CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[wendortb]

I currently have 2 vph-1272 projectors. The one I am using has slightly over 2000 hours, my spare set has slightly under 2000 hours. I bought the second one incase something went wrong with the first.

I have found a marquee 8500 on ebay with 5000 hours on the tubes. I am sure these tubes are alot darker then mine. I can go look at it this weekend to get a closer look at the tubes to make sure they aren't toast.

What I am wondering is how much of a change would there be going from my 1272 w/ 2k hours to an 8500 w/ 5k hours? I am guessing the 8500 won't have as much color as the 1272 b/c of hours, is this correct? But the 8500 should be able to focus a lot better from my understanding.

Also, if it is ok to put up here, how much do you think the 8500 is worth (approx)?

Or should I just forget the whole thing and order a nicer 8500 from curt when I have the money (a couple years from now)?

I havn't seen any other crt front projectors to compare my 1272 to.

Thanks,

Travis

[Zebu Fellenz]

The 8500 will be sharper and will stay sharp for the life of the tubes; really you should look at tube condition and base your choice on that; also be aware that the tubes will not be color filtered so the colors won't be as good as the 1272 you are using now. You can fix this by transplanting glycol from the 1272 into the Quee' or by getting the HD-144/145 mod which will also Improve the focus.

Erik

[wallace123456]

Travis,
If you decide to get rid of any of the tubes from the 1272 you have, and they are in good condition, let me know.

wallace

[wendortb]

wallace123456: I will let you know.

Zebu Fellenz: Thanks for the reply. I won't bid anymore than I already have. Sounds like I am better off staying with what I have for a while.

Thanks,

Travis

[PJMoore]

I ran several Sonys - the last being a 1272 - before moving to the 8500. The difference is definately noticable. Sharper focus and the ability to resolve slightly higher resolutions. Setup is a complete PITA compared to the Sony, but I tend to be lazy, so grain of salt on that one. With the Sony, you have horizontal and vertical skew - with 8500 only vertical - you have to rotate the deflection yoke for horizontal. Centering the raster on Sony is "push the buttton" - on the 8500, it is fight with non-vernier mechanical adjustments on the CRT neck. OK - you don't do this often, and you are rewarded with a better image once you have done it, so more grains of salt. My unit looses sync every time the central A/C kicks in - the Sony never did that. Would I go back? No - I am spoiled by the tighter image. Just wanted to offer up my observations for your consideration. I bought a unit in need for $200 and spent another $500 on used parts to get it up to snuff - so no complaints here about the move to Marquee.

[wallace123456]

PJMoore,
Good to see you over here. Your knowledge and posts over on the a site are very well done regarding the 1272.

Did you ever sell your 1272?

wallace

[garyfritz]

I don't disagree with PJMoore -- the 8500 does take a bit of setup effort, and it sounds like the 1272 is easier -- but it tends to be a one-time issue. Especially the most PITA things like centering and magnetic setup. Once you take care of that, you've got a really tight platform with lots of potential for improvement.

PJ, I've never had a problem with my 8500 losing sync. Maybe a bit of power conditioning or a UPS would take care of that?

[Brian Hampton]

I went from 1271 (which I retubed) to an 8500 with nearly mint tubes to my G70 (that I bought new tubes for.)

I don't regret any of the chages along the way.
I loved the Marquee.

Still, you could hold out for a nice G70, NEC XGLC, or 8500LC as your next move. (If you sold the two 12xx's then moved on one of those that could be a good move.)

[PJMoore]

Well - I decided that coming over here was good for my state of mind. The A site had become too confrontational and was sucking me into stupid arguments with foolish people over stuff that just didn't matter. I ended up feeling like an idiot and deserved it. Better kharma here, and thanks for the kind words, Wallace.

I still have my 1272. I have it on V but half heartedly. It's been good to me and I trust it, so there is still an attraction for me. I actually hope that someone in my vicinity ( say within 250 miles or so) buys it and wants me to help them set it up and teach them how to enjoy it. I enjoy seeing folks happy about their first home theater, pleased by how cheap it was to put together, and eager to learn more about this hobby. It keeps me light hearted. I am retired and 57, so I keep an eye out for ways to not grow old too quickly.

The 8500 has been a lot of fun to play with. Only my ignorance of its idiosyncrasies holds me back at times. They say that ignorance is bliss - so that makes me a happy guy indeed.

I suspect that a UPS might help with the sync weirdness, but I know almost nothing about what to get. Asking about the relative merits of power conditioning on the A site only invites world war 3, so I never mentioned it. Here are my thoughts however (shields up - polarize the hull plating). The Sony never lost sync or "blinked out" momentarily. The Marquee does. The M does it noticably when the A/C kicks on and the voltage sags, but it also does it at other times randomly - sometimes several times in rapid succession. Could these "other" events be power line noise triggered? I think I am seeing a correlation between the random events and transitions between very bright and very dark scenes, but that might be coincidence.

The Sony always seemed to me ( as an electrical engineer) to be somewhat overbuilt. The M seems to take a more minimalist approach. Is it possible the M is just more sensitive in its basic design to power line noise and/or voltage sags? It is possible that in the process of generating the additional lumens and using higher bandwidth components, that it has invited sensitivities the Sony does not have? I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud, and I only have my one M as my point of reference, as opposed to the previous 6 Sonys. I know that it is solely an issue of Sony 1272 vs. this particular Marquee, because all of the signal processing and power routing, cables, etc., are identical for both projectors, yet it is the M alone that exhibits this behavior. I leave open that it is somehow a function of only this particular Marquee, of course, since I never see anyone mentioning this behavior on their Marquees.

Maybe it is the kharma gods punishing me for not being more patient on the A site.