Hello all-

I know basically nothing about CRT projectors, other than the fact that I have always wanted to own one of the beasts :D There is someone local who is selling an Electrohome Marquee 8000 in good working shape for $550.....anyone who knows a lot more about these care to comment on what kind of deal this might be? It has a little over 3k hours on it, fwiw.

Also, if I decide to go look at the thing, are there any questions I should be sure to ask?


Any advice/info would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

It all depends on tube condition. Keep in mind that most of the 8000s are now 14-15 years old and will need some preventative maintenance work at this point. If the set is pre May 1994 it's considered 'old', and even with mint tubes, would be overpriced.. unless you are a tech or technical enough to buy it for the tubes, and transplant them into a later model set that you'd also have to buy.

Read this:

http://www.curtpalme.com/CRTPrimer.shtm

and check the tubes compared to this chart:

http://www.curtpalme.com/TubeCondition_RatingChart.shtm

Anything under a 7-8 and I'd say you're paying too much.

Hello all-

It has a little over 3k hours on it, fwiw.

any advice/info would be appreciated. Thanks so much!


Hello

Many 8000s were built with firmware below v2.0, and those did not have an hours clock until chipped up to v2.0, so the hours shown are not necessarily accurate.

.

All good info, thanks so much. I like to think of myself as electronically inclined, and I do know my fair share about HT equipment, but I am a neophyte when it comes to CRT's......basically I love projects, but this one sounds like it might be a bit out of my league. If the projector was in mint condition with very good tubes, what kind of image is this thing capable of?

If the projector was in mint condition with very good tubes, what kind of image is this thing capable of? most excellent:)
Seriosuly, if it's a 94 or 95 and tubes are not burnt to hell offer the guy $250. and you will not be dissapointed. Just keep an eye out for logo burn or a windows desktop on the tube faces, that is too much to put up with whenwatching movies, it'll drive you nuts.
Some of the boards might need this or that but they're easy to pop out and send to one of us for a re-fresh. It's fairly cheap to do.

Hello bunger and welcome!

A M8000 is a great way to start into this hobby...although I would suggest to start with a M8500 instead!

Draganm is correct when saying you should offer him a lot less and see what comes of it...I would think with decent tubes and good emission with no burn-ins it should be worth around 400 bucks.

I have no doubt that you should be able to find a decent M8500 for 550 plus dollars. (Don't know about locally though, but if not youo will need to consider crating/shipping cost...so maybe getting the 8000 is a deal even at the 550 price...assuming it has decent tubes!)

Anyhow good luck

Martin

Thanks for the info. I will drop him a line and offer him $200 and see where it goes from there.

Oh, one more question.....any guess as to ROUGH dimensions of this unit and weight? If I do end up getting this unit I need to know what kind of vehicle/how many people to bring.... Thanks!

You and one other will do...

as far as dimentions think a large suit case...weight is 210 pounds...a mid size van will do...or an suv..

Martin

good deal....thanks again

I recently sold a house with a theater where I installed an 8000. The PJ had approx 5000 hrs with little burn in. Suffice it to say, the pic quality on the marquee sold the house (at least for the husband in the equation).

Since then I had installed a newer LCD pj in my new theater. It throws a nice image but I still miss the film-like quality of the marquee. My wife can't tell a difference. She also likes the fact that there is not a 200lb monster above her and our baby's head when watching movies. I had a much better time installing the smaller and lighter LCD pj too, BUT I still miss the old crt.

You will be more than impressed with a properly set up 8000.

She also likes the fact that there is not a 200lb monster above her and our baby's head when watching movies. tell her having an ultra high pressure bulb hanging over the baby and waiting to explode isn't healthy either:)

...that and the tornado noise from the color wheel is bad for the psyche of the kid...hehe


that is how I convinced the ex to allow me to install one of my marquees at her house...

Martin

I always find it funny how women are concerned with the 'big beast' dropping off the ceiling. If this is mounted in a basement, two people standing side by side on a floor exert more pressure on the same floor as the ceiling of the basement, and you don't hear of people dropping through floors..;)

An 8000 does not weigh 210 lbs. I figure on about 140 or so. Spec sheets are here:

http://www.curtpalme.com/ElectrohomeMarquee.shtm

I always find it funny how women are concerned with the 'big beast' dropping off the ceiling. it has nothing to do with it dropping off the ceiling. It's more in line with "not tonight honey, i have a headache.
the real problem is it's so hard to decorate around those big ugly CRT's and when your friends come over and ask why you don't have a cute little projector like the ones at circuit City it makes for a really embarrasing situation.:rolleyes:

I remember the 210 number from the Christie Digital catalog

Martin

G90 is 242 lbs (and 8 oz.)

I remember the 210 number from the Christie Digital catalog

Martin

I'm guessing that was shipping weight in a *heavy* box :D

My old 8000 couldn't have been more that 150 pounds.

...possible!

Martin