System #175 (Aeon i, Theater, Aerius i)

[LaserMark4]

1. Member Name: Mark S.
2. Location: Fort Collins, Colorado USA

3. ML's / Speakers:

• Fronts: Aeon i
• Center: Theatre
• Rears: Aerius i
• Sub: HSU VTF-3/MK II

4. Year Purchased: 2005/06
5. Mods/Changes: Bi-Amping the Fronts

6. Associated Components:

• NAD T-163 7.1 Pre-Amplifier
• NAD T-973 7 Channel Amplifier
• Panasonic RP-91 DVD-Audio/DVD Player
• Panasonic AG-1960 S-VHS Editing/Player Deck
• Sony UVW 1800 Betacam SP Editor/Player
• Sony VPH-G70 CRT Front Projector
• Runco PFP-11 Video Scaler (720p/1080i)
• DISH Satellite ViP622 HD-DVR (1080i)
• Da-Lite High Power Video Screen- 106"
• Belkin Pure/AV PF-60 Power Console/Filter
• Room Wired w/Belden and Canare Cable, Blue Jeans Interconnects

Comments:
I thought I would wait until my HT was fully completed before I show cased it to the Club, but I've come to see its a continual work in progress.

A few years back my wife and I built a dedicated 14' x 18' HT room into our new home. And of course, we "creatively" imagined the typical Best Buy (high end- ) equipped theatre. Woke up one day and said, "What are we smokin'-- why not have an awesome audio listening and HT room we've always dreamed of?" It's been nothing but pleasure and sheer ML bliss ever since. The room already has excellent sound....anxious to hear the final acoustically treated room.

Over the last 12-18 months we've assembled all the pieces and parts and we are fully equipped, tested, and tweaked. Only one problem. It's SO awesome and perfect, but now I need to tear it all down, rip up the room, construct the mini-stage, do all the wall/ceiling treatments, and put it all back together.

We enjoy listening to live DVD and HD concerts of all genre with friends-- absolutely doesn't get any better than that!

*CLICK ON THE CUBE TO ENLARGE THE PICTURES*
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Pictures Shown Are:

1. Entrance into the HT.
2. Front view of the HT room.
3. The front Aeon i and sub (HSU). Unfortunately, the ML beauties in the front and the sub will be hidden behind the mini-stage front to the HT (covered by thin black acoustic fabric).
4. The Aerius i rears.
5. The Big-Guy! Throws a 106" plasma/LCD-like picture....very cool technology!
6. OK-- now the dirty laundry. All this mess goes in the adjacent room behind the HT. "But it's so dialed in, and now you are going to tear it all apart?”, everybody says…. -

Thanks to all the ML Club family for great advice and counsel along the way!

Logan’s RULE!
Mark S.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Heck of an HT you got going there! Great gear too! I look forward to an addition to the house in a few years and putting in an HT at that time! I want one big enough to seat 13-18 people, though most of the time it will probably just be me or me and the wife, but when you are adding on you might as well DO IT RIGHT!

 

[STV]

Wow, talk about interactive! Now that's a way to see it all in one place. Very cool indeed. BTW love the setup Welcome aboard!


Seth

 

[theWB]

:welcome: Mark,

Very nice Ht setup
I dig the picture cube in your post

"But it's so dialed in, and now you are going to tear it all apart?”, everybody says…. -

Normal people will never understand, Half the fun comes from the constant tweaking and adjusting. A complete overhaul sounds like even more fun.

 

[benleeys]

Welcome, Mark. Great setup and collection of equipment you got there. I have the Sony D50, but wish I had acquired the G70 instead. For the time being at least, I think it's hard to beat a properly calibrated CRT, more so with a good scaler.

 

[benleeys]

:welcome: Mark,

Normal people will never understand, Half the fun comes from the constant tweaking and adjusting. A complete overhaul sounds like even more fun.

We're not normal ....?
I have always thought we're the normal ones around!

 

[LaserMark4]

Welcome, Mark. Great setup and collection of equipment you got there. I have the Sony D50, but wish I had acquired the G70 instead. For the time being at least, I think it's hard to beat a properly calibrated CRT, more so with a good scaler.

The D-50 is nothing to sneeze at!! That's a nice unit. You can pick up a great G70 these days in the $2K range-- maybe trading up when you get the hankering- Or go for the proverbial 9" big boy!! Prices are at an incredible low with still quality units out there.

I was totally novice when I found my G70 and scaler combination at a steal price. A great guy in Chicago, who is in the commercial CRT market, took pity on me I think and said, "Look guy....this exactly is what you need so just write the check and enjoy." He worked with so many combinations of CRTs matched to scalers that he thinks even the combination of certain scalers with specific PJ's tend to look better in quality. At any rate, it was jaw dropping from the first time I fired it up and it was dumb novice luck.

I wrote this the other day in a ML Club thread elsewhere talking about why folks hate CRT's.

Why folks hate on CRT's? I think the complexity of set-up, size and mammoth weight (200 lbs+), and complex technology originally scared consumers away. To CRT owners, it's the hobby and the challenge, with a lot of rewards when they dial in and throw world-class images. Part of it, too, is that they were just so very expensive for so many years and they were never designed to be a consumer product. CRT's in the HT market have really only come in vogue over the last 7+ years when prices plummeted. They fell, though, certainly not for the reason of poor value or quality.

The Sony G70 I now own sold for $25,000+ as late as 2000, with all the cards, bells and whistles, and superman shipping case/crate. A G90 was a staggering $45,000+. I bought mine in late 2004 for $3,350 from a Ritz Carlton in FL who tried to use it as a mobile PJ (big mistake), threw up their hands, and dumped it with only 178 hours on it! An incredible piece of technology and performance for a pittance, but again, that kind of craziness created an almost "too good to be true" panic for those who really didn't understand the true value of the product. I think that kind of mania early on with consumers has also added to the confusion/mystique when corporations and business fled from CRT's to digitals for the sheer simplicity of setup and use. Image was no where close, but it didn't matter to most conference and board rooms where the small, mobile digital PJ's were really their savior in setup. Corporate losses were the HT enthusiasts gain!!​

Thanks for the good words....and CRT's, along with ML's, also RULE!

Mark S.

 

[LaserMark4]

:welcome: Mark. Normal people will never understand, Half the fun comes from the constant tweaking and adjusting. A complete overhaul sounds like even more fun.

I hear ya....I love the tinkering and projects too. I''m getting revved up to do this thing.

The design plans are almost there and I've had plenty of experience now with the room and equipment to know pretty much how I think I can pull it off. The small mini-theatre stage front/arches/columns will be the most challenging-- to keep it lightweight (thinking of brazed 1" square steel tubing structure) with a speaker/acoustic fabric covering that does not impeded the sound in any way. Dusting off the high school metal shop memories may be the biggest challenge.

Also working on quite a trick lighting setup- colored halogens, LED placements with dimmers, and hopefully a "one button does it all for the wife" with full remote controls for the myriad of components, etc. that will be sitting in the room adjacent to the HT. Going to try to do most of it myself-- like you say, "constant tweaking and adjusting."

Mark S.

 

[twich54]

Hey Mark, Very nice Ht set-up, love your "Picture Cube" !!

 

[Joey_V]

Getting wooozy......

 

[LaserMark4]

Getting wooozy......

"Wooozy"- i.e. you mean flashback to us 60's guys.

 

[benleeys]

The D-50 is nothing to sneeze at!! That's a nice unit. You can pick up a great G70 these days in the $2K range-- maybe trading up when you get the hankering- Or go for the proverbial 9" big boy!! Prices are at an incredible low with still quality units out there.
Mark S.

Totally agree with all you said, Mark. Almost everybody is dumping CRTs these days and jumping into digital on account of easy maintenance. Better for the likes of us.

Henry Foo of FH Video in SF offered me a used G90 (<200 hrs) in late 2005 when I got my D50. Even asked me to make him an offer! Would you believe that! And the unit was right here in Singapore. I was so tempted then but regretfully declined on account of its size/weight. Preferred one that could be hung from the ceiling without risk of it crashing down on you when you're enjoying a show. Now I wish I had taken him up on it, since it is capable of receiving HD video.

 

[LaserMark4]

Totally agree with all you said, Mark. Almost everybody is dumping CRTs these days and jumping into digital on account of easy maintenance. Better for the likes of us.

Henry Foo of FH Video in SF offered me a used G90 (<200 hrs) in late 2005 when I got my D50. Even asked me to make him an offer! Would you believe that! And the unit was right here in Singapore. I was so tempted then but regretfully declined on account of its size/weight. Preferred one that could be hung from the ceiling without risk of it crashing down on you when you're enjoying a show. Now I wish I had taken him up on it, since it is capable of receiving HD video.

Yes.....the full 1080p HD video. But the 1080i is still quite jaw dropping with the right combination of source and feed if you haven't seen that yet on the G50 and/or G70.

That G90 would have been way tempting, I agree Ben. I heard that FH Video bought out from SONY all the remaining new stock of G90s and G70s about 2 years ago-- a slug of them! At the time I bought mine, they were actually marketing the G70 for $17K. But I think reality sunk in that the bottom had fallen out under these things, and they probably started trying to fire sell them a bit.

The G50 is very similar to the G70 from what I understand. From the first day I connected to sat DISH HD 1080i, I couldn't believe the huge quality difference over the 720p/DVD scaled levels that I thought was great. It was like going from poor VHS levels to the 480i DVD jump.... only maybe even more dramatic. From what I have been told, the HD-DVD players will make that same jump, even tough the G50/G70 won't quite run 1080p (only the big-boy 9" machines will do that). I haven't hooked up to a new HD player yet-- was thinking about getting the XBox 360 combo.

BUT, I think you will see that same level of quality jump with the HD DVD players on your D50 too. For one the, the source material is just that much better- way more information/second, which dramatically improves the source signal.

Are you currently using the HD feeds (1080i) from either Direct or DISH sat? If not, you will be amazed at how incredible that picture is. I am partial with DISH from all I have heard on the street, but you need the new MPEG4 players too to really make it happen (and get all the new MPEG4 HD channels). I've really enjoy my ViP622 DVR-- it cranks out one awesome image over my older units, and they are offering them with specials for little extra cost now if you are a new subscriber!

Mark S.

 

[kcl]

When I put together our home theater system in our new house in 2002, I was going to put a G70 with new tubes (our system is in our family/great room and has 10' ceilings). By pure chance, I ran across a low-hours G90 that had been replaced in a company's board room with a digital display. None of the principles wanted the "big, ugly thing" so they were hoping this guy (their controller) could sell it. He had seen that CRTs were going for just a fraction of their cost, and said that I could have it for the $5k I was going to pay for the G70! He didn't do his research very well, because it probably was worth something in the $17k range. (Heck, I was offered $12k sight unseen by some folks on the AVS forum.) Needless to say, I told him I'd be able to take it off of his hands.

It completely blew my HT budget at the time, and it took me another 6-8 months to be able to afford and/or build the rest of the projection system (mounts, cabling, HTPC, Stewart drop-down screen, switcher, etc.), but when it was finished and calibrated, watching movies and HD on it was (and still is) simply breathtaking.

 

[Pcar928fan]

said that I could have it for the $5k I was going to pay for the G70! He didn't do his research very well, because it probably was worth something in the $17k range. (Heck, I was offered $12k sight unseen by some folks on the AVS forum.) Needless to say, I told him I'd be able to take it off of his hands.

So what is the current state of affairs w/ the CRT projectors? I am going to build a dedicated HT room eventually but that is probably a few years off and I still think the CRT's are better than ANY of the other things I have seen on the market so far! As good as the current tech is I still think the CRT's have better PQ...

What are the good ones to look at and what should they cost? Also I would like to do about 130" screen size (maybe even 140") would these projectors handle that and how far away from the screen would they have to be?

 

[LaserMark4]

He had seen that CRTs were going for just a fraction of their cost, and said that I could have it for the $5k I was going to pay for the G70! He didn't do his research very well, because it probably was worth something in the $17k range. (Heck, I was offered $12k sight unseen by some folks on the AVS forum.) Needless to say, I told him I'd be able to take it off of his hands.

Jesse James used a gun.....you used a checkbook!

And I thought I got a deal--

Mark S.

 

[benleeys]

........said that I could have it for the $5k I was going to pay for the G70! He didn't do his research very well, because it probably was worth something in the $17k range. (Heck, I was offered $12k sight unseen by some folks on the AVS forum.) Needless to say, I told him I'd be able to take it off of his hands.

...... when it was finished and calibrated, watching movies and HD on it was (and still is) simply breathtaking.

To quote someone in another thread, kcl, oh how I hate you ....! Some guys get all the luck.

 

[benleeys]

What are the good ones to look at and what should they cost? Also I would like to do about 130" screen size (maybe even 140") would these projectors handle that and how far away from the screen would they have to be?

James,

Look for a G90 with <200 hrs or so (usage record of each gun may be viewed in the service menu). If I remember correctly, it can easily handle a 250" screen. For a start, I'd try FH Video in SF and see what they can offer. A dedicated HT room would be ideal, cause CRTs perform best with movie theatre lighting conditions. Else wait for 3-chip DLP prices to come down further.

 

[benleeys]

Are you currently using the HD feeds (1080i) from either Direct or DISH sat? If not, you will be amazed at how incredible that picture is.
Mark S.

Mark,

HD hasn't really arrived in Singapore just yet, maybe sometime this year. Only cable HD is available but I haven't the inclination to subscribe so far. I can guess how good my G50 can be within its limitations. It's got a built-in doubler and can receive 480p and throws a fantastic picture with good DVD transfers.

I am waiting for 3-chip DLP prices to come down to more reasonable levels and then we'll see .... If anything, I believe its qualities are closest to CRTs.

 

[LaserMark4]

Apologies

Mark, HD hasn't really arrived in Singapore just yet, maybe sometime this year. Only cable HD is available but I haven't the inclination to subscribe so far.

Oops- me bad, Ben. I forget this is an International forum.....I'm sounding like a concentric focused American again. Sorry about that!

BTW, Jesse James was a famous outlaw in the 1800's here in America that robbed banks and trains on horseback in the old Wild West days. He used a gun to rob people, and kcl used a checkbook to buy/rob that guy of his G90-