CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

**kal** · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 12:00 am Post subject:

OUCH! Ok, time to make *more* popcorn.... Wink

Kal

Zolzar · Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 252

Love my CRT but this is the last one. Once that dies I'm going back to digital despite having a spare CRT pj.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 2:29 am Post subject:

Frankly, I've been bouncing back and forth between the SIM2 Domino and the 909 stack. For critical viewing, the stack is definitely the way to go, and I'm putting in a new controller card cage to fix the drifting on the one this weekend. A couple of times though, I just wanted to watch some crap TV, and I ended up turning on the SIM2 by itself. I hate the lack of blacks, the color red, that is too wine-colored and not bright red the way it should be, but the 2 minute warmup factor is great.

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

I've got two 9500LCs and three sets of tubes. One, in my "working" projector with less than 500 hours on them. Pristine faces. The second machine has LIGHT uniform pattern wear on the green. (Just a light raster, that's all.) Red and blue have no visible wear. And I have that set of super high resolution Lexel tubes that are going into the second machine for the fun of making what could be the highest resolution CRT projector anybody ever saw. (Hoping, not promising.) So given my equipment state, and
my viewing habits, (movies only, sometimes not even one a month lately) I won't be shopping for a digital projector for quite a
few years to come. My move to digital is most likely to be mandated by new transmission methods and standards with no way to get them into the CRT dinosaur, after HDMI is totally obsoleted.

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 2:49 pm Post subject:

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12088 Location: Fort Collins, CO

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

Oh yeah, throw in Gary and Dragan. What is that 10? Very Happy

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:20 pm Post subject:

Nope, I still far prefer a CRT image. THe stack rocks!

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:00 am Post subject:

So I replaced the convergence/controller board tray in my one 909 this morning, first thing right after the coffee kicked in. I then spent 3 hours dialing in the new tray to the digital, and tweaked the first projector a bit as well. The replacement tray resolved the issues I was having with the set, with the convergence being off ever so slightly in the bottom left corner. It dialed in perfectly, which then made me realize that the second set that I'd left alone has a very slight upwards hook on the far left side of the screen. I will most likely widen out the image of both projectors next weekend, then pull in the image via the Lumagen, as it really only affects 1" or so on the far left of the screen. Can't really notice it with the image on, only with the test pattern. I then watched 20 minutes of both projectors, and was pretty happy with the result.

I turned on the stack again about 30 minutes ago, closed the theater door to let them warm up, and just came back downstairs to see an HD hockey game. Man, the stack looks fantastic! While the SIM2 is a bit sharper, the reds and blacks are back exactly where they should be. So happy right now! Very Happy

cmjohnson · Joined: 03 Apr 2006 Posts: 5180 Location: Buried under G90s

The fact that I don't use my projector much has nothing to do with my appreciation for the technology, its friendliness to a "hands on" technically oriented guy like myself, and the fact that although I don't put many hours on it, I do that deliberately, saving it for movie nights that are all too rare due only to the many things that I choose to keep myself occupied with.

Like every other hobby I have, (many!) it gets its share of my time. I enjoy it for a while then do something else. Repeat ad infinitum ad nauseum.

Tinman · Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:07 pm Post subject:

I do miss the depth of the 9" Runco 990 I had, but to be honest, I don't miss tinkering on it more that watching it.
I don't miss the constant fight between the HTPC and the CRT, windows stubbornly refusing to obey powerstrip settings whenever it felt like it, etc.
Also don't miss the noise, the capacitors slowly dying and having to rebuild another board every few months. But yeah, the thing had an amazing image when everything behaved!

For me it was a fun hobby, but in the end my life has changed so much that: I still have only 250 hours on my Epson 8700UB that I bought in 2012!!!

So I guess while I will always look with fond nostalgia at the big CRT beasts I've owned and repaired, my current watching habits pretty much sum up why I went to the total plug and play system of digital. Hey, I just watched Minions on it last week..... last time before that was the rose parade.... LAST YEAR!!

Damn, life has changed. WTF HAPPENED???

Cheers to all of you that still know me!

Marc

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12088 Location: Fort Collins, CO

Nice to see you're still kickin', Tinman! So what's keeping you so busy, now that you've gotten out of the CRT monitor repair biz?

jask · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 10187 Location: kamloops BC

that would make me #11 - the XGLC is still up and running... and my youngest has been trying to convince me that the Barco 1208 should be set up in a custom floor table with cubbyholes all around it for his collection of consoles.
welcome back Eddie and Tinman!! I hope life is treating both of you well.

jeffslife · Joined: 17 Apr 2010 Posts: 4190 Location: ohio usa

I watch my G90 every single day, have since I got it. I will till I cant afford it any longer.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 4:46 pm Post subject:

After watching the stack again last night for a couple of hours, I unplugged the digital. The Barco remotes turn it on at random.

My stack is relatively stable now compared to what it was. I will most likely do capacitor upgrades, as one chassis has 10K hours on it, the other one about 23K, but yeah, I'm just smiling and smiling now. I too watch mine every day, and with the set of three Berkline seats I scored (motorized, for $500 USD!) which I'll pick up in the next week, all I need to do is change out the carpeting and finish painting, and the room is almost done.

One day I'll put in a riser in the back, to raise up the racks, and put a loveseat behind the three theater seats, but it's always only myself and the g/f in the room (and 3 dogs), so there's really no rush for the riser..

wkosmann · Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:04 pm Post subject:

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 4:50 pm Post subject:

You guys do realize that there are 100s, maybe 1000s more that don't look or post at this forum? While I don't count on CRT to pay the mortgage any more, I still do daily business selling parts and doing repairs. There are a pile of customers that I hear from once in a blue moon that I sold a set to over 10 years ago that are still going strong, and as many customer that upgrade from Sony 12XX series (doing an install locally next week for exactly that).

While a bunch of US military Marquees have been dumped in the last year or two, there's still far more in service that probably will never hit any auction website, as lots of places are under orders not to sell off anything as surplus, it goes right to the jaws of destruction. Sad