So, ive been looking for one of these stellar tvs. I will eventually be getting a projector, but the CRT will be used for general watching. I cant stand the picture of LCDs (too much blur to me, even with a 120hz cycle. have not witnessed one with 5:5 pulldown however). Also dont want a plasma due to altitude problems (even high altitude rated tvs hum, including panasonics and pioneers, supposedly rated to ~9500 ft). might just be a noisier set in general though. either way, its no good. that, and the fact the only plasma picture that has wowed me was the new pioneer kuro elite.. a bit out of my price range!

What kind of price should i be looking at for a decent, used set? I have yet to actually find one in my area, but have no idea what the general price is right now. I saw someone picked one up for 350, and another on sale in NJ for 750. seems like somewhere in between would be accurate? 500 or so?

also, i see tons of articles about the 34xbr, did they make a 36? if so, any drawbacks to the larger screen other than weight and power consumption? (i realize this has most likely been answered in other threads, but figured id throw it in there :D )

thanks for the time!

Around $600 for a very good 960 is normal.

thank you, i know the forum rules, but felt it was an.. extenuating circumstance, as there is no technical retail price. are there effective tests that can be done with a multi-meter? or better yet, just by physical/visual inspection? I read through ~80 pages on the official thread and just started to zone out, so sorry if its a double question!

I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a 960; I got mine for $475.

also, i see tons of articles about the 34xbr, did they make a 36? if so, any drawbacks to the larger screen other than weight and power consumption? (i realize this has most likely been answered in other threads, but figured id throw it in there :D )


36 inch sets (eg 36kd955xs) are 4:3 whereas 34 inch sets are 16:9

So the high definition material is a 33" letterbox on the 36" set; most people prefer the HD material bigger and not letterboxed.

I got the 36 inch variant for several reasons; one being viewing of slides from digital cameras (memory stick) and digital camcorder viewing (far larger and more engaging than viewing in a much smaller pillar box on a 34 inch set)

Also standard definition fare; if its important to you; looks superb with the sets treatment of 480i (essentially scaling to the sets resolution) in a view that is twice as large as what you get on the 34 inch in a pillarbox.

And therefore I have a smaller HD box at 33 inches - which brings it back to most would prefer the high resolution material to be presented non-letterboxed and bigger.

(of course you can zoom the HD material, then it would be 25% bigger, but most people would not want to cut the edges off the presentation; this is not a problem for HD 4:3 material which is kind of rare)

I have been watching the prices for these sets locally and I do think there is some variation geographically but here is my take and take it for what it is worth for sets around me.

34xbr960 I think is 600 tops and that is for one that is calibrated, mint condition. I think 500 is more reasonable unless there is a really good story and proof to go along with it why it is worth a premium.

34xs955 I haven't seen enough to make a determination on price, I am guessing they are worth probably about $100 less on average than the 34xbr960 so say around $400 or less. They don't have the "best ever direct view set" premium about them but are great sets.

34xbr910 These have the fine pitch aperatrue grill but no ATSC tuner and DVI versus HDMI. These appear to commonly have problems which appear to start showing up at 4 years (which is about the age they are today). I could have got one of these with the matching Sony stand for $375 (it was advertised for $500) and passed because of the potential power supply issues. I would say these are worth $300-350 max. If you can repair yourself (I can), the most common failures can be fixed for less than $30 and long as you are handy with the soldering iron. If don't like soldering you can pull the board and get a rebuilt replacement for about $150-200. If you cannot do that then you are looking at a repair of $300+, if you can find somebody to do it.

34HS420 These are the most common sets I find in the Wega 16:9 format. They seem to go begging at $400+, sell quick below $300 and seem to eventually find a buyer at around $350. No ATSC tuner. These seem very popular with gamers so check carefully for burn.

30HS420 The most common 30" version I have seen. They seem to go for around $100 less on average than the 34" version. I don't have too many datapoints though.

34XBR970 the last of the XBR direct views. No fine pitch grill and so a step down from the 960. I haven't seen too many of these so hard to tell what they are selling for. They are the newest sets out there. Circuit City blew them out last year (March) for around $600 so rightly or wrongly I would have a hard time paying more than $400 for a used one.

You will see older Wega sets such as the 34xbr800 out there. These seem to have more issues, whether because of age or the newess of the technology at the time. They also suffer the dreaded 1080i rolling bar/line problem that can be fixed sometimes with a service menu hack but other times requires board replacement. Most of the ones I have seen are being advertised for similiar prices to the newer sets so I am not sure why anybody would buy one unless they were getting a really good price. Folks seems to set prices more as a percentage of what they paid, rather than looking at the market for such sets today. The earlier sets cost more so their advertised prices reflect that.

To me, but maybe not others an original Sony stand is worth $50-100 when combined with a TV.

I suggest you do you own research and remember that the advertised prices on Craiglist are not necessarily what the set sold for (if it sold at all). I would look at Ebay see what auctions are closing for. Also look in the threads here on the specific models because there is some pricing information there.

I think you're a little low on the 960 - don't know about the others. I just sold a 2-year-old, not calibrated for $650 to an AVSer. Another guy was ready to pay $700 before he found one that he could pick up without shipping. I think it's a matter of how much the seller wants to sell, and how much the buyer wants to buy. I was in no rush, so when a couple people offered $450 and $500, I wasn't interested.

You could be right, the 960 is a wild card because of its status as the ultimate XBR and the fact that some folks will pay a premium for that. Additionaly if you are willing to ship that will net you a few more $$$ for sure from folks who cannot find them locally (very few people are willing to go through that hassle). As you state the prices of anything is what a buy/seller are willing to agree upon.

Personally in an era of $1200 1080p plasmas (recent BB deal) I would have a very hard time seeing to many people, myself included, paying $700 for 2 year old TV with little or no warranty and I am a dedicated CRT fan (my primary display device is a Barco 808s CRT front projector and I use a Sony FW900 as my compter monitor).

very informative! i have put up an ad on craigslist in my area (denver) wanting to trade my iPod touch with shure e2c earphones for a mint condition, calibrated xbr960. also stated i would pay cash for one, but i just dont use the touch. never been a fan of ipods, but thought it was too cool to pass up. i thought i would use all of its functions, but i dont, so i figure might as well try to get something like this tv with it!

OT, but is anyone else having trouble signing in or having their posts show up? i responded to reply #2, but i dont see it displayed. i also posted about a receiver in the proper location, and received a response, but i have to click on my name and choose "see all posts" to even get into it...

thanks for the replies!