Marantz VP-11S2 - Page 5

OK, numbers look good, any complaints about RBE, anyone seen the JVC RS2 and compared them for overall viewing experience?

If you look at Kris Deering's review of the VP-15 he compares it to the HD-100 (basically the same as the RS2). And the 11S2 is definitely better.

If Jason ever sends me the RS2 he has been telling me about Ill be able to provide some extensive first hand comparisons. He was going to send me one in November and he sent me another PM a week and a half ago .. but he does get very busy. 8)

I dont doubt that all three of them look very good. I owned the HD1 and loved it .. and the RS2 is better. Now, I love my 15S1 and can only imagine how good the 11S2 is.

When I get my hands on it, youll know I like it better than my 15S1 (and that will be a tall order, Im thinking ) .. because the 15S1 will be on sale in the classifieds. 8)

Catdaddy, looking forward to your impressions on the 11s2, esp in comparison to the RS2, I expect the absolute black to better than the 11s2, and currently having the RS2 coming from a 8" sony crt, I can't say that I miss the black of say a starry night sky scene. But, like in cooking, the final meal and enjoyment of it is dependent on both the ingredients and the melding or harmonizing of the ingredients and that is the art of cooking as well of electronics.
joe

Joe,

Jason has the RS2 ready to ship to me .. but I am contemplating just having the 11S2 shipped to me, instead. I know the RS2 is an improvement on the RS1 but I really cant stop looking at my 15S1 and based on that alone I am contemplating bypassing the RS2.

Ill get with Jason on it tomorrow. 8)

Im hoping to have an 11s2 (worlds first DC4 machine I still await an answer) and will be able to compare to the RS2 directly with state of the art test equipment.

Having tested the 15s1 back to back with the RS2, i felt that the 15s1 was clearly the better machine. The 8 test viewers voted 6/2 in favor of the 15 in blind testing. The main factor was sharpness, with the RS2 being a noticeably soft image. On actual bench test the differences were readily apparent

I dont expect the 11 (from a couple of reports) to be much of an improvement over the 15 but incrementally better.

It does have a few things different but a lot more things the same.

Biggest differences of course will be the DC4 chip and the color wheel with the ND segment and variable speed. Also a difference I want to see if it has practical differences in image quality is the hand selected lens.

As far as chips go, since they dont seem to be manufacturing the 11S1 anymore I bet that the 15S1 is getting the rest of those choice DC3 chips. 8) Although the 11S2 is of course getting choice DC4 ones.

Im still wonderng how much of what has been reviewed/measured of the 15S1 has been done with the black enhanced setting, which while appearing to provide added detail, it comes at a serious expense of black level, and accordingly CR.

Is it just me or does Kris' review not provide actual brightness measurements for the 15S1?

It seemed to me he said it was brighter than the 11S1 but the CR is worse, which leads me to believe that he did have the black enhanced setting.

The 11 also uses graded DMDs i believe, same as the Sim2 HT380 and up. This adds around $450 to the chip cost alone,but can make a decent difference but at least guarantees near best possible DMD performance.

2 reports Ive had are that the 11 is dimmer.

Catdaddy,

Awww comeon, get both from Jason and then report back with your findings!

coldmachine,

What are graded DMDs?

I would be interested to see how the 11s2 compares to the HT380 also for that matter.

Hopefully the 11s2 blows everything away. I love it when something like that comes out so all of the manufacturers have to raise the bar.

Its selected DLP chips that perform at the upper end of the tolerance.

The 11 will be an incremental increase. As for blowing "everything" away, not going to happen. Its also low on the lumens

Thanks for the clarification on the chips.

I guess you could say that I hope anything coming out blows everything else away as I love to see the progression in image quality.

So if the graded DC4 chips cost $450 more, how much does a non-graded one cost in the first place?

Will the 11S2 offer the same throw lenses like the 11S1?
Can anybody remember the throws?

just for completeness, DMD is Digital Micromirror Device. If that didnt need saying, just ignore it

Always happy to help.

The throw for the VP11S1 and VP11S2 (and the VP15S1 for that matter) are the same:
1.5x to 2.1x screen width, assuming 16:9 aspect ratio.

Cat

I'm looking forward to your feedback the 11s2. If it does deliver improved full field contrast it may be my next PJ based on what I've seen of the 11S1.

D

Yeah I know what a DMD is, but I was just wondering how much one costs for the DC4.

I was referring only to the post where you asked what a graded DMD was, not the cost question in a separate post, i haven't addressed that yet, as i never noticed it.

I was unsure as to exactly what it was you wanted to know.

I was revisiting purely for sake of completeness.

Ahh I see. Well thanks for the reply. I didn't realize that there was any real performance difference from one DMD to the next. When you think about it, those little mirrors are amazing devices.

[quote=coldmachine;12984784]
Having tested the 15s1 back to back with the RS2, i felt that the 15s1 was clearly the better machine. The 8 test viewers voted 6/2 in favor of the 15 in blind testing. The main factor was sharpness, with the RS2 being a noticeably soft image. On actual bench test the differences were readily apparent

/QUOTE]

That is really hard to imagine for me since coming from a sony g70, to the RS2, the sharpness of the image almost makes my eyes bleed!! I can't fathom an image any sharper. The RS2 is a factory settings, I'm waiting for the DVE HD disc to make adjustments.

I think I really have to see this with my own eyes to see if any further sharpness in the 11S2, traded for better black levels of the RS2 is really what I'd prefer.
I'm hoping the Radiance XD color gamut software will help some with the sunburned faces on some program material.

Is the scaling/deinterlacing chip as good as the RS2's ?
joe

[quote=jlanzy;12989707]
The Marantz VP suite is cleaner. Pixel mapped sources were the same. Its not just what chip is used but how its implemented and how that integrates with the machine.

It also benefits from superior optics.

I thought there was an option for a short or a long throw lens.
Am I wrong?

I think you're right. What was quoted was the short throw (std) lens.

CatDaddy67...got them both ready to go...just tell me which...

Oh, it'll have to be Monday as I am going to play with the 11S2 this weekend.

Jason, please PM me the measurements of the 11S2 when you get them. 8)

Monday is good. 8)

Will do. I'm going on an install this weekend to MA, but I'll try and get it to you by Sunday evening. Worst case Monday morning.

Jason

Hope you are able to post your observations/opinion on how this compares to the other Marantz PJ's.

BTW Any idea why the 11S2 doesn't appear on the Marantz website ?

D

Hey Daz,

Ill have my objective, 3rd party, assessments/onservations to report on a side by side comparison. Ill be comparing Toshiba HD-DVD versus X360 HD-DVD SUBSTANTIALLY on both machines in an A/B before I pack one of them up. 8)

Ill be sure to report ALL the details! 8)

Look forward to the feedback.

D

Yeah I will definitely let you know my impressions. I try not to publically compare to rivaling companies (obvious political reasons), but I can be contacted if you want my opinion between various units.