Thanks for the hints and encouragement! The posts here about API support are very good, but I was disappointed to learn their warranty is only 90 days and non-transferable. I've had a new Stern since March that's good for a year, and I've already requested a replacement part.

They replaced my entire stage assembly one time and it was WAY past 90 days, probably over a year even so I wouldn't worry too much about that, the non-tranferable thing is probably real though.

FINALLY back in the Houdini business!! After much trial and error it came down to needing a new power supply (ordered from AP and installed last week), latest code being reinstalled, and 3 fuses being replaced. Game playing smoothly once again. Big shout out to AP's customer support and those on this forum who lent very helpful advice and suggestions. Back to chasing 10 million (haven't broken 3 mill yet).

I’m finally in the Houdini club! What nice mods you all got?

Knocker and shaker are a must.
Lots of programming that uses both, ads a fun mix.
Ohhh and that fancy planchette.

Other than the Planchette, the game looks so good there really isn't a need to add much for mods. I would like to get my hands on the steam punk looking shooter knob.

Look at post 13817 in this thread for a few shots. Game does not need much, but I also like the Mod Father cup holder and the stage façade which is at:
https://themodcouplepinball.com/collections/api-houdini-custom-mods-collection

I have the knocker to install. I have never been that fond of shaker motors, how well implemented is it? Do you think it would change my mind cause it’s clever/fun?

Yes and Yes. Shaker is implemented so many ways. In elephant trick mod it's used to replicate his foot steps, it's very clever. Kudos to Josh on that one.
When the ball hits trunk, hard to put finger on it but it's used in so many ways(50?), that clever use of shaker is best way to put it.
And, Thank You for your purchase! Going out today.

Yes. Get the shaker!

External sub-woofer.

Shaker is very well done in the game. Integrated into the goings on of the mode you are in and the knocker is an absolute must. Getting the bullet mode while in one or both multiball modes with the knocker is awesome!

The biggest improvement for sure. Damn the sound gets good with a external sub !

One of if not the best shaker in pinball

The shaker is also very effective at letting you know when you have spelled SEANCE when you have that MB and other MBs going at the same time. I think the knocker is more important and you may not like the shaker if your game is not on in the basement / on a slab as it can really shake the house / make a lot of noise.

Where's the best place to buy a shaker?

https://store.american-pinball.com/products/houdini-shaker-motor

LTG : )

Beat me by 7 seconds Lloyd.

You can move the weights if it shaker to much,I believe I did!

Thx guys.

I joined the club today. Can’t wait to get it set up, get my sub hooked up, get a shaker, etc. I’m stoked!

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What does putting in the upgraded power supply do? I’m having trouble with random crashes seemingly when I try to start a film mode.

If you have an older game, the upgraded power supply is a must have as well as the coil/capacitor add-on.

The original games have a roundy toroid type transformer on them.

The later games have a square metal box the holds the power supply. No upgrade needed on the newer type of supply.
But you still need the capacitor mod, it changes everything!

Yah I really wanted to get the capacitor mod but it’s sold out. :/

Contact them to see if they'll make more.

LTG : )

Random reboots are not a common symptom of power supply issues in this game, what version of code are you running?

I fixed it, I just reinstalled the code and it’s fine now it’s even running smoother.

Great choice, congrats….

I , like most, am running 21.1.21 (most recent code). My game crashing mid ball (usually during ball 2) and flipper issues were due to the original power supply needing to be replaced with the new "upgraded" power supply AP sells. Also needed to replace three 6 Amp fuses on one of the boards to fix the flippers not working issue however, prior to installing the power supply Dave @ AP had said..

"There is a known issue with the code and having more than 3 replay levels set. Go into Settings - Replay and set at 3 levels or lower."

If anyone is having a problem with their game having random crashes you may want to take the above advice and give this a shot before going any further. it could save you money and a lot of frustration. I couldn't get my game to boot up properly (passed blue screen) so I wasn't able to use this advice but putting Dave's response to my problem out there in case it helps someone else down the road.

LOVE the continued support AP gives their customers. Much respect to the team at American Pinball!

Ok I was wrong it is still randomly crashing and studdering. It only seems to happen after the game has been on for 30 plus minutes. Replays are set to 1 and it’s the newest code with multiplayer that came out last October.

**I should of waited to post this cause I still need to install the other power supply.

I feel your pain. terribly frustrating to have a machine you can't play. for what its worth and I'm NO EXPERT. Install new power supply along with a fresh install of most current code and you should be good to go. Yea its another $150-$170 expense but you can't put a price on this great machine running smoothly.

I suggest getting your logs to AP to review, if it is some kind of a software or setting issue, the logs will likely shed light. If a power issue, logs won't really show anything, but it is a logical next step.

I believe 21.10.25, which introduced team play, is the newest code and should be available on the AP web site. I believe that release also added shaker intensity settings and a setting to make Elephant easier to complete.

pretty sure I fixed this, but might have been after the last release.

Is this the upgraded power supply?

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Yes

Kind of a nomenclature thing. The one you have pictured is the older power supply that has the added aux power supply upgrade supplied, I suspect, by AP. So, it has been upgraded.

The later production models of used a different power supply, that might also be considered an upgraded power supply, but that is not what is pictured. You can see them both on the AP site in the store.

You have the same set up I have and I have never had a problem. I actually didn't even have the added upgrade when I unboxed the game in 2018 and was fine, but just figured "why not?" and added the upgrade.

I’m working on adding an external sub (Polk PSW10) and have an issue. I ran an RCA cable from the amp “inputs” to my sub, but it is producing very little base. It’s on and I can hear it, but nothing like the bass produced by my other games.

Anyone else have that issue? How are others wiring up their external subs?

So you're going from the cabinet woofer to the external subwoofer RCA inputs?

I believe 21.10.25, which introduced team play, is the newest code and should be available on the AP web site. I believe that release also added shaker intensity settings and a setting to make Elephant easier to complete.

You are 100% correct. I typed wrong thing but I too am running 21.10.25

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I hooked the RCA cables to the amp in the head of the game on the “inputs”, and then ran the cable to my RCA inputs on the external sub.

Is your subwoofer powered? I could never get a passive woofer to work on mine. I added an amp and was in business

No need to apologize, just wanted to make sure how it was hooked up.

I use a high-level to low-level adapter in all my pins. Converts what would be a high-level (i.e. speaker) to a low-level signal (i.e. the active subwoofer input). It also converts a balanced speaker output (+, -) to a single-ended signal (+, ground...what the external sub likely is). If I'm not mistaken, also helps prevent ground loops. So sort of a win-win all around. These are often used in car audio, but works fine in a pin too.

Like this adapter: https://www.amazon.com/PAC-SNI-35-Variable-Line-Converter/dp/B001EAWS3W/ref=sr_1_1

I assume your Houdini still uses the Lepai LP-168 audio amp? If so, connect the adapter to the subwoofer output and turn up the amplifier's sub output a bit. The adapter's RCA output then goes to the external sub's input.

Is your Houdini one of the newer ones with a cabinet sub? If so, you can attach to the woofer instead of the amp.

If your external sub has high level inputs, you can also just use the Houdini amp to drive it directly thru the high level inputs. No adapter needed.

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Or… what he said…

LOL Zahner.

I use those adapters and run multiple pins into a cheap audio mixer, then out to 2 subs. Mixer is nice since I can adjust each pin's level independently. Plus I don't need a sub for each pin.

Fwiw.... Hooked a sub up to mine today... Make sure to adjust the sub adjustment.... And turn the volume on the Amp down... And use th game to turn volume up if necessary. Mine has a ton of bass gain without anything else. Other than adjustments...

20220805_105924 (resized).jpg

Nice write up, thanks! I have the LP-168 amp and my game has the sub installed in the cabinet. I’m just trying to give it a little bit more bass.

The line converter is interesting. I might try one for Houdini and for my WPC games. On my WPC games, I modified the sound boards so that they have a low level output, but sometimes I get hum from the sub, even when the games are powered off. Annoying.

Thanks! I can still get some hum if I crank up the levels a bit, just might be some 60Hz due to the wires running near the power cords. Mostly because I get carried away w/the bass at times. But the adapter does have a ground that you can connect to the pin's chassis ground (i.e. the braid) - that might help.

I believe the adapter is basically just a step-down audio transformer and a few associated components + volume control. That would resolve the balanced to unbalanced issue (if present). Not rocket science. Even if it's not needed, no harm and it provides some isolation between the ext sub and the pin. I contacted the manufacture and the adapter presents a 16 ohms load. So high enough it shouldn't be an issue if it's attached to a speaker, but low enough that if you didn't have a speaker connector, it still presents a minimal load for an amp.

Since you have a new Houdini w/a woofer, you can just clip it across the woofer. The adapter is stereo, but I just use one channel.

Holler if you have any questions! If you order, you might want to order some small alligator clips so you can attach to the speaker.

Here's a picture of one of mine (in a Dialed In). I use the removable Commando strips to attached to the cabinet bottom.
pasted_image (resized).png

And here's the mixer I use (got it cheap). I have 6 pins running into this mixer, with the output driving the active subs.
pasted_image (resized).png

If this is accurate, then you have the cables coming from the Lepai amp plugged in to audio jacks that are designed to take in a signal, not output one. Let’s take it from the amp back.

The Lepai to Polk connection is straightforward

Use the speaker level outputs that are circled in MBwalker’s post (bottom pic) and run those wires to the Polk (it has high level inputs)
Then adjust the output of the Lepai as in the pics from Soundkiller post

Finally, dial in the output and crossover of the Polk!

All right I think I’m getting down to my problem it looks like my keyed pins on the power supply do not line up either in their original configuration or the upgraded.

I guess my question has to be in its original configuration going white to black and red to black would the game still power on and play for like 20 minutes? Hard to tell if the wires are wrong cause they just kinda disappear into the doughnut.

6AB1AA6D-575A-4F29-9C8C-3AD7BBDFA38C (resized).jpeg82659F4F-E878-4C81-9990-CF87AD0C516F (resized).jpeg

If power supply was wired wrong doubt it would play at all.

Even with extra power supply the original toroid supply still provides 5 and 12 volts, and those power supplies have started to show issues with the low voltage caps. Check your 5 and 12 volt levels, if those drop too low game will reboot.

So in the modern pinball world machines are usually Pro(commercial grade) Premium(next level up) and Limited Edition (extra special features),
would you agree with this?

I bought my Houdini at a home recreation store in Atlanta last year, and being my first machine was not versed on the levels of machines. I love how it played and the price seemed to be in line with other dealers. I gauged my value assessment on magic glass and shaker motor which seemed to indicate top of the line for Houdini.

Anyway, I got out my paperwork today and it says "Houdini Deluxe". So, does anyone know how American Pinball markets their machines? Not that it matters because it is not going anywhere anytime soon. I am just curious. A google search of "Houdini Pinball Machine Levels" yields info on gameplay levels. I figure someone here can answer this easily.