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Hi there fellow members,
A couple of months ago, I toyed with the idea of adding a Plasma setup to my home. The one year anniversary of the DIY custom building of my dedicated cinema room was approaching, and I thought what a better way to cap it off than with another separate HT system for my living room.
While I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy my HT room almost daily (DILA projector shooting through a Panamorph lens to a 100" wide Stewart perforated Greyhawk screen, making use of a modified SDI Denon DVD player fed through a Vigatec 1280 scaler for DVD playback, and an RCA DTC-100 for HD), I felt the need to upgrade my 30" Sony monitor, which was frankly beginning to show its years. I immediately thought of a Plasma display, as I felt the technology was coming of age and was ripe for prime time. I searched the forum through a myriad of choices. First came the Panasonic, then the Pioneer, then finally the Fujitsu. I weighted in all the pros and cons of each, and the final choice was not too difficult to make, albeit time consuming (it took me months to commit).
On a side note, a forum member who lives not too far away from me, who has had both the Panasonic and the Fujitsu, provided significant input on the subject. It was easy for me to demo both extensively. I am also proud to say I have made a wonderful friend in him and thank him kindly for so, for all the time that I have spent at his place and the fun times we have been having since. His handle is Aviators99, and his name is Ron. Yes, he is also a pilot, and a heck of one at that to boot!
Then sometime last fall I became aware that Peter Cineramax had opened shop in Miami, and so contacted him to schedule a viewing of his store. Peter had previously sold me a mount for my DILA last summer, and that is how we met. He told me he had the Fujitsu on display, along with the Revox line of electronics which was a much better choice for complementing the audio side of things than my then preferred candidate, Bang and Olufsen.
I am happy to say that I am the proud owner of what I consider is the top performing, visually stimulating, audio/visual combination available in the Plasma/compact category. I could not be happier with the Fujitsu. I had it calibrated by Cliff Plavin, who has done a great job at perfecting the best gamma and greyscale the set is capable of delivering. Colors look vivid, punchy yet clean, with absolute lack of artificial enhancements and video noise, which I terribly despise. HD looks glorious, there really are no words to describe how detailed and precise the images flow before your eyes. Liquidity is the word that comes to mind readily. To my surprise, SD satellite looks amazingly clean too. I have been accustomed to a lot of garbage feeds coming from overly compressed DSS signals. These feeds are very very detailed on the Fujitsu. The best SD feeds look undistinguished to my naked eyes from the worst HD material on HBO. Of course, there is still a lot of bad material which is irreparable even through a fine set as the Fuji. But mostly, I am very pleased with the quality of SD channels. I have never seen them so clean with the use of the AVM as through this set. One noteworthy observation: I briefly hooked up an old Crystal Image scaler to process these signals, just for fun and comparison. There was absolutely no comparison! The AVM won hands down. Granted, the Phillips chip in the CI is way too old technology, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much cleaner and better defined the AVM did its thing. Amazing piece of technology it is!
NOTE: I must report one big disappointment in Cliff Plavin. He had promised to deliver to me a written report with all the settings and corresponding values, in a nice letterhead paper of his company a few days after the calibration was performed. It has now been a couple of months and that promise is nowhere to be seen realized, despite three emails and one phone confirmation that he was going to. All I have that testifies of his $500.00 calibration services is a few hand written numbers on a blank piece of paper which he handed to me minutes before I handed him the check. One minor but significant blemish to his otherwise impeccable calibration, which did not score well with me on a professional, business-like level. Not a big deal. I can live with that. But I would have to reconsider recommending him to anyone if case proves itself to be such one day, based on this simple gesture.
Peter proceeded to introduce me to the Revox line of products. I was taken in equal amounts by the built quality and fine display of these electronic boxes, and by the sound that they managed to produce. Swiss-engineered technology and beauty. These electronics both look elegant and sound clean, clear, with plenty of undistorted power. I managed to secure the M51 DVD/Multichannel Audio Processor, along with five slim, sleek, good looking speakers for 5.1 audio reproduction, labeled A1s. Note: A subwoofer was missing because it was not available from the factory at the time yet.
The audio quality of these pieces is superb, as I said. One note of worthiness is for the M51. It is built like a tank. It has a very enjoyable tactile feel to it. The front panel is very elegant, and the unit is upgradable as it is modular, for future implementation of new technology. Also, and this struck me as very much a surprise, the video capability of this DVD machine is simply spectacular. I am not exaggerating, as I am particularly picky and demanding. Without any outside deinterlacing or scaling needed, the job this player's circuitry achieves alongside the AVM is nothing short of inspiring. My reference DVD is The Fifth Element, as I have probably watched it in critical viewing hundreds of times on different systems. The DVD looks very very nice. Absolutely little to no edge enhancement and artificially created contouring. Amazingly smooth video playback for a standalone player. Sharp without being fastidiously noisy, if you know what I mean.
Peter sold me on the idea of presenting such nice, elegant pieces of technology on an equally elegant and pleasing to the eye stand. The Callisto stand is truly a beautiful piece of engineering. The combination of wood, aluminum and glass on this thing is very pleasing. The plasma and the three front speakers mold to it like liquid molten glass and embrace it like its own skin. When you slide the M-51 and the STBs in its wide slots on the front, the complete look is truly a superbly elegant one. I must thank Peter for the recommendation of using such a pretty, fancy display for these electronics. I think it adds considerably to the experience.
I include a picture of my setup. I hope you guys like it as much as I do.
Thank you Peter for a very enjoyable experience in your store. And thank you for the professional consultation you provided, in the suggestions given and integration of the whole conceptual layout and scheme. I recommend anyone in the Miami area to visit Peter's store. And I recommend Peter to anyone here, if to simply listen if interested in a second opinion, from someone who is always keen and willing to go beyond simply talking the talk by following through with a genuine disposition of sincerity in the need to always look quality first in all your endeavors.
Cheers,
Luca
A couple of months ago, I toyed with the idea of adding a Plasma setup to my home. The one year anniversary of the DIY custom building of my dedicated cinema room was approaching, and I thought what a better way to cap it off than with another separate HT system for my living room.
While I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy my HT room almost daily (DILA projector shooting through a Panamorph lens to a 100" wide Stewart perforated Greyhawk screen, making use of a modified SDI Denon DVD player fed through a Vigatec 1280 scaler for DVD playback, and an RCA DTC-100 for HD), I felt the need to upgrade my 30" Sony monitor, which was frankly beginning to show its years. I immediately thought of a Plasma display, as I felt the technology was coming of age and was ripe for prime time. I searched the forum through a myriad of choices. First came the Panasonic, then the Pioneer, then finally the Fujitsu. I weighted in all the pros and cons of each, and the final choice was not too difficult to make, albeit time consuming (it took me months to commit).
On a side note, a forum member who lives not too far away from me, who has had both the Panasonic and the Fujitsu, provided significant input on the subject. It was easy for me to demo both extensively. I am also proud to say I have made a wonderful friend in him and thank him kindly for so, for all the time that I have spent at his place and the fun times we have been having since. His handle is Aviators99, and his name is Ron. Yes, he is also a pilot, and a heck of one at that to boot!
Then sometime last fall I became aware that Peter Cineramax had opened shop in Miami, and so contacted him to schedule a viewing of his store. Peter had previously sold me a mount for my DILA last summer, and that is how we met. He told me he had the Fujitsu on display, along with the Revox line of electronics which was a much better choice for complementing the audio side of things than my then preferred candidate, Bang and Olufsen.
I am happy to say that I am the proud owner of what I consider is the top performing, visually stimulating, audio/visual combination available in the Plasma/compact category. I could not be happier with the Fujitsu. I had it calibrated by Cliff Plavin, who has done a great job at perfecting the best gamma and greyscale the set is capable of delivering. Colors look vivid, punchy yet clean, with absolute lack of artificial enhancements and video noise, which I terribly despise. HD looks glorious, there really are no words to describe how detailed and precise the images flow before your eyes. Liquidity is the word that comes to mind readily. To my surprise, SD satellite looks amazingly clean too. I have been accustomed to a lot of garbage feeds coming from overly compressed DSS signals. These feeds are very very detailed on the Fujitsu. The best SD feeds look undistinguished to my naked eyes from the worst HD material on HBO. Of course, there is still a lot of bad material which is irreparable even through a fine set as the Fuji. But mostly, I am very pleased with the quality of SD channels. I have never seen them so clean with the use of the AVM as through this set. One noteworthy observation: I briefly hooked up an old Crystal Image scaler to process these signals, just for fun and comparison. There was absolutely no comparison! The AVM won hands down. Granted, the Phillips chip in the CI is way too old technology, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much cleaner and better defined the AVM did its thing. Amazing piece of technology it is!
NOTE: I must report one big disappointment in Cliff Plavin. He had promised to deliver to me a written report with all the settings and corresponding values, in a nice letterhead paper of his company a few days after the calibration was performed. It has now been a couple of months and that promise is nowhere to be seen realized, despite three emails and one phone confirmation that he was going to. All I have that testifies of his $500.00 calibration services is a few hand written numbers on a blank piece of paper which he handed to me minutes before I handed him the check. One minor but significant blemish to his otherwise impeccable calibration, which did not score well with me on a professional, business-like level. Not a big deal. I can live with that. But I would have to reconsider recommending him to anyone if case proves itself to be such one day, based on this simple gesture.
Peter proceeded to introduce me to the Revox line of products. I was taken in equal amounts by the built quality and fine display of these electronic boxes, and by the sound that they managed to produce. Swiss-engineered technology and beauty. These electronics both look elegant and sound clean, clear, with plenty of undistorted power. I managed to secure the M51 DVD/Multichannel Audio Processor, along with five slim, sleek, good looking speakers for 5.1 audio reproduction, labeled A1s. Note: A subwoofer was missing because it was not available from the factory at the time yet.
The audio quality of these pieces is superb, as I said. One note of worthiness is for the M51. It is built like a tank. It has a very enjoyable tactile feel to it. The front panel is very elegant, and the unit is upgradable as it is modular, for future implementation of new technology. Also, and this struck me as very much a surprise, the video capability of this DVD machine is simply spectacular. I am not exaggerating, as I am particularly picky and demanding. Without any outside deinterlacing or scaling needed, the job this player's circuitry achieves alongside the AVM is nothing short of inspiring. My reference DVD is The Fifth Element, as I have probably watched it in critical viewing hundreds of times on different systems. The DVD looks very very nice. Absolutely little to no edge enhancement and artificially created contouring. Amazingly smooth video playback for a standalone player. Sharp without being fastidiously noisy, if you know what I mean.
Peter sold me on the idea of presenting such nice, elegant pieces of technology on an equally elegant and pleasing to the eye stand. The Callisto stand is truly a beautiful piece of engineering. The combination of wood, aluminum and glass on this thing is very pleasing. The plasma and the three front speakers mold to it like liquid molten glass and embrace it like its own skin. When you slide the M-51 and the STBs in its wide slots on the front, the complete look is truly a superbly elegant one. I must thank Peter for the recommendation of using such a pretty, fancy display for these electronics. I think it adds considerably to the experience.
I include a picture of my setup. I hope you guys like it as much as I do.
Thank you Peter for a very enjoyable experience in your store. And thank you for the professional consultation you provided, in the suggestions given and integration of the whole conceptual layout and scheme. I recommend anyone in the Miami area to visit Peter's store. And I recommend Peter to anyone here, if to simply listen if interested in a second opinion, from someone who is always keen and willing to go beyond simply talking the talk by following through with a genuine disposition of sincerity in the need to always look quality first in all your endeavors.
Cheers,
Luca
