Arcade Controls - Cheap (EG Starts) or quality (Sanwa)?

Comic Sans

Hi,

I'm new to RetroPie (haven't even installed it), but since a friend have me his old Raspberry 4, and I love retro gaming, I want to build a dual-player arcade controls board. I expect to play retro games maybe 2-4h/week, and if my wife enjoys it too, might end up expand the arcade controls into a full size arcade cabinet.

As for parts, the main question at the moment is:
Is it worthwhile investing into quality buttons and joysticks (Sanwa) + a quality ipac usb encoder? (€130-150)
Or are the cheap €50 kits (for example from EG Starts) nearly as good? Do they last? Or am I going to be frustrated by sticky/unresponsive buttons?

Maybe an in-between solution: Sanwa sticks, cheap buttons + cheap usb encoder?

I understand this is very subjective, so for context: I'm a casual gamer, grew up with C64 and Amiga. Back then, the difference between average joysticks and the Competition Pro was very noticeable. (Still got my 2 Competition Pro sticks after all these years, despite some fairly intense gaming back in the days :)

From a technical point of view: the cheap kits all have 2 individual usb encoders. The ipac encoders I've seen all cater for 2 players with 1 usb port. Does this make a difference in terms of setup / gaming experience?

Many thanks for your help!

boredfish

@Comic-Sans Hey - bit late to the party here, but incase you (or anyone reading in future) swings by...
I'm making an arcade machine of my own (albeit mini). After a first proto (enclosure for a 5" display and USB ports for a few retro USB controllers) I decided to make a slightly larger one (7in screen this time) - and I also wanted arcade buttons.

I got the EG Plays ones (specifically these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075DFNK24 ) and I've been really pleased with them. The stick is sturdy and feels really nice. The buttons are perhaps a little cheaper looking than some, but they're really responsive too and look really nice when lit up.

That's not to say the Sanwa ones (which I don't know much about) wouldn't be noticeable better, but at the end of the day I see many of these things as things that could be upgraded. The dimensions etc appear to be somewhat standard across both brands (and others). The type of person who builds an arcade cab is likely a hobbyist - so I'm sure the EG buttons won't go to waste if you replace them in future with better ones :)

There's a single encoder board which everything plugs into (with extra connections for other bits, etc) and this goes straight out via USB. I had these all plugged in and tested in my computer within 5 minutes of opening the box.

Good luck!