is there a crt expert here in chicago area

What do you have now?

There's a good chance I'm heading to Chicago in the late spring to buy some projectors. I sold them this past fall, I'll be buying them back most likely. If so, they should be really good candidates for an upgrade, depending on your budget. There will be 5 Barco Cine 7s to choose from, and perhaps a Marquee 9500 Ultra.

Also note that any other projector than the Zenith PRO 900 will have a 15% longer throw distance (roughly), so you'll need to move any other projector back. Otherwise you'll end up with a smaller screen size.

I was just about to recommend Curt, he's a true expert on the subject and your best access to vintage CRT projection equipment. You'll get the best CRT projection info available from him.

I am also a CRT afficianado, among other things I am Runco's go-to guy on the West Coast for their CRT projectors. Please look me up if you need a world class CRT front or rear projection calibration, wherever you are in the world. This also applies to self-contained living room CRT RPTVs. Curt and I have collaborated on a project I am working on in Alameda where a retired aerospace engineer and I are rejuvenating many projectors, some of them the 12" gun Barco 812.

I believe in CRT to no end. You might find interesting a thread on AVS I started more than 6 years ago about CRT that's still going strong -

http://www.avsforum.com/t/695922/dont-dump-your-crt-rptv/11400_100#post_22693007

Mr Bob
Edited by Mr Bob - 12/12/12 at 12:48pm

There's not a lot of reality series sets out there. We refer to them as the Barco 909 or Cine 9 (AKA Runco DTV 1200. Very hard to find, I've got 4 in stock right now (of the 909), and they usually sell pretty quickly. Superb sets, one notch over the Sony G90 (but some argue that).

I didnt know Bob wanted to travel anymore either.

I'm in Chicago. You could get the projector from Curt. He and I could hang it. And I could calibrate it.

craigr

No, nothing has the throw of the 880 save for the PRO 900 which isn't a big upgrade. All other CRTs will have a throw of 1.35 to 1.4 X the width of the screen, which means that the projector has to go back 15-20% from where the 880 is now. There's no way to change that, sorry!

Curt,

I have an Electrohome Marque 8500 that I would like to sell, approx 11,000 hours, tubes have company logo burned in, I doubt it has any of the neckboard upgrades or anything, complete with remote and plastic lens caps in perfect condition, I am in Des Moines, IA, what would this unit be worth?

the tubes are 90% of the value of a machine anymore. Your chassis is worth in parts than as a whole.

David, it's worth more parted out than complete as Dragan says. Maybe $250 total as parts if you're lucky.