I agree that headphones are only helpfull for the person playing the game who wants a full experience. Although, it must sound weird, to hear the game sound/music much louder and the machine noise much lower.

For 12 years of collecting, I always put my games in a gameroom which is located on an industrial estate. No neighbours, no problems. But recently I have also placed some games at home.. Totally different story, noise levels suddenly became important (if I want to play after 10 in the evening).

I realised that in all those years I have never actually let the amount of noise a game makes alter my buying decision. But since I got that Baywatch pin, which produces an incredible amount of solenoid noise, I'll make sure my next home pin will be a "quieter" one, probably a Bally/Williams game.

Also wondering why Sega/Data East and (somewhat less) Stern pins are so much noisier than Bally/Williams games. Thinner cabinets/glass? Other solenoids mechs? Did Bally/Williams pay attention to noise levels or is it just a coincidence that their games are so much quieter to play?