Sega Chihiro audio ouput questions

[ronsplooter]

I've got a couple of jobs I want to do on my newly acquired Outrun 2, one of which is to look at upgrading the sound system so I'm looking for a bit of advice from other Chihiro based game owners or anyone who knows a bit more about this system. My Outrun 2 is a converted F355 cab and has the following setup from what I can tell:

• RCA output from the Chihiro (red/white cables)
• Goes to a Sega 2 channel amplifier board in the base (838-13578)
• Wired to a pair of Sega Gullbox speakers in the seat behind your head

I want to keep the gullbox speakers (which are 8 ohm, 8 watt from what I can tell) but add another pair of front speakers either side of the monitor. As the Sega amp board is only 2 channel I think I've got a couple of options:

• Buy a 4 channel amp off eBay/Amazon, a second pair of 8 ohm speakers and wire all 4 into the new amp (try and fit the amp into the coin tower)
• Buy just a second pair of 8 ohm speakers and splice them into the existing wiring so I'm running 4 speakers from the 2 channel amp

What are peoples thoughts on these? I'm assuming the output from the Chihiro is standard RCA so can be used as an input into any amp but I don't know this for sure. Am I going to overload the Sega amp if I splice in a 2nd pair of speakers? Any advice or info on what others have done would be really helpful

The other job I'm looking at is to add back the sequential gear shifter. As my cab was an F355 it's got the paddle shift (like the Outrun 2 deluxe has) but no normal shifter. I got a couple of replacements with the cab and have stripped and rebuilt the nicer of the two so I just need to wire that in to the paddle shift so that either can be used to change gears. As the shifter is just a couple of microswitches (2 signal wires and 1 common ground) I think I just need to find the paddle shift wiring (ideally if I can identify it on the I/O board) and splice in the normal shifter wiring so both controls operate the gears

 

[Davey D]

Yes the audio is just standard low level RCA output like any other standard audio source

There is a Sega 4 channel amp out there from some of the other older Sega driving games ( looks just like the 2 channel amp, but the whole of the pcb is populated with components as opposed to half on the 2 channel amp)

The main issue with this is that the chihiro only outputs 2 channel audio, (and that amp requires 4 channel input) so you would have to split the output for left and right feed to go into the amp twice.

The easiest option (if you don't want to keep it all genuine sega) is fit a 4 channel car audio amp that takes a single pair or RCA input, but then outputs to 4 speakers.

Some of the sega cabs have a small subwoofer under the seat which also makes a big difference

Ive got an initial D 3 cabinet ( that runs on Naomi) and a separate chihiro that i connect up for playing Outrun 2, or Wangan Midnight 2. All the wiring/connections are the same for initial D and outrun 2

 

[ChrisH]

I got a couple of replacements with the cab and have stripped and rebuilt the nicer of the two

Interested in what you did to rebuild them, I've got a sequential shifter on my racing cab (scratch build, but around an OutRun2 Dash, and with the shifter) and while it works OK you have to push down slightly on the stick to get the contacts to hit the microswitches when shifting down, it's like the little C shaped piece that engages the microswitch is slightly out of position, we're talking literally a mm or so, but I couldn't see anyway to strip it down and finding another shifter is a pretty expensive business so I've just lived with it.

But if they can be stripped down and sorted I'd love to know how!

 

[ronsplooter]

Thanks @Davey D I'm not too fussed about originality so I'll have a look for a 4ch amp and a 2nd pair of speakers to go with the replacements for the gull box speakers that I've already ordered. Re: the sub under the seat, I'm assuming you need the specific Sega speaker and any associated brackets etc to make it fit or are there alternatives that can be used? If I got a car amp that has a sub channel on it then can it just be wired into that?

@ChrisH I'll take some pics and post them up here but my one just came apart with a few screws to give access the gear shifter shaft. That was held in place with a circlip which then let me pull the shaft out and remove the end piece and spring. I just cleaned everything and put it back together with some SuperLube where the plastic parts come in contact.