Hi everyone, I've been reading many AVS threads here with great interest (jeez, so much info) and am about to pull the trigger on my first CRT projector, a Sony 1252 from Curt Palme. What is holding me back are space concerns: do I have enough room depth, and how awkward will floor mounting be?

Depth (living room is 167" deep):

- Min necessary throw distance: 89" (derived from PJCalc for 73" diagonal screen)
- Projector depth: 32"
- 18" foot room
- Couch: 24" depth
- Total: 163"

Okay, so it's a tight squeeze, but I can get in at the minimum throw distance. What has me worried is that this unit is going to be mounted on the floor inside a custom coffee table. If the bottom of the screen needs to line up with the middle of the lens', and if want the screen say 18" off the ground, then my table top (the one right at my feet) is going to need to be about 26" off the ground? Yikes.

- Am I calculating this right, folks?
- Given the relatively small space and the inability to ceiling mount (I'm a renter for the foreseeable future), is a big CRT worth the hassle? Or should I go digital? The new Benq W500 is 720p and has lens shift. Very tempting!

Long post, I realise. Any advice is much appreciated!

On that size screen the 1252 will throw one nice, vivid picture, and the tubes will last a LONG time since you won't have to drive it hard. I am willing to bet the PJ will have the medium spacers on it, which will not do for that screen size. You should be able to do the spacer mod on this site:

http://www.curtpalme.com/Sony125x.shtm

This will allow you to center correctly, and use more raster, resulting in a larger image(possibly 2-3 more inches diagonal).

What do you plan on using for sources? You don't want to go over 720p with these, 1080i is better. For 4:3 computer resolution 1280x1024 is about the max.

You should be fine with the PJ on the floor, just build a nice coffee table stand around it like you said and make sure it gets air. Your screen bottom will end up about 6-8" above the bottom of the projector, you can compensate by building a platform a couple inches thick at the bottom of the coffee table(good idea to do), and end up with 8-10 inches from the floor. 18" would mean the bottom of the projector would have to be 10-12" off the floor, which could get you an annoyingly hight coffee table. Whatever you do, DON'T tip the front of the PJ up to compensate, as you'll use WAY too much keystone to compensate. I also have a nice ceiling mounting method for rentals, if you have the ceiling height and can get away with just 6 bolt holes in the walls near the ceiling(easy to patch). This is how mine is set up.

Just my opinion, but if you can't mount a crt pj on the ceiling I would go bulb. Is there a reason you want crt specifically? If not, forget it.

Even still I don't think a 1252 is worth shipping, let alone paying a premium price for.

If you actually want CRT for any of the many reasons they are worth it, then commit to ceiling mounting and buy one of Curts better sets.

Troy

projectors really belong on the ceiling, why does it have to be on the floor?

Boy are you guys picky.... some of us have to make do with what we have and what we can get. I am testament to this- it took me 4 1/2 years to finally get mine up on the ceiling, and I was still VERY happy with my "lowly" 127x's.

But would you not agree that you should have ceiling mounted from day one? Most of us look back on the time we had them floor mounted and wish we'd have just gone straight to ceiling mounting.

It sounds daunting at first but once done you wonder why you ever wasted time with it on the floor.

The sony is ok for a local purchase but since he's paying "Curt prices" and shipping on top of that I think it makes sense to spend a little more in todays market and make the investment of both time and money really worth it.

Troy

I agree, PC. If he can get it local for under $500(assuming good tubes and running condition), it'll at least be worth it to him to get it set up and see what he's getting into- if he can get that price he'll be happy I am sure.. then maybe he can talk to his landlord about my low impact mounting solution:)

You marvelous titans of projection, thanks a million for the responses. Am at work so I'll respond in more detail later, but for now:

- Ceiling mounted is not totally out of the question. I currently rent, and tend to move at least once per year. So long as the damage to the roof was not too insane I could always repair when I leave. This approach would solve my 'monstrous coffee table' concerns. I have the tools for anything that needs building (ie: hushbox).

- Shipping is not an issue. I live in Vancouver and am within driving distance of Curt (thank the deities).

- Shipping is not an issue. I live in Vancouver and am within driving distance of Curt (thank the deities). that's a no brainer then, curt will hook you up well and when you get the itch to upgrade it will be even easier than for any of us. Hell, for hookers and beer he would install it for free. :D

If you buy a 1252 you will have an EM focus 8"er within 6 months...I did.

But a 12xx is good to learn on.

Wish I was driving distance from Curt :)

A question re: inputs to the Sony 1252.

Primary usage for this projector will be as a second monitor for my 15" MacBook Pro, displaying ripped / DVD movies, games, and podcasts. I'm completely confused on the best way to get signal from the laptop's DVI-D output to the 1252. HDfury green DVI-to-VGA-to-RGBHV? Then there's the whole issue of resolution and refresh. Oi. Will also be looking at getting a BluRay player (PS3 or stand-alone) soon, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Here is my setup (new apartment, just moved in recently):

http://biggreen.ca/joshtemp/misc/mysetup_july13.jpg

I think I will take a shot at ceiling mounting this unit. Sounds like it is the way to go, for numerous reasons. I'll definitely have a look at Sonynut's less-invasive wall-mount method and see if I can make that work for me.

If you buy a 1252 you will have an EM focus 8"er within 6 months...I did.

On the other hand, I've had my 1270 for 1-1/2 years and have not given any serious consideration to upgrading :)

wow, I wish I had those computer graphic design web-skills, that's really cool.
Remmeber that angle of PJ to screen is important. there some lee-way there but it can't be too steep. Also, that's a really nice frickin apartment, make sure the ceiling above is robust and will support a 150 projector. if the lumber up there is adequate, then pre drill 7/32" holes into it and use 6 x 5/16ths lag bolts. They are plenty strong enough and leave more wood behind than 3/8". Space them out to edge of PJ's mounting footrpint or even a little beyond. don't forget to soap or wax the lags before screwing them in. Check out e-bay item 260135159592 , it sold for only 20 bucks but if you can find one of those it will make your life a lot easier.

On the other hand, I've had my 1270 for 1-1/2 years and have not given any serious consideration to upgrading :) that's because you didn't come to my HT meet in July 06. Every one there running less than a G70 wound up upgrading after seeing my 8500 ;)

that's because you didn't come to my HT meet in July 06. Every one there running less than a G70 wound up upgrading after seeing my 8500 ;)

Naw... I'm just a cheap ba$t@rd :D

Sorry guys, had to put in my $0.02.
1. Floor mount in the beginning is an excellent way to go. Why? You can learn all the set up stuff without standing on a ladder. Once you are on your way with set up (tube focus, electronic set up, etc.), think about ceiling mount.
2. If you mount the 1252 above your head, be prepared for LOTS of fan noise. You might have to put a hush box around it just to enjoy a movie. I sit about 10' away from my 1272 noise source and it's loud enough. Would love to do fan mods, but not convinced on what to do yet.
3. Buy the 1252. You might be happy for quite a while if the tubes and picture are decent. I upgraded from a 1270 to a 1272 within a year. Better tubes (300 hrs.) and higher resolution on the cheap. I am VERY SATISFIED. I have considered NEC, Barco, etc. But won't do it until this thing dies. In fact, I'd probably go with a 1292 or G 70 first.
4. Get a cheap scaler/processor on eBay and enjoy better resolution. I picked up a CrystalImage VS 4.0 for ~$200 and I am blown away. I have it set for 720p and you cannot imagine how wonderful VHS tapes look, let alone DVDs. The 1272 will go a bit higher in resolution, but the image starts to get fuzzy. 720p is perfectly fine for my extremely low expenditure level.
Hope that helps,
Dave

Projector purchased! Delivered by Curt Palme himself, no less. It's floor mounted and throwing a nice (albeit roughly calibrated) image on my wall. The process for this weekend is:

- build a screen, put on wall
- square projector to screen
- factory reset
- center phosphores (as per mooneyass article)
- electronic adjustements
- convergence
- astigmatism

PJMoore, a huge thanks for posts of yours like this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10436703&&#post10436703). I feel confident in my knowledge now to set this thing up properly. Then the next project will be to put it on the ceiling within a hush box (big thanks for the tips on that front, daganm. I'll check with Curt to see if he's got any 1252-compatible mounts lying around).

Huge thanks, people. Photos of the final setup to come!

Goggleflappers ala mooneyass,
<infomercial>"There has to be a better way!" </infomercial>
Seriously, goggleflappers sound like an awesome mod (interesting band name too?). I'm tempted to try it. Who doesn't like better focus, after all? But what a pain in the ass it looks like. Alternatives? PJMoore wrote the following (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10434060&&#post10434060) :

We ended up using the small screen/thick wedges, and then inserting rubber grommets on the outboard screws. This allowed us to "toe in" the guns and use a smaller than normal screen. The rubber grommets worked fine and allowed a degree of fine flapping adjustability.

Iiiiinteresting.

A word on my setup: MacBook Pro running 720p movies to Sony 1252 via DVI->VGA->BNC yellow brick road. Can highly recommend the x264 codec in mkv containers (get 'Perian' component package to enable QuickTime playback). A terabyte array will soon be my music / movies / games server, all pumped into the MacBook Pro via eSATA card (blessed be that standard!).

Err... just reread this thread and realised Sonynut might have already answered my question re: gogglegflapper alternatives. Would this approach from Curt's site do the trick?

http://www.curtpalme.com/Sony125x_SpacerMod1.shtm

The spacer mod on Curt's site is for the "toe-in" on the tubes, replacing the spacers that are between the tubes and the chassis. It allows fine vertical centering without using the electronics, enabling larger rasters and easier convergence. It will not improve corner focus like the googleflapper mod. It still is definitely worth it with as small a screen as you plan on using.

Wow PJ you have a way with words there.. excellent description!

ro- you never answered my trivia question email. Did you find out what the flickering flames are on the Burrard St Bridge?

That goes for the rest of you Vancouverites too, what are the flickering flames on the Burrard St Bridge?

(Hint: They've been there for decades, no one ever knows what they are...)

And bonus question: What did I have to do with the flickering flames?

:)

ro- you never answered my trivia question email. Did you find out what the flickering flames are on the Burrard St Bridge?

That goes for the rest of you Vancouverites too, what are the flickering flames on the Burrard St Bridge?

(Hint: They've been there for decades, no one ever knows what they are...)

And bonus question: What did I have to do with the flickering flames?

:)

Well obviously they are there to commemorate the Battle of the Lauraine, as represented by the cross of Lauraine, and powered by neon bulbs that were state of the art when installed in 1936. Bulbs that I recon you replaced sometime in the last 20?

And yes, I had to call in a ringer on that one :D

Nah, I just wanted you to identify the incandescent bulbs that LOOK like neon.

I built the sequencers for the flickering flames back in Aug of 1985 to replace electromechanical motors that had rusted out over time. I agreed to build them, then realized that I had to pull out the textbooks to work out the circuit..:)

But I'll be damned, they are still there and working 22 years later! I found the 5th spare that I built 'just in case' on a shelf last week..:)