Prices dropping

I think that this is a factor, but most of the people that I talk with (other than the forum) wouldn't even consider a CRT just for the fact that it has to be tweaked and for its physical size. I tried to talk my brother into setting up one of my marquees at his house... mind you I was going to give it to him... and even throw in a scaler... and he said that he would prefer to buy "one of those small projectors". I guess some just want to turn it on and watch a movie.

This has been discussed ad nasuem on the forum. But yes it is clear that the low end below 8" EM has drop like a rock. 8" EM that needs tubes have also dropped quite a bit. 9" seems to be holding up. Resellers who offer warranty have seen a drop but less so. The one big difference I see are the small number of surplus sales of projectors in unknown condition. There are far, far very project/parts projectors on Ebay than there used to be.

I noticed this exact same thing happen to vintage HI-FI back at in the early nineties.

Back then I was buying SME arms for about £25 each, Ortofon SPUGTE's at about the same. Garrard 301's at £35. Quad II valve amps for about £50 the pair. I know money was worth a bit more then.

But just look at these items now!
330071148942
260074045882
170066747560
280068583117

A hard core band of enthusiasts who know what this old kit can do, continue to prize them greatly, the rest are content to listen to their Ipods, thinking it's HI-FI. Supply and demand dictate prices, I guess.

CRTs could follow the same pattern that vintage HI-FI did (a dip and then recovery).
I'm buying any bargain I can find in this downturn'.

I can't even find a buyer willing to pay $1000 for a 1208/2 (8" EM) with great looking tubes. So yeah, I'd say prices are dropping!

I'm in the same boat... I have a minty Marqee 8500 that apparently I can't give away.

Part of the reason is probably because now a pretty nice and really bright 720p DLP can be had for $850 now (HD1000U), which was unheard of not all that long ago. It wasn't all that long ago when you could barely find any under $3,000 (hell, I actually paid a grand for an X1, my first projector, a few years ago and now a $500 480p DLP blows it out of the water. lol).

It won't be too long before 720p DLP hits $500-$700. Cheaper 1080p Digitals are pushing down the prices of the 720p units and the 720p units are pushing down the prices of the XGA, 576p and 480p digitals. 480p digitals are pretty much on the brink of extinction, which is a good thing.

I think the future of CRT rests on whether or not we can get a good working blend that is fairly cheap and easy. That will definitely make CRT even more appealing. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.

My best friend wants an $500 Infocus 4805 or IN72 for his house. It's cheap, simple and puts out a nice picture when well setup. He loves my CRT on my torus, but no way is that for him. He gets why I like it so much, but it's just not for him. Too big & too complicated. It's that simple really.

I think people are just getting use to all this technolgy and are getting lazy. We want results instantly,even when eating! I saw a show a while back where farmers are cutting down orange trees and replacing them with clementine tangerenes cause oranges are harder to peel! LAZY !!!!!!! I'll take quality over ease of use any day when it comes to my theater!

Athansios

Love this new CRT obsession!!

CRT's were much more appealing, in early 2000, as 480p digital PJ were so expensive.

But now, who wants these ugly looking monsters beside us ?

There's a 9500lc on sale for cheap on AVS market place.

Part it out, man. I made twice as much by parting out my 8111 than I would have if I had sold it complete. Parts are plentiful for Marquees, but they're still in pretty high demand apparantly.

How much does 1 tube cost? Is it in the $200-$300? If 3 tubes would cost the same price as the DLP 720p/1080p, then.....thinking.....left or right?

that's kind of hard to believe, if you post in Videogon with pics of the tubes with lenses off I'm sure it would sell quickly. If you post in E-bay with all the other junk then yeah, your not going to get much.


Well Ignorance is bliss after all. Wait till he has to replace his first bulb at $400. then ask him again.
Personally, I think those little Clementines are pretty yummy, not fair to compare them to DLP's. Too many times Oranges are not only hard to peel but dried-up, sour, stringy, etc.

Beauty is in...
To me a cheap lightweight box with a lens that swing up and down when touched is not going to win any beauty contest either. At least a CRT is meant for people with an eye for beauty.

Ed are the Garrard 301's really worth $700.+ ? The First one looks like it has a rim-drive system, AFAIK that's rumble city. Today you can get a really nice brand new TT for that much with Belt Drive, outboard motor, and an excellent cartridge to boot.
I'm assuming that this market is strictly collector driven?

I posted it in the 4 Sale section on this forum, including pics of the tubes with the lenses off. I got a bunch of PM's, but all they were interested in was my Draper 119" M1300 snap on w/ frame.

I don't know, perhaps my green tube is considered too worn?



I'm thinking of setting it up in the bedroom projecting a 60" or so image. Should be plenty bright even in broad daylight. Hopefully those HD-8 lenses will focus that close to the screen.

It's only too worn in that it' not perfect. You should be able to find a buyer but might have to drop the price a couple hundred more.

5 pj's came up on the bay last week near me and only two bidders were interested at all when they were 9.99 and no reserve. I got the best one a 9pg with perfect tubes for $52.99 and the other guy got a 4101 also with perfect tubes for $24 or so. Neither of us even went to inspect them in advance, they could have been total crap and we just got lucky really but I guess my point is there were no other bidders but us two in a city of millions even at insanely low prices.

Had we agreed in advance not to bid against each other both would have sold for $9.99.

Troy

I find it really hard to jog while wearing any of the above items you mentioned.

I've also been wondering if so many of those who might be snatching up the bargains are just financially exhausted from x-mas and buying all the xbox 360's, ps3's, and Wii's.

Troy

it's not too worn unless someone is running a 4.3:1 screen. With a 16:9 screen those tubes hould throw a great pic, especially for a$1K. Try videogon, there's a lot more traffic because it's and older more established site than the marketplace.


you might as well listen to music while cleaning the house. Listening to music is a dedicated activity to be performed while sitting in a chair in front of the best 2-channel audio system you can afford. It invloves straining to hear any little imperfection in your H-FI system. Should any imperfection be detected, spending of thousands of dollars in "upgrades" is emmediately required

I think in the world of falling prices, any wear on the tubes is a death sentence for the PJ. I just sold a 1208/2 with pristine tubes (new green) for $1300. Given that it would take about $600 to get yours into that condition, one could infer that the going price of yours would be around $700-800.

The 8" machine has always been compared to the 720p digital (though I think this is somewhat erroneous). Due to that, $1000 720p digitals does drive down the 8" price even if the 8" CRT throws a much better picture.

Dave

But we're still comparing apples to watermelons here - yes, I like the picture from my 980 Ultra more than that of a friend's Sony Cineza -and the Runco, at today's prices is a bargain, until you consider everything else required to make my 980 Ultra better.

So yup, if I was lucky and lived on the coast, I could get a new one for 50 bucks (congrats, btw - I'll call you when I need parts ) -- but the signal gets to my 980 thru a DVDO VP 50, which lists around 3k. To watch my PS3 at full output res, I need a switcher to hold a DVI-RGB card - there's another 500 bucks. Or, (if I had half a brain,) I could just go out and pickup a Sony HS60 for 1800 bucks; heck, I could throw it away when it needed a bulb, buy the new improved model and still come out ahead.

If one could just plug in the cord from the source to the pj, and have the picture be equal or better to the digital, then you'd have a fair comparison. And please, don't mention HTPC - again, that's another layer of complexity, vs. just connecting a dvd player to the pj and enjoying a movie.

In reality all one needs is a transcoder for HD and DVD source if the pj has no direct component. I use my Nec with upconvert DVD and HD sat. My HS51A looks good but lacking lagging leaving much to desire in PQ.
Price decline is for both CRT and digital. HS51A last year was $3500. The year before HS50 was $5000 dropped to $3500. Now HS60 is $1500. And wait til summer.
Same true about panel displays such as plasma.

True (tho I've never been lucky enough to own a crt with component in - only rgb.) But I still watch quite a bit of sports, much of it sd - and I can't stand to watch 480i sports. Then again, that doesn't look very good on a digital either.....OK - I'll shut up now. OT - glad to see that someone else likes the Sony lcds - if I had to get a digital today, I'd go out and get a 60 myself. They don't match my setup, but dang, they are far from unwatchable, and a lot easier to get up and running.

It is watchable alright but I sit in second row in my room and watch sports or discovery or whatever and that is about it other than some kids movies for my kids. I saves me phosphore which I need for better stuff when I am sitting close.

PM sent

I DONT THINK SO!!!!!

WILLIAM SEND IT TO ME!!!!!! I'LL TAKE IT FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!

Cliffy

Even better...that just means the big daddy's should get cheaper! I'm interested in that 9500LC, but only if the price comes down a bit more...

Ben

come down even more? a 9500LC with mint tubes, the needed mods, and color filtered C-elements on R and Green for $3500. is practically a give-away price. Just the 2 colored C-elements are $520. new from VDC Florida.

But you don't need most of the stuff you say. For 90% of peoples set ups, they need only a little more than the PJ to make it work. For instance, my sources are HD DVD, upscaled DVDs, HD Cable and 2 D-VHS machines. Unfortunately, I don't have 72 Hz right now, but the grand total expense above and beyond what I would have had with a digital PJ including cables, to make all this work with my PJ is $340. And I could have done it for $250 if I didn't want "the best".

So, for price of PJ plus $340, I've got a picture so far superior to what that HS60 can throw (expecially from 1.4x screen width) it is not funny.

Dave