CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Spanky Ham]

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[fragzero]

I see you dropped the price even more.

At which point will you consider parting out the set?

I'm interested in the hotrodded parts + 120mhz rgb amps

Also in the tubes + LC housings + lenses but shipping these to europe will be quite difficult.

[Decibel]

[Decibel]

[kal]

[kal]

[LOTREE]

Awesome deal, hope someone buys this locally. A shame to part out.

That said, Kal is correct. While the Zenith 1200 is a great machine for color, contrast, endless adjustment and tweaking possibilities it's not perfect nor quiet. Corner focus, at least on mine, is passable at best despite spending hours adjusting astigmatism with little change. Cinema material, it's stunning and on-par with the Barco digital projectors at the local theatre. For computer or tv guide menus my ECP 4500 was much better for overall sharpness, sad to say. So yeah, if I had a choice an 8500 would probably make me more satisfied. I would have liked to swap mine for the 9500LC I found on eBay for my father at 1/2 the price I paid but no such luck. The 1200 is a sexy looking CRT projector to have hanging from your ceiling, though. I just wish they had 2 stage focus adjustment, I like the look of a longer lens protruding from the case.

If I was in the market to buy again I'd easily put my money towards an Epson 8350 but at 1/3 the price this Zenith would probably win me over.

[ecrabb]

[kal]

I spent another couple of hours last night with both my new JVC RS56 digital ($8K MSRP circa 2013) and the Zenith 1200 CRT ($30K MSRP circa 2001).

With both on I could picture mute between the two to compare quickly. Black level doing it this way is slightly elevated but wasn't noticeable/objectionable.

I was quite surprised at how similar they look, especially with movie material. The JVC is sharper (and not calibrated yet) but other than that they're very similar. With movie material my wife couldn't tell the difference unless I started to point things out.

At low lamp mode and iris at -13 on the JVC, it's about the same brightness as the Barco with contrast at 65 (out of 100). This is how I've been running the CRT it as it gives me about 14 ftL.

Two comments:

- I'm happily surprised to see how far digital has come.

- While I have no use for the CRT projector I think I've having some sellers remorse. It bugs me a bit when you see how much a CRT projector like this sells for ($500-$1K, always used) when you compare what an equivalent digital costs ($4-8K, usually purchased new).

Kal

[kal]

I spent another couple of hours last night with both my new JVC RS56 digital ($8K MSRP circa 2013) and the Zenith 1200 CRT ($30K MSRP circa 2001).

With both on I could picture mute between the two to compare quickly. Black level doing it this way is slightly elevated but wasn't noticeable/objectionable.

I was quite surprised at how similar they look, especially with movie material. The JVC is sharper (and not calibrated yet) but other than that they're very similar. With movie material my wife couldn't tell the difference unless I started to point things out.

At low lamp mode and iris at -13 on the JVC, it's about the same brightness as the Barco with contrast at 65 (out of 100). This is how I've been running the CRT it as it gives me about 14 ftL.

Two comments:

- I'm happily surprised to see how far digital has come.

- While I have no use for the CRT projector I think I've having some sellers remorse. It bugs me a bit when you see how much a CRT projector like this sells for ($500-$1K, always used) when you compare what an equivalent digital costs ($4-8K, usually purchased new).

Kal

[LOTREE]

Yeah, it's definitely sad. Things have changed a lot in 7 years since I joined this forum, it's hard to believe it's been that long. I stepped into the CRT realm around 2002/2003, I miss those days for sure when CRT reigned supreme, prices were still high and very few people had an in-home projector.

I wouldn't be able to convince anyone to take on a CRT projector, regardless of IQ, unless they were okay with the amount of time and financial investment involved as it's more so a hobby; I have yet to calibrate mine properly due to the added purchase of a greyscale meter and software plus a gamma control unit. The selling point for a good quality, budget projector like the 8350 is that it's head and shoulders above others in the same price range and it requires very little work out of the box to obtain a great picture. A friend of mine was already set on going with a digital unit, I suggested the 8350 and he was sold. For less than $1000 direct from Epson Canada on a new unit with free shipping it arrived in only a few days. He's been ultimately pleased ever since. I've viewed other, cheaper digital units and while the contrast isn't as high a crisp, full focused image won me over. =/

Just to compare or so I could test out would you still be able to access your Gain and Cut Off values, Kal?

[kal]

[kal]

[LOTREE]

[kal]

[kal]

[Curt Palme]

My $.02 regarding CRT vs digital. I've noticed a trend (maybe only in my own head) of people that are calling me to upgrade to a G90 or similar, because they've owned a lower end CRT for years (usually an 8" purchased new about 15 years ago. THey go out to view a digital against their worn tube G70, and they come away disappointed. Then they get a hold of me and upgrade for another 7-10 years with a retubed G90.

So you have the typical newbie or fanatic that hangs out here, either to learn ( a fair number of new posters here in the last few months), and the die hards will argue the finer points of calibration to the death. There's many many many users still of CRT that don't hang out here unless something breaks, or they need HDMI type info, who use their CRT daily, have no plans of changing to digital, can do basic convergence and setup, and may go as far as owning a colorimeter.. or not.

[Curt Palme]

My $.02 regarding CRT vs digital. I've noticed a trend (maybe only in my own head) of people that are calling me to upgrade to a G90 or similar, because they've owned a lower end CRT for years (usually an 8" purchased new about 15 years ago. THey go out to view a digital against their worn tube G70, and they come away disappointed. Then they get a hold of me and upgrade for another 7-10 years with a retubed G90.

So you have the typical newbie or fanatic that hangs out here, either to learn ( a fair number of new posters here in the last few months), and the die hards will argue the finer points of calibration to the death. There's many many many users still of CRT that don't hang out here unless something breaks, or they need HDMI type info, who use their CRT daily, have no plans of changing to digital, can do basic convergence and setup, and may go as far as owning a colorimeter.. or not.

[draganm]

so the Zenith 1200 uses the same wonky lenses as the pro 900 I read on this forum many times that the 1200 was the same as the Barco Cine 8? The cine 8 didn't use those cheap single focus lenses did they?

[gjaky]

[kal]

The Cine 8 is not an LC projector, so it uses HD-8 lenses (completely different).
The Cine 8 Onyx is an LC projector and did in fact have the same HD-215 lenses as far as I know.

You can read more here: http://www.curtpalme.com/Zenith1200.shtm

I did a bunch of research into the Zenith 1200 back when I first got it and the section above is the result of what I found.

Kal

[kal]

The Cine 8 is not an LC projector, so it uses HD-8 lenses (completely different).
The Cine 8 Onyx is an LC projector and did in fact have the same HD-215 lenses as far as I know.

You can read more here: http://www.curtpalme.com/Zenith1200.shtm

I did a bunch of research into the Zenith 1200 back when I first got it and the section above is the result of what I found.

Kal

[garyfritz]

Hope you find a buyer, Kal. I'd pop $500 for a fantastic projector like yours (even though I rarely use mine any more), but not another $500 to ship it even if you would. And it's definitely not worth a road trip from Colorado, even with your beer at the end of the trip.

[LOTREE]

I'd say less than $200 using YRC LTL Freight, Gary! I've used them to ship my father's 9500LC from Fort Collins, CO to here in NL, Canada 3 years ago for about $300 and that's a 220lb beast. Mine was about $250 from Fort Wayne, IN a few months prior.

[garyfritz]

A Cine 8 weighs 150lbs. If I know Kal, the shipping crate would end up weighing at least 100lbs. But even if he used a cheap/light crate, YRC's website says shipping 200lbs at the cheapest weight class (class 50) is about $400.

WTF! You put that poor 9500LC through a harrowing cross-country journey, when I could have taken it off your dad's hands and kept it in town!?

[Nashou66]

Hmm How far is Ottawa from Buffalo?

Nashou