Would an Apple AudioVision 14 Display be a good match for a Mac IIci and/or a Quadra 950?

[Huxley]

As noted in the title, I'm just trying to figure out if an Apple AudioVision 14 Display would be a good / appropriate match for a Mac IIci and/or a Quadra 950. I've got a IIci (in pretty rough shape, it's a recent rescue from an e-waste place) and a well-specced Quadra 950 in storage.  Someone in my area has the AudioVision display listed for sale, and looks pretty interesting given the built-in speakers and input/output options. Their asking price is a little high but I'm thinking they may accept an offer. Given that I don't currently have a Mac CRT and would like to have one again, this seems like a decent option if it would work well with those Macs noted above.

Thanks for any guidance!

Huxley

 

[LaPorta]

I have an AudoiVision 14" (which needs some tweaking, but that's another story). The speakers really are awesome, I loved them in my school's computer lab back in the late 90's. Make absolutely sure, however, that the seller has the adapter that is necessary to use it with all but the original x100 Power Macs. It was a proprietary adapter that Apple used and then went nowhere with that carries video, sound, and ADB signals all in one package. An adapter is necessary to use it with other Macs. I can get a photo of my adapter later on today if you need it.

Short answer: For a Quadra 950, I think it would be a great addition.

 

[Huxley]

I have an AudoiVision 14" (which needs some tweaking, but that's another story). The speakers really are awesome, I loved them in my school's computer lab back in the late 90's. Make absolutely sure, however, that the seller has the adapter that is necessary to use it with all but the original x100 Power Macs. It was a proprietary adapter that Apple used and then went nowhere with that carries video, sound, and ADB signals all in one package. An adapter is necessary to use it with other Macs. I can get a photo of my adapter later on today if you need it.

Short answer: For a Quadra 950, I think it would be a great addition.

Great info, thanks! One of the pics in the listing does show the cable, and it appears to end in a sort of squid-like extension with ADB, audio, video, etc. - I'm assuming that's the adapter you're describing?

 

[LaPorta]

Yes, that is indeed the adapter. As long as you have that, you should be good. What system version are you running? I forget which has support built in, but I think older systems (7.1, 7.1.2, maybe even 7.5) need an installer to use the control buttons on the front panel to control the volume, etc. If you do happen to need this, I have the original AudioVision floppy, and I have an image of it that you can use.

 

[Huxley]

It's been 10+ years since I had the Quadra booted but I think it was running System 7.1. The IIci is new to me and doesn't have a hard drive yet, so it'll run whatever suits it  

I've sent an email to the seller - hopefully they're willing to haggle a little!

Huxley

 

[badCaps]

I always saw those monitors paired with the 6100 and to me, that's the only proper fit!  Since it has the squid it will work but wouldn't it look a little small next to the massive 950?

 

[Unknown_K]

When it comes to Apple CRT monitors these days anything you can snag locally without shipping that works is probably a good match.  I have adapters that allow a 6100 to use a normal mac monitor and  the adapter to go the other way as well (funny what you pick up in lots over the years).

An appropriate match for a vintage 68K Mac doesn't even have to be an Apple monitor. One of my 950's came with a fixed frequency Supermac 20" bad breaker monitor that was sold to many mac users back in the day. So a vintage Radius, Focus, Supermac, or whatever you can find should work.

 

[beachycove]

These have really high quality crts and speakers, for crisp text and graphics along with excellent sound, but they are not multi-resolution (640x480 only).

 

[Byrd]

Apple made so many CRTs (most of which don't work, were destroyed, etc), that anything would look good plugged into a 68K/early PPC Mac.  Failing that, a white 15" LCD also doesn't look terrible ...

 

[LaPorta]

These have really high quality crts and speakers, for crisp text and graphics along with excellent sound, but they are not multi-resolution (640x480 only).

The perfect setup to me for playing Hellcats. Those speakers make the engine sound of the R-2800 sound so rich...

 

[jimjimx]

Do you have the adapter for HDI-45 to DB15? The last time I looked, they were rare & expensive, kinda like when they were new..

 

[LaPorta]

He had specified that it was included, thankfully.

As a side note, one of the funniest things that I had seen as far as Apple goes is that when using this with a PM6100 DOS Compatible (which is what I got it with) means you need to take the AV 14", connect the adapter that makes it into individual ADB, DB-15, etc from HDI-45, and then connect that to the splitter cable that goes to the DOS Card. Then, you need to hook up the converter to that that turns the video BACK into the HDI-45 and plugs into the port on the PM6100s video out. Most ridiculous thing I've seen.

 

[jimjimx]

Most ridiculous thing I've seen.

I’m sure steve jobs would’ve had someone fired for that.... Or the whole team!

 

[Dimitris1980]

So, what happened? Did you buy the Apple Audiovision Display? i would like to read your opinion. As i have read it is one of the best CRT Apple monitors.

 

[Cory5412]

Not the OP, but, I've had a few of these over the years and they are great. These and their sibling monitor the 14-inch Macintosh Color Display have bright clear 14-inch trinitron displays that display at 640x480, which means that they're the resolution most '90s Mac games expect, and system 7 generally works fine.

I would say, if you are primarily gaming or enjoying Multimedia(TM) on a 68k or beige PPC Mac, then these monitors will work great. If you are using a newer PowerPC system (incl. mid-beige era, anything with PCI slots) and you are doing content creation in any way, or are interested in a lot of workspace for whatever, this isn't the right monitor for you.

The 950 in particular, if you're using it for "workstation" stuff might benefit from something bigger, but the AV14 will work great, sound great, and look great on a 950 or IIci.

Whether or not it's the best really depends on a lot of things. For one thing, they have what I'm pretty sure is the single thickest cable Apple shipped on literally any product. They have an S-Video input port that, I'm pretty sure does literally nothing, even on an AV-equipped X100 PowerMac, they are limited in screen resolution, they're heavier than the stand-alone monitors, they're annoying/difficult to transport, (although the plastics on mine are in "fine" shape, I still wouldn't want to ship it), and relating to that giant cable, they need a dongle to work anywhere except for the X100 PowerMacs, and, you need two dongles if you have the misfortune of wanting to run one on a 6100/DOS. (The solution there is either to run a second monitor for the DOS card or to not have a 6100/DOS, but, I do have a 6100/DOS so I'm gonna put my AV14 on the 6200 and my MCD14 on the 6100.)

They're also, as a display, not any better than that sibling display, except that they've got speakers and an ADB hub.

 

[Dimitris1980]

These and their sibling monitor the 14-inch Macintosh Color Display have bright clear 14-inch trinitron displays that display at 640x480, which means that they're the resolution most '90s Mac games expect, and system 7 generally works fine.

I agree. Years before i had a typical Philips VGA 14 inches monitor connected with my Mac Performa 6116CD. I started looking for an Apple Monitor and my first choice was the Apple Audiovision 14 Display monitor but it was difficulty to be found and usually very expensive. Finally i bought a Macintosh Color Display Monitor M1212 and i can say that the quality is fantastic. It has great sharp picture and all games look great. My dos computer is connected with a nice Sony 15" trinitron monitor and it is next to my Macintosh Color Display Monitor. I can say that Mac graphics which use usually bigger resolutions than VGA 320x200 look lot better. The resolution is fixed 640x480 but for 68k and early ppc games you do not need bigger.

 

[Crutch]

How does the 14” Macintosh Color Display compare to the 13” AppleColor High Resolution RGB Monitor*, which is also native 640x480 and came out a few years earlier?  Is the former really larger, or is that just marketing?

*best Apple peripheral name ever

 

[LaPorta]

The speakers are incredibly good for the period, as well. Sound quality is amazing, especially if you are gaming.

 

[Cory5412]

w/re 14MCD (or MCD14) vs ACHRRGBM @Crutch - I think they're basically the same viewable size, I don't have both at the moment, they're both great displays so I don't know if I think it's worth seeking out one over the other, specifically, as much as, kind of same as I say about a lot of other vintage mac stuff where, just get the first one you can find, kind of thing.

To be honest, lower end Apple monitors aren't usually bad, Apple tended to sell midrange stuff as its own low end, I think there's a couple performa displays that were arguably below average but they're still "fine" and if you want to be using a fixed-sync CRT from the era then they're still fine displays to have on hand, so I'd also largely say to get one of those if you could, and, at worst, if you don't like it, hold onto it until you can get something you like better and pass it on to someone who can use it, if you can find them.