Sound Stage was the first EM pin in my dad's and my collection, so there's a slight amount of bias toward the title for me. We're also slightly biased because it turned out to be way more fun than we expected for the paltry $300 we paid for it.

The layout is solid--nothing really too unique about it but its geometry also doesn't create a lot of "unfair" drains. This is one of those pins that, once you learn the rules, you kind of set yourself up for certain shots and to try and get your "sequence" complete as quick as possible, and some of those shots are very risk-reward centric. It's not a super easy machine in that regard, and it's very possible to have a total garbage game immediately after rolling over the score several times on the previous game. Geometry is such that, contrary to a lot of other pins of the era, the ball safely returns into the inlanes just as often as it threatens to drain down the sides.

Its main gimmick is the spinning disc in the center of the playfield, activated by hitting the two standups in front of it. It works nicely and is very satisfying to rip a bunch of times in succession--but it's very easy to hit it on the fly and drain straight down the middle, leading to a good bit of frustration. The C and D standup targets, one on each side of the playfield, light the spinner after both are hit, increasing the disc from 100 points to 1000 points. Basically, you can ignore the vast majority of the rest of the table and keep ripping the disc once it's lit. For this reason the game suffers a bit from feeling a little same-y after a while, and makes me wish for other substantial scoring options.

The chimes are really pleasant, and not at all earsplitting like many of the era tend to be--I'd say this is one of the more pleasant EMs I've played as far as sounds go. Ripping the spinner gets you a ding every time it registers 100 or 1000 points, so it can be pretty exciting to get a good hit on it and have the chimes go nuts while you try to regain control.

Aesthetics overall are nice and vibrant and don't wear on me like some of the weird psychedelic-esque palettes of the time (I'm talking to you, Target Alpha and Galahad).

Overall I'm impressed, and would take a Sound Stage (or Juke Box, the 4-player version) over a lot of other games of the era that fell back on boring symmetrical layouts without a lot of thought put into the lastability of the title. I like it well enough that, even though my dad has one at his place just an hour or so away from me, I'd probably jump on buying one for my own lineup too.

My take on this pin is to try and light every light on the playfield, (never gets old) instead of trying for points. Only way to get highest score is to do it this way. I owned "Juke Box "the four player of this game ,but needed money and sold it and regretted it ever since. The playfield is laid out really good, flippers and pop bumpers really throw the ball around keeping it interesting. I now have this one and put different color les bulbs in it looks as good as it plays now. If you find one get it, easy to work on and lasting pleasure.

I went into this game with low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. Most of what is said of Chicago Coin isn't good, but this must be an exception.

Bonus is valuable in this game, as is the prominent but risky spinning disk. Mechanically this game has some fun quirks, like that spinning disk scores points by using a rotating shutter and a photocell! The game also uses a combination of traditional open relays, and the more modern enclosed relays plugged into a board, the industry was certainly changing.

I never got into using the upper right part of the playfield where the kickout hole was, seemed like somewhat wasted space, but the rest of the layout is pretty good! I wish there was a way to win an extra ball without the ball draining, but oh well. Interesting that on a music themed game you collect letters A-F. Seems like they could have found somewhere to add a letter G to make it fit that alphabet.

The chimes are an oddity, being a doorbell mechanism. They sound fine, but just seems cheap compared to real chimes...and if you have dogs that might get interesting.

The art is nice, especially the cabinet art. The music theme is why we bought it for a friend, having the guitars, notes, etc on the side is much nicer than the random shapes on many EM cabinets.

Overall this was a pretty addictive game that was hard to let go of. It was bought with the intention of fixing it for a friend, but I sure wanted to keep it.

Points for a creative layout but not particularly fun to play or look at.

Sound Stage is certainly held back by its theme and artwork. HOWEVER, after playing this in league for many months I have grown to greatly appreciate the game play and have developed a fondness for this game. First, it has a true skillshot with one of two rollover lanes being lit at the start and a strategically placed rollover button that will change the lit lane and make you nudge at the last second if you misplay your plunge or you can use it to your advantage depending on which lane is lit before you plunge. You can also misplay the skillshot and miss both rollover lanes entirely. There are multiple standups that must be lit in combination to achieve certain features such as a left outlane ball save, a right outlane special (irrelevant in tournament play), or lighting the all-important double-bonus saucer. Speaking of bonus, Sound Stage is definitely a bonus game and tilting out a good bonus can be disastrous.

I kept coming back to this EM at Pinburgh. The art is just average, but it has a lot going on for an EM. Targets A and B light the outlanes for special and extra ball. C and D light the spinner target for big points, but it's a dangerous shot. E and F light a saucer back up top for double bonus. The layout is well-balanced but asymmetrical. Play this with friends, and it's a great time.

A decent layout, a spinning disk, some lanes, a kickout hole and some stand-up targets make this a pretty average game. The layout is good, you can reach the upper pf via the right lane but due to a lack of stuff to aim at this game gets old fast.

The spinner shot can be big points, but it can pose as a huge risk also. Very unique for an EM to have something actually move. Layout leaves much to be desired but by far not the worst EM I have ever played.

The Sound Stage design is one of the worst games I have ever played...

The Pros:
Ummm... yeah... No T-Rex.

The Cons:
Looks, plays and feels like... well... junk.

The Takeaway:
Take me away to another pinball game.