Alan Gouger was gracious enough to send me a PM this morning telling me he finally had time to read through the thread that got deleted (I E-mailed him a copy from my Internet Explorer history folder) and to go ahead and repost it. I don't know how much life this thing has left in it after all the discussion about it but I sure have gotten a lot of requests for it so here it is.
I have added a few editors notes about the review process.
Following is my review of 5 projectors I have never seen. The projectors are ranked in condescending order, with number 1 being the best.
5. Seleco HT300
Cross this one off your list. Very few people on the forum seem to own this projector so it can't possibly be good. I personally know two people who own this projector but I don't like either one of them so I give their opinion very little weight. On top of that, Stereophile recently rated this the best DLP projector. That in itself is enough reason not to recommend it because I don't care what the reviewers say.
4. Sharp Z9000
Best value of the bunch. Properly tweaked, I hear it has good black levels, high resolution and plenty of brightness. This is the first digital projector that I haven't seen that I could live with.
3. Marantz VP-12S1
Film like, pristine and velvety smooth are some of the words that come to mind when I try to describe the VP12S. This projector has all 27 Faroudja chips in it, while the Seleco only has one. It is widely agreed that this unit basically has an NRS built into it, although I don't know of a single person that has ever used it with and without an NRS to make the comparison.
2. Ronco VX-1000c
Deciding between #2 and #1 was a difficult choice at first as both models have a lot going for them. Forum member PF raves about the Ronco and feels it is the first DLP he has seen that looks as good as a CRT with more brightness to boot. Forum member TheBland has the 150CL on order and believes it is better than the Ronco. I like both forum members so I value their opinions but ultimately I realized that a lot of forum members seem to have a very low opinion of Ronco while a lot of well respected members own D-ILA's. Move over Ronco.
1. JVC G150CL
You have absolutely got to not see this projector to believe it. There has been some debate on this forum as to whether the price of the 150 is justifiable when the G15 can be had for 7-10K less. In a word, YES. This projector proves that specifications don't mean everything. It may look like a G15 on the outside but JVC has obviously implemented some very special things on the inside. The picture that this thing doesn't put out yet is just nothing short of amazing. The new standard has been set. I loved this thing so much, I bought the review sample I never had.
Editors Notes:
--- I also wanted to include Hitachi and Sanyo projectors in this review but unfortunately they were the only manufacturers that provided me with review samples so I was unable to include them.
--- According to JVC, the G150CL sample that I didn't have lacks some improvements that the final release will have but I can't imagine how they can make this thing any better.
--- In order to maintain fairness and objectivity during the review process each projector was not tested with the same source material and equipment.
--- I also considered adding some of the ultra low cost budget projectors to this review but my initial impressions of them were so bad that I couldn't bring myself to spend time not watching them.
Please feel free to share you own feedback and lack of experiences with me.
I have added a few editors notes about the review process.
Following is my review of 5 projectors I have never seen. The projectors are ranked in condescending order, with number 1 being the best.
5. Seleco HT300
Cross this one off your list. Very few people on the forum seem to own this projector so it can't possibly be good. I personally know two people who own this projector but I don't like either one of them so I give their opinion very little weight. On top of that, Stereophile recently rated this the best DLP projector. That in itself is enough reason not to recommend it because I don't care what the reviewers say.
4. Sharp Z9000
Best value of the bunch. Properly tweaked, I hear it has good black levels, high resolution and plenty of brightness. This is the first digital projector that I haven't seen that I could live with.
3. Marantz VP-12S1
Film like, pristine and velvety smooth are some of the words that come to mind when I try to describe the VP12S. This projector has all 27 Faroudja chips in it, while the Seleco only has one. It is widely agreed that this unit basically has an NRS built into it, although I don't know of a single person that has ever used it with and without an NRS to make the comparison.
2. Ronco VX-1000c
Deciding between #2 and #1 was a difficult choice at first as both models have a lot going for them. Forum member PF raves about the Ronco and feels it is the first DLP he has seen that looks as good as a CRT with more brightness to boot. Forum member TheBland has the 150CL on order and believes it is better than the Ronco. I like both forum members so I value their opinions but ultimately I realized that a lot of forum members seem to have a very low opinion of Ronco while a lot of well respected members own D-ILA's. Move over Ronco.
1. JVC G150CL
You have absolutely got to not see this projector to believe it. There has been some debate on this forum as to whether the price of the 150 is justifiable when the G15 can be had for 7-10K less. In a word, YES. This projector proves that specifications don't mean everything. It may look like a G15 on the outside but JVC has obviously implemented some very special things on the inside. The picture that this thing doesn't put out yet is just nothing short of amazing. The new standard has been set. I loved this thing so much, I bought the review sample I never had.
Editors Notes:
--- I also wanted to include Hitachi and Sanyo projectors in this review but unfortunately they were the only manufacturers that provided me with review samples so I was unable to include them.
--- According to JVC, the G150CL sample that I didn't have lacks some improvements that the final release will have but I can't imagine how they can make this thing any better.
--- In order to maintain fairness and objectivity during the review process each projector was not tested with the same source material and equipment.
--- I also considered adding some of the ultra low cost budget projectors to this review but my initial impressions of them were so bad that I couldn't bring myself to spend time not watching them.
Please feel free to share you own feedback and lack of experiences with me.
