I've been using a Marquee 8500 for the last six years or so and have been enjoying the the picture. I have an issue now with my unit (and it might just be the HVPS). Whether that's an easy fix or not though, it got me thinking of what I might do to get a better picture - should I consider one of these new VDC Marquee Untras that now seem available for $3k (literally new)? Would I get a better picture? I'm guessing it would be more reliable, instead of me waiting for something else to go wrong with my current one (dated 1996). Even if I get one of those VDC, do I need to get the HD145 lenses etc to make the most of it. Or, should I consider a used 9000 or 9500. What would be my best bang for the buck, considering I'm not very technical (am just technical enough to get into trouble, literally ;-)). My calibration skills are so-so as well, although the marquee guidelines on setup are intuitive enough and I do get a nice enough picture.

Thanks in advance.

I have two of the Longbow Ultras you see on the bay, these already have HD145, but the clear ones if you find a set of colored Hd144 or HD145 you will improve the primary color tracking. These are great PJ's and i had mine running at 1080p@72 Hz. These have a special Band Width increasing circuit on the Video Input module. It be a nice New PJ for you to have. There are some other nice PJ's on the bay and Curt has some 9500LC's if you want to step up to a brighter pic for a bit more money. He has a VDC madigral 9500LC that looks great. But its up to you. A new Low Voltage Paower supply would be your best bet unless your tubes are pretty worn. then get a newer set.

Athanasios

Funny, I get this question all the time.

'My XXX set died, why did it die and should I get another one?'.

Almost all CRT projectors are over 10 years old at this point. The odd failure is to be expected at this point. Buying another 10+ year old projector can also fail. THe nice thing is of course, all of the failures are usually easily repaired.

As for switching sets, that really depends on your tube condition. If the tubes look good, then I'd keep the set, unless you're ready to spend the $$ to get into a 9" set.

I did two customer upgrades this weekend. One was an 8110, bought new from TAW, that the customer put 6800 hours on since new. Tubes were reasonably worn, and an 8500 chassis with new tubes (the green was a sharper P16) and astig adjustment made a noticeable difference.

The other was an NEC PG Xtra upgraded to a 9500LC with slightly worn tubes. Husband and wife immediately commented on the added sharpeness of the 9" set.

what curt said, if your tubes are nice then repair and add the new HD mods from his web-site, total cost about $700. with new HVPS if that's the problem.
If your tubes are worn then get that ultra, those guys paid about $1800 per machine I think so $3K isn't too bad. I think they cost about $45,000. new each. I thnik there's a couple here listed here in the AVS marketplace too.

I've been using a Marquee 8500 for the last six years or so and have been enjoying the the picture. I have an issue now with my unit (and it might just be the HVPS). Whether that's an easy fix or not though, it got me thinking of what I might do to get a better picture - should I consider one of these new VDC Marquee Untras that now seem available for $3k (literally new)? Would I get a better picture? I'm guessing it would be more reliable, instead of me waiting for something else to go wrong with my current one (dated 1996). Even if I get one of those VDC, do I need to get the HD145 lenses etc to make the most of it. Or, should I consider a used 9000 or 9500. What would be my best bang for the buck, considering I'm not very technical (am just technical enough to get into trouble, literally ;-)). My calibration skills are so-so as well, although the marquee guidelines on setup are intuitive enough and I do get a nice enough picture.

Thanks in advance.


I think you have replaced a couple of tubes in this before a few years ago right ?

That is an old marquee. It really could use a good board upgrade from Dragan and a new Lvps from curt. Depending on the tube condition and overall condition it might be worth it to do that.

If you did replace the tubes yourself and are not that great at setting it up you would get the most bang for your buck image wise by just getting it fixed and If you are close to a pro pay for a complete reset including magnetic adjustment.

Or if you like NEW there is always that route as well. There is some GREAT deals on a couple right now ;)

Another option......Athanasios has some longbows and he has a 9500 in good shape maybe he will sell one of his lowly 8" Longbows to you and keep the 9" 9500. ;)

edit
Dragan answered while I was typing.

I know the video chain the on the Longbow's is heavilly tweaked and I've seen the new version 21 VIM here at my place before. I wonder about the HDM, VDM, and FGM, are those still more or less the same as the Christy versions?
Athan do you have any pics of those?

Bruce the Longbows are not going anywhere but up on my ceiling !!!

I think he should get a new LVPS from curt for now and think about upgrading while he watches his current PJ. He could do both buy the LVPS watch his current PJ till something else breaks and then use the new PJ to replace it. The thing with the longbows is they are ultras, so a parts machine is hard to find as are spare boards... especially the longbow boards, the HDM is different. it has a few mods on it that another ultra HDM i have does not. It also has a different firmware chip on the Daughter board. .

I think he should get a new LVPS first...then go from there, get Dragan's upgrades and maybe later get a set of tubes, I hapen to have a set of 8 inch LC tubes I might not put into one of my spare PJ's.

Athanasios

Bruce the Longbows are not going anywhere but up on my ceiling !!!


I Know that for a fact... I was just razzing ya, and it was an kind of an inside dig on a few people . Since I put the two extra 8503s up on Videogon I have had a lot of debates with people on how good these are compared to 9500s. I have debated too and I am putting mine up where my 9500 was. For the first time with these I will be doing an actual install and full setup next week or so and I am really looking forward to it.

I think he should get a new LVPS from curt for now and think about upgrading while he watches his current PJ. He could do both buy the LVPS watch his current PJ till something else breaks and then use the new PJ to replace it.

I think that is the best bet, and should be the first step regardless whether he keeps the unit or not.




The thing with the longbows is they are ultras, so a parts machine is hard to find as are spare boards... especially the longbow boards.
Athanasios

I know! .. But Imagine right now you could buy TWO 8503s for 2999.87 each and stack two NEW Marquee ultras for under six grand!! :D

Bruce

I Know that for a fact... I was just razzing ya, and it was an kind of an inside dig on a few people . Since I put the two extra 8503s up on Videogon I have had a lot of debates with people on how good these are compared to 9500s. I have debated too and I am putting mine up where my 9500 was. For the first time with these I will be doing an actual install and full setup next week or so and I am really looking forward to it.



I think that is the best bet, and should be the first step regardless whether he keeps the unit or not.





I know! .. But Imagine right now you could buy TWO 8503s for 2999.87 each and stack two NEW Marquee ultras for under six grand!! :D

Bruce

I know that is amazing is it not!!!!!!

Athanasios

Thanks guys for all the input. I think I will run with the cheaper option first (LVPS and board upgrades) - that does seem prudent. Then maybe I'll wait till I've got the few $$k burning my hole in the pocket to go for something like the 9500. I guess the thought of a 'new' machine just seemed soo tempting, especially if the Ultra is better than the regular 8500s.

Cheers,
John.

Since I put the two extra 8503s up on Videogon I have had a lot of debates with people on how good these are compared to 9500s.

I won't debate you, an old 8500 shares the same electronics as an old 9500 and it's really not that great. 9" tubes are nice but those machines are handicapped electronically which is why the Longbow is sharper than a stock 9500. Not saying this to pump up my mods either but the work I have done has been a real eye opener. Should have a few more user testimonials soon, one will be between a 9500LC ultra and an FDC modded 8500AC in spain. Should be interesting.

Dammit, I should have stopped in to see Bruce this trip. I need to EXPERIENCE one of these longbows!





I've been living with a shortstroke for years..:D

I won't debate you, an old 8500 shares the same electronics as an old 9500 and it's really not that great. 9" tubes are nice but those machines are handicapped electronically which is why the Longbow is sharper than a stock 9500. Not saying this to pump up my mods either but the work I have done has been a real eye opener. Should have a few more user testimonials soon, one will be between a 9500LC ultra and an FDC modded 8500AC in spain. Should be interesting.

Dragan's right all the cap mods I have done are the same ones he is doing and they just increase the stability of the line drawing/scaning so they are where they should be. Still some more things you can do dragan on the HDM resistor wise, i think I mentioned it in the Marquee thread ;)

And I plan on a newer version of my CLM upgrade when i get time and money for the parts, I'll need over 200-300 SMD caps for that and the DPB.
My original CLM mod improved the pic on my 8500 a bit but i think I can do better and lower over all capacitance, those 47uf caps work but lower ones in those places i think will filter better.
But this time I am going to build a few more extender cards and scope the CLM to hell during the mods.

Athanasios

Still some more things you can do dragan on the HDM resistor wise, i think I mentioned it in the Marquee thread ;) there's always more things to change, my priority was to do the things with the biggest bang for buck in 10 hours total labor time.

And I plan on a newer version of my CLM upgrade when i get time and money for the parts, I'll need over 200-300 SMD caps for that and the DPB.
My original CLM mod improved the pic on my 8500 a bit but i think I can do better and lower over all capacitance, those 47uf caps work but lower ones in those places i think will filter better.But this time I am going to build a few more extender cards and scope the CLM to hell during the mods.

Athanasios I stay with tantalums on the CLM, simply going with higher quality, low ESR, and high Surge resistance. My concern with the Alum. cans is that even the best ones have a 20% leakage rate, double that of a good Tant.
The scoping will be cool. I planned to do that with some boards before/after the upgrade. It's on my Very, very long to-do list.

there's always more things to change, my priority was to do the things with the biggest bang for buck in 10 hours total labor time.

I stay with tantalums on the CLM, simply going with higher quality, low ESR, and high Surge resistance. My concern with the Alum. cans is that even the best ones have a 20% leakage rate, double that of a good Tant.
The scoping will be cool. I planned to do that with some boards before/after the upgrade. It's on my Very, very long to-do list.


Yes but the electrolytic can usually handle the higher ripple rates better than the tants there now. And scoping some in places on the VIM showed better readings with AC noise. That noise on the CLM I would assume can cause other issues on other boards since the CLM has lots of digital circuits.

Athanasios