CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

lyd · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Lake Mills, Wi

Greetings all.

I've been reading on the subject of CRT projectors both here and at avs for a couple hundred hours now, and, while I have learned a lot, I do not yet feel that I am in a position to make an intelligent purchasing decision. I loathe to make one of these vague and no doubt irritating "which projector should I buy" or "what would you pay for gray cat in the dark" posts, but for all my research I don't feel too much further along than that, and I'm not quite sure where to turn next. I am hoping that you lot can give me a pointer or two. I'll try to be as succinct as possible, though that may be "not very", given the scope of my questions.

I'll just dive in...

I am located in North-East Pennsylvania, between Scranton and Allentown.

I have a large room to use, approx. 20' x 30' with 10' ceilings. The screen will be on the 20' x 10' wall. (Not that I need or expect to fill it.) The room has three large windows that I intend to black out completely, and one open doorway that I intend to curtain. The walls and celling are white and there is nothing I can do about that in the short term. The primary seating is currently located about 15' back from the wall, but can be moved as required.

Ceiling mounting is not likely to ever be an option, but I do have plans to create a sort of gantry/scaffold out of architectural pipe, a la Speed-Rail, to get it overhead. More on that some other time, perhaps. Initially it will be on the floor/table.

I know that want at least 8", I think that I want at least 960p (for SD DVD, upscaled) & 1080i (for HD). One of my questions is whether I might be just as happy with 720p for SD DVD.

I think I want LC.

Currently, I exclusively watch SD material on a 27" Panasonic GAOO that I have had since 1993 and loved unwaveringly the entire time. Unfortunately, the tube is way beyond its duty cycle and I can no longer get it anywhere even remotely close to proper saturation or luminosity.

I have lived with this for a long time primarily because I would rather watch it than any fixed-pixel display I have ever seen. I install cable television for a living these days, so I see a lot of them. The best of them look great for HD content, and if I had an HD-capable device I would no doubt watch more such content, but I still watch enough SD that I can't abide the horrible artifacting I see with even high-end upconversion. Most of them look pretty bad even with HD content. But, sorry, I am getting off track and preaching to the quire.

Source is HTPC, primarily DVDs and the occasional download. I do not have cable, satellite, or a broadcast antenna, and don't intend to get them. I do intend to get a blueray and/or hddvd drive for the PC.

So, it is down to this.

Which projector should I buy? Wink

Sorry couldn't resist.

My biggest problem is that I have not been able to see anything first hand. I have emailed a couple of people I found nearby with that request, but not gotten a response.

If I had a greater level of certainty regarding either "what should I be paying," or "what are the minimum features to get me what I need" I would be more comfortable taking a leap, but being uncertain of both of these has left me spinning.

A short while back, before I came to my senses and realized I needed to know more, I almost bought an Ampro 4200 from an individual on one of the forums for $2k. Curt has several items listed on his site that seem like possibles, 2 XG 1351 LC's for $3000 & $3400, a G70 with lower-grade tubes for $1800 that seems interesting, and the tweaked-out 8500's for $3k.

These are all potentially within my budget, but it is still an effing lot of dough! I am finding it a very tough choice to make, particularly when I see people finding units in the next level at similar prices. Make no mistake, however, I understand and fully appreciate the merits of purchasing from Curt or a similarly reputable dealer.

Well, this is has gone on long enough. You see where I am at this point. I'll only add that I would ideally like to spend less than $2k, I could spend as much as $5k if I thought I absolutely would not be satisfied spending less, but that would really hurt a lot and devastate my near-term options for the rest of the set-up. If I can't be happy for less than $8k - $10 I will have to put this off for quite a long while, if not indefinitely, but from what I gather so far this shouldn't be the case.

Wow. This sure lived up to the "noob post" subject line. Can anyone resist the desire to slap me and offer suggestions on where I go from here?

lyd

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:12 am Post subject:

Hopefully someone will chime in that they are close by and will let you take a look at a good 8" setup.

Here's some basics as far as I'm concerned, others will violently disagree..

1) Comparing apples to apples, put 10 different 8" sets in a large room and set them all up well and drive them with identical signals (and assuming all have minty tubes of course), there will be very little difference between models. Some will be louder, some will be easier to set up, some might be a touch sharper than others, but one isn't going to be significantly better or worse than others.

2) To me anyways (flame suit on), LC isn't that important. As I said though, others will say that they would never go back to a non LC unit after owning an LC. I've got a 9500 LC on my ceiling, but if you forced me to go to a plain 8500, I could certainly live with the unit with no problems at all.

3) Easiest to repair and set up: Barco and Electrohomes

4) Harder to set up, a bit noisier but a bit sharper: NEC XG. Not a set for the 'hands off, I don't want to learn CRT' person. (you don't sound like that guy)

5) A bit easier to set up than the NECs, but larger and heavier and harder to get parts for: Sony G70.

6) 9" set give (subjectively speaking) 20% more resolution, but generally are twice the price of an 8" set. Tube prices dictate this. For your budget, get a tricked out, mint tube 8" set, spend the $ to go DVI/HDMI, and spend some of the left over $$ on an HD DVD player or Blu Ray. I set up a Blu Ray with 1080i and HDFury card on a mint 9500 Ultra this weekend in Edmonton..... stunning! Customer was super happy as well. The 9500 Ultra replaced a power surge blown up Runco/NEC PG+.

Z-Photo · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:18 am Post subject:

Buy an Ampro......

they are the best.....................

whats6x7 · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 5924

Just couldn't resist, could ya Z?

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:10 am Post subject:

rod · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:12 am Post subject:

Well, I'm also a noob (mentally speaking). I've been doing CRT since '99 but I still a two-year old mentally. I'm really happy with by Barco and it is somewhat easy to tweak (once you know a few not so obvoius tricks). It is nice an quite compared to my buddies NEC.
You make it sound like ceiling mount is difficult but unless you have a special ceiling I'd consider mounting it. It will give you lots of freedom configuring the seating arrangement. Also not so prone to bumps and scratches.

mack1 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 494 Location: SARNIA

Z-Photo · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:15 pm Post subject:

I am here all week folks -
trying out the Left Coast mindset.

Ampro Good
Bush Bad

aspec2 · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 549

Pete

Have you got your therapeutic pot licence? I'm surprised that Cliff hasn't moved.

Walt

scottap · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 177 Location: Palo Alto, CA

I vote for the G70 that Curt is selling with the mint tubes. It sounds like it's in your budget, you've got the room for it, and I think it has the best balance of features/performance that you're looking for. While parts may be harder to come by than Barcos or Marquees, l think that's become less of a problem as it seems like more people are starting to sell/part out their G70s (but I'll defer to Curt on that one). It uses the same tubes as an XG so the sharpness should be similar. It's also (a little bit) quieter. While the XG does gives you more adjustment options than other sets, it also means there are more ways to screw it up. That can be an issue particularly if this is your first CRT projector. If you're paying someone else to set it up and calibrate it for you then it's less of a concern. You can also get great performance out of Barcos and Marquees, but to get the most out of them you'd probably want to mod them (add color filtered lenses, Mike Parker mods, etc.).

So all of your choices are good, but if I had the budget, I'd go for the G70.

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

stefuel · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:29 pm Post subject:

lyd · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Lake Mills, Wi

Thank you all very much for your responses.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:39 pm Post subject:

Lyd, sorry I speed read, and skipped over the part that you have a computer. Get a HD DVD or BR drive then, no need for a standalone unit. Go DVI/HDMI if you already have short runs.

NOw it's up to you whether to go with LC or not.. Smile

lyd · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Lake Mills, Wi

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

lyd · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Lake Mills, Wi

lyd · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Lake Mills, Wi

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 6:17 am Post subject:

lyd · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 390 Location: Lake Mills, Wi