Quoted from chrisnack:Cool stuff in here... How does a EM play compared to a SS?
EMs played great when they were new. As the years have passed, most have been neglected and therefore play nothing like when they were new. Find an EM that has been thoroughly restored and you will be surprised how much fun they can be. Of course, that is also true of the early SS pins, but the EMs have had more years to lose their mojo.
Some say that EMs are more "pure" pinball than the newer machines. They have open playfields and simple rulesets. One of the obvious differences between the early SS and EM pinball machines was the audio. The EMs had bells and later chimes that has become synonymous with EMs. Early SS pins had a lot of blooping and bleeping that wasn't all that pleasant to the ear.