It looks like I’m the newest member of the CRT club. I was buying a set of speakers for my new home theater project from a guy who lives up the road from me. He mentioned that he had a couple of unused CRT projectors that he would throw in the deal for a couple hundred bucks. I vaguely remembered seeing this CRT subforum at one time, but otherwise knew nothing about them. Before then, I had never actually seen one. Since the price was low, I figured I didn’t have much to lose by trying them. Since I’ve never had a projector before, I might be perfectly happy with these, and put off the purchase of an expensive projector for a year or two. Worst case, I can sell them off to some other sucker.

I ended up with two of these RCF LS 6200 LD. One has about 6 hours of use (claimed), and the other is new in the box (still sealed from the factory). I haven’t found any info on this particular model, but from what I can gather, the brand isn’t very well regarded. It’s just a 7 incher (most of you probably already knew that), but the manual mentions something about a high resolution lens option (???). I have know idea how a lens increases resolution, but I’m guessing these don’t have this option anyway.

I was planning on stacking these, but then I found slartibartfasst's thread on blending with a HTPC. Am I completely wasting my time trying to blend low end projectors, or will I still see an improvement?

Will blending let me run a higher resolution since each projected area is smaller, or is the max vertical resolution fixed regardless of the projected width?

I haven’t figured out exactly what my video source will be, but have a chance to get some steeply discounted cables this weekend so I want to take full advantage of it. Is my best bet to run 10 RG6 cables with BNC connectors on each end from the projectors to the source location? The distance is about 25 feet.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/8975/dsc01716gs0.jpg
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/364/dsc01717ai3.jpg
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/3792/dsc01718yc1.jpg
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2570/dsc01721sp8.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/5308/dsc01724bv4.jpg

I'll be sure and mail in this warranty card.
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/9920/dsc01719ax3.jpg

I've never seen one of those.

Nice condition.

Here's some limited info:
http://www.projektoren-datenbank.de/pro/anzeigen.php?angabe=rcfls6200ld

150 800 Lumen

Freq:
H-sync: 30-50 kHz
V-sync: 50-120 Hz

77 lbs.

Other RCF:
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/reviews/hccreviews/CRTProjectors/RCF/RCFLS3001.php

Good score for the price. This is a new model on me, I only am aware of the older and more poorly made Runco 760 that RCF made for them. Yours looks like a data grade set. (oops, as Clarence points out above)

First thing I'd do is get some better lenses for the set, the TAC lenses are garbage. That will give you far better focus. Since I've never seen these (not that I've seen EVERY projector out there, but I've gotta be close!), I'd keep the second one for backup parts as you won't get any support out there for these two sets.

Or... pull the mint tubes out of the sets, and put them in something like an ECP 3500 or 4500. None of these older sets will stack well, they do have some drift and not enough convergence range, but hey, a mint tube ECP is nothing to sneeze at.

This is indeed a datagrade model, thought it would have hd-145 lenses, but that was the 4200 model. Model was reviewed in two german mags in mid 1999, so it will probably be around 7 years old, but unused. Try and find some HD6 lenses cheap, and turn up the contrast and brightness, and burn those new tubes.
http://www.projektoren-datenbank.com/pro/ansp.php?angabe=rcfls6200ld

Go to http://www.projektoren-datenbank.com type in rcf and you'll see data on this and the other RCF models.

Hmm, don't Clarence's link was there when I first looked at this thread, or I simply didn't see it;-).

The interlaced 3001/4001 models do pop up occassionally here in Europe.

80 lbs tops each...;)

How any person can "inadvertently" become the owner of TWO ~200 lb monsters.

They followed me home?

Really though, that's how most of my projects go. I do a ton of research to choose the most popular, well regarded product that will give the most value for my money, then turn around and buy the most obscure, unique thing I can find instead. Plus, I can't pass up a deal.

I told my wife I wanted to set up a small home theater like they have at Best Buy. She thought that was a great idea. Shortly afterward, I discovered via Craigslist, a neighbor who is an executive for a large pro audio company. I'm pretty sure this guy was a hypnotist or something, because after talking with him for about 5 minutes, I became suddenly convinced that putting 12 speakers (+3 horns) from an actual movie theater in my small theater/loft was a really good idea. My wife was less than thrilled to see my truck roll into the driveway toting about 1000 lbs worth of gear. I'm not even sure if she's noticed the projectors yet.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7473/dsc01713zs1.jpg
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/4412/pic0016gl5.jpg

I’m kind of wondering that myself. If I don’t post for a while, you can assume that I’m probably homeless, out in the woods somewhere, living in a makeshift speaker/amp/projector fort. That reminds me, I should probably hurry and order a screen. My fort is going to need a roof.

Who do you know at Mackie? ;)

I got all excited over the EAW stuff, then went 'hey, those look like Mackies', then I saw the boxes in the back of hte first photo. That also explains the projectors, Mackie bought RCF a number of years back...:)

If you want to unload some of that stuff, or if the executive is in a generous giving mode with other stuff, and you wanna share, let me know. I could also swap you a projector for some of it..;)

http://www.loudtechinc.com/news/2003/09072003.html
The above news article says that "Loud Technologies" ownes Mackie, EAW and RCF.

I guess that executive is taking home product "samples", haha.

Well I think Greg Mackie is no longer there and Mackie did get sold, right? I haven't kept up with the times I guess as I've never been a Mackie dealer, but have serviced some of the gear, and I like it...:)

They did have some issues with the DX-8 mixer dumping the memory at random, I pulled some of those out a while back but generally their stuff has been good to work with.

Who do you know at Mackie?

Well, I can't really say I know anybody, since I just found the stuff on Craigslist. Trust me though, I tried to work it for everything I could, but it looks like it was a one time deal. I think he was only interested in clearing space in his garage and I cleaned out most of what he had.

I will have some extra components but I'm not sure what yet. I've got a new child on the way so it'll be months before I actually get around to setting this stuff up. I'll PM you when I figure it out though.

Man, garage sales must be fun in Redmond..;)

'Oh, this thing, yeah, that's a Cray supercomputer, you can have that for $1.50.'

'Yes, I'm selling my spare 737, I haven't flown it in years. How's $50.00?'

'Windows Operating System? Well, that never worked right, how much can I pay you to take it away?'


:D

With 2 identical projectors, dare I suggest a blend or stack?

:)

He's ahead of you on that one

They followed me home?

Really though, that's how most of my projects go. I do a ton of research to choose the most popular, well regarded product that will give the most value for my money, then turn around and buy the most obscure, unique thing I can find instead. Plus, I can't pass up a deal.

I told my wife I wanted to set up a small home theater like they have at Best Buy. She thought that was a great idea. Shortly afterward, I discovered via Craigslist, a neighbor who is an executive for a large pro audio company. I'm pretty sure this guy was a hypnotist or something, because after talking with him for about 5 minutes, I became suddenly convinced that putting 12 speakers (+3 horns) from an actual movie theater in my small theater/loft was a really good idea. My wife was less than thrilled to see my truck roll into the driveway toting about 1000 lbs worth of gear. I'm not even sure if she's noticed the projectors yet.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7473/dsc01713zs1.jpg
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/4412/pic0016gl5.jpg

Looks freaking awesome! I'm really looking foward to the final setup!

What's the total wattage of those amps?????? SHEESH!!!

Cliffy

With 2 identical projectors, dare I suggest a blend or stack?
It sounds like these might not be up to par for either one. I'm a glutton for punishment though, so I'll probably give stacking a shot anyway.

What's the total wattage of those amps?
It sounded pretty impressive when I bought them.
4 amps X 2600 watts +
2 amps X 1400 watts.
I was thinking "13,000+ watts....Friggin sweet!!!!"

When I got home though, I cracked open the manual, and it said that those specs were at 2 ohms. At 8 ohms it's only
4 X 900w +
2 X 500w
My speakers spec sheet said 8 ohms, so I guess that's what I should go by. This is my first theater and I'm completely new to this stuff, but I'm pretty sure this is still plenty to get me into trouble. Heck, the plugs on the big amps don't even fit my wall sockets.

I drove out today to a trucking co. to pickup my new toy: an RCF LS6200.
New, in the box, definitely an impulse buy. Got it home and googled the model
number to get some info on the unit, after buying it, you guys'll understand :)
First link on the list was here, and prolly the only one in English. Wow, the one
in the photos here looks a lot like the one I just got. Reading a little more, I see
Curt's replies..LOL, it IS the one I just bought, albeit 6 months later, and the
box has a little more wear on it now that it's gone 2,000 miles east. Don't know
what I'm really gonna do with it, but it will definitely be interesting friggin' with it.
I guess Curt's deal with the OP got worked out, and in his defense he did not
misrepresent the unit at all, and while he may be smiling I don't think he's laughing
so I can live with that, everyone's gotta make a living eh? Cheers Curt

edit: just noticed the OP was in '08, so it was 18 months ago, not 6