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Replacement CRT - Loewe vs. B&O

post #1 of 11
9/19/12 at 3:07pm
Thread Starter 
Hello There,

I was looking to get a replacement CRT and was debating a few issues: HD vs. Analogue, among other things. Here are the TV's I have come up with and I have read a lot on this. Please don't suggest any Sony or RCA's, I am sure the XBR960 is a great TV but often costs more than the Loewe and I want a TV that's made in the USA, Germany or Denmark as the Loewe and B&O were. These TV's often come up on Craigslist for the $100-$300 range.

Loewe Aconda - 32" vs. 38"? From what I read the 32 had a better picture but could not accept 1080i through Component where the 38" had no problem with that? I love the Piano Black (although it can be a bit distracting maybe when watching the picture.

B&O Beovision 32 Avant - I have heard good things about this TV and that the picture qualit is even better than the Aconda, but it is only 480p maximum... So it is Analogue. I don't think that B&O produced any TV's that were HD CRTs?

Loewe Planus (No HD and not that aesthetically pleasing) as well as any other Loewe's I may find that are CRTs?

So my battle is between getting a Loewe that has 1080i or getting a B&O that has only 480P. As I mentioned some people claim that the Beovision Avant still has a much better image even at 480p than the Aconda at 1080i. That's on top of the B&O being more reliable and less calibration needed from what I have heard.. I don't have the luxury or time of seeing either of them in person.

If I choose the Loewe, I wanted to get peoples opinions on how well it upscales. I don't watch my television (except the occasional Xfinity on demand movie) and would want to see how it looks at 720P/1080i via Component Video input from Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-Ray as compared to an Avant with 480P via the same component video input from the same sources.

Thank you!
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post #2 of 11
9/22/12 at 7:03am
I'm not sure why you'd care where a second hand TV was made but if I had to choose out of that list I'd go for the 38" Loewe Aconda. Read about it in these threads

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1300869/looking-to-buy-an-crt-hdtv-will-be-my-first-hdtv/
http://www.avsforum.com/t/962437/loewe-aconda-owners/

There were different models of 38" / 40" Aconda. Some did HD, others didn't, whether the SD models were sold in the USA I don't know. I do remember there were two revisions of their top 38" HD model, the first was very prone to breaking down and the second added input features and was far more reliable. I think the problem with the first revision was it was made in a new American factory but the second was exported from Germany. I think the Loewes were exceptional at handling SD. My memory is hazy so some of this could be wrong.
Edited by homerging - 9/22/12 at 11:26pm
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post #3 of 11
9/22/12 at 3:42pm
I passed on a 38" Aconda for $25 in hopes of getting a 960 (I kinda only have one shot at getting help to lug one of these beasts). I thought about it and decided a built-in HD tuner, HDMI, and a flat screen were more important than the extra 4" and potential reliability issues (at least it seems that way per the little amount of info I could find on these forums). There's also some nice features on the Sony, it's several years newer, has a higher resolution tube (Super Fine Pitch), and these forums have a plethora of info (ex: service menu info) vs. very little on the Loewe.

BTW there's an RCA that is similar to the Aconda, at least I've read it uses the same picture tube (RCA which would be owned by Thomson which is one my least favorite conglomerates).
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post #4 of 11
9/25/12 at 10:00am
Just sent you a PM.
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post #5 of 11
9/25/12 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone for your help so far. I think I am leaning towards the Loewe. Hello SaveTheXBR960, I didn't receive a PM from you...
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post #6 of 11
9/26/12 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 
Also I was wondering if the Loewe or any of these TVs mentioned will upscale the image to 720P or 1080i automatically from Composite or S-Video? The reason I ask is that I will be playing LD as well and was wondering if there is an upscaling filter of some sort built into the TV or if that only kicks in with Component video input from the Blu-Ray or DVD? Will the LD look better upscaled to 720p/1080i (and more like Hi-Vision Muse) rather than playing at SD? I have heard that it looks better through composite than S-Video as well?
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post #7 of 11
9/27/12 at 1:41am
Nearly all HD CRT TVs are monosync devices. What the Aconda ACO9383 would do is line double SD, which looks good if done right.

Native support for 720p in HD CRT TVs is very rare. The Sonys would convert it to 1080i or 540p. I don't know if the Loewes would accept that signal but it isn't all that important.

Unfortunately there is very little information about the Aconda out there. Possibly the difference I remember reading between the early and later 9383s was the accepting of 1080i or YPbPr 1080i through one or two ports. Maybe the pages I read this info are now offline. Very rare 92" Kg decade old CRTs aren't big discussion items.

This I think is the equivalent RCA model
http://www.avsforum.com/t/280931/how-are-rca-f38310-owners-doing/
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post #8 of 11
9/27/12 at 4:06am
If the Loewe is anything like the F38310, the native display is either 540p or 1080i. So, 480i input gets deinterlaced to 540p. It doesn't accept 720p. 1080i obviously is displayed as 1080i.
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post #9 of 11
11/9/12 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 
So I've narrowed it down to the Loewe. Unfortunately I have seen some 30" CRTs which have the Philips Flat Tube CRT and are also 1080i via component input. Has anyone seen both the 30" and 38" Aconda's and does anyone know the main differences between them. Which has the better Picture Quality?
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post #10 of 11
12/11/12 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
I ended up going for the 30" Aconda due to the flat screen. I found it on Craigslist for $40 in the Piano Black finish. Picture quality is amazing. Better even than the Pioneer Elite display's I've seen at Best Buy... I set it up for 1080i via component video. A few questions:

1. I see that there's another input for 1080i via VGA (HD15?) that they call SRGB. Will it work with a VGA to Component Video adapter if I wanted to hook up a comcast Cable Box to watch HD television on it?

2. The Blu-Ray player plays DVDs and the internal line doubler in the TV via Component seems to upconvert to 1080i just fine. However, when I put a Blu-Ray disc in, it stretches everything and looks really twitchy and weird, UNTIL I press Stop or Menu, then for a few seconds it displays it normally but then of course if I press stop or menu it goes into the Blu-Ray menu and stops the movie from playing...

3. How important is calibration on the TV? Is there a way to do it myself? I heard about DVDs you can download, etc...? Do I just adjust the colour settings, contrast, etc... to a colour chart or is it more complex and has to do with geometry and other things besides colour/contrast? For now would making a colour bar DVD be enough?
Edited by BaronKatz - 12/13/12 at 2:29pm
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post #11 of 11
12/13/12 at 1:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BaronKatz View Post

3. How important is calibration on the TV? Is there a way to do it myself? I heard about DVDs you can download, etc...? Do I just adjust the colour settings, contrast, etc... to a colour chart or is it more complex and has to do with geometry and other things besides colour/contrast? For now would making a colour bar DVD be enough?

If you can find the service menu access codes and a service manual to tell you which codes are the cuts/gains to adjust the grey scale, you can make a 19" rca look incredible. Same for the higher end units.. need to have the software and meter to do the calibration and then the access and info for the service menu.
You can down load the AVS 709 disk, http://www.avsforum.com/t/948496/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration/0_100
burn to DVD and play in a BR player to properly set brightness, contrast and sharpness.
If you are handy and know what you are doing inside a CRT, one of the the biggest fixes I have done on CRTs is to adjust the fly back focus.

Biggest problem with doing anything on these old beasts is getting info on them..
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