify the backbox speaker volume and not the sub volume.  By highering the main game volume, you then need to lower the backbox speaker volume so that it is not too loud (yet giving more general volume to the sub).  Pinball Pro has added a new HF type of kit also which works this way now.  And yes, they used to put a POT on their subs to calm them down as they were really 'shake the glass - ie too much rattle' type of 8" subs.

I am not going to comment on comparisons vs Pinball Pro has I had not install a Pinball Pro in a machine and compared to my speaker kits.  The best improvement with my kit is indeed in the backbox symmetry since I was providing a new display panel with matched sized speakers, and this is the best you can do back there.

I believe that a total of 4 guys bought my kit for TZ here and all of them liked it to some extent for the sound improvement that it gave.

I may put together a few more in Feb. or so.  I could potentially provide a bigger 8" sub also.  The speakers that I use are way better than stock but still actually just Made In China basic ones.  I may be able to lower the prices of the kits a little bit since USD is closer to CDN now (I buy some of the parts from USA).

There are so many ways one can upgrade the sound in these machines.  Whether in the speaker selection, crossover usage or volume balancing, the result depends on how much you know about sound/music and what you think sucks about the original sound in the first place.  But it is probably not worth spending $200 to get better component speakers or something that these little amps in the Pinball machines just can't push that well anyway.

Also, like MrMikeman says, some games have better sound/bass than others and even some A-List games sometimes don't get too much of a wow effect when upgrading speakers.  One example is the little 6" sub I put in a CFTBL still gave a hell of a thump of a bass sound in there compared to some others.  And then a Demolition Man machine only showed some improvement with the kit since its soundtrack is not incredible as it is mainly classical music'ish' which means little drums/bass....

Have fun.

Still waiting for a speaker kit Elio for a GnR.....