[Augie]

I am travelling from central IL to Minneapolis MN this weekend. Does anyone know of a Sharp 9000 on display in Rockford IL, Madison WI, or Minneapolis MN... or points in-between?

 

[gdago]

The Audio King in Woodbury(ST. Paul area) has A Sharp 9000, Sony 11HT and a Yamaha D-1(whatever) setup all in one room. The price on these are 10K, 8K and 10K.


These are all nice units. The salesman was pushing the Sony as I was watching him try to sell it to someone. I don't think these saleman know much about FPs and appeared that they needed addtional adjuestment.


I guess I will stick with my 2.5k lt150 until I win the lottery.

 

[dsinder]

There is one at Glenn Poor's Audio Video in Champaign, IL. They are at 1745 W. Kirby. Champaign is not between Normal and Minneapolis, but it's only an hour from you.

 

[Augie]

dsinder, I've been to Glenn Poor's twice now. They are showing the 9000 on a perforated screen. My wife pointed out some "ripples" that we believe are due to the perforations interacting with the 9000's pixels. See my post toward the end of the first page in the following thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...threadid=86834


I want to see the 9000 on a non-perforated Grayhawk before I make a buying decision. I was originally going to "The Great Indoors" in Schaumburg IL this weekend, but now I have to go to Minneapolis. In order to "save" my weekend, I'm hoping to see a 9000/Grayhawk combination somewhere else this weekend.

 

[dsinder]

Augie, I'll have to go give that another look. I've watched it twice and did not notice them. But I was not looking for them then.

Thanks.

 

[jmhays]

I can hook you up with a Grayhawk in Andover, MN, but no Sharp Z9000. Maybe you can sweet talk Audio King in Woodbury to let you bring this screen into their store.


I also looked at the Z9000 in Woodbury, they were showing it on a Sharp screen (the salesman thought it was so cool that he could raise and lower the screen using a remote!).


I brought the wife there to show her the projector and have her compare it to the 73 inch Mitsubishi HDTV. She actually liked the Sharp better!! Now, if I could only afford one...

 

[Augie]

I really want to see the Sharp on a Grayhawk. Anyone? Rockford-ians? Wisconsin-ites?

 

[Augie]

Final bump. I leave Friday night.

 

[sullmeist]

Augie-


The Great Indoors in Schaumburg does have a good setup. They are using a Grayhawk, HD and DVD feeds and I believe regular satellite as well.


It is not running through a processor, so you get a pretty clean look. Room is not totally controlled darkness, but it is ok.


Anyway, is your trip not bringing you close to Schaumburg? What route are you taking North?

 

[Jeff Whitford]

Augie I live in Rockford , work in the business and dont know of anyone in town with this projector. I wish there was someone. We can special order them but my company wont allow returns on special orders so I cant even order one to try out myself. I may try to get the local Sharp rep to let me try one out at for a couple hours but that wont happen this weekend.

 

[Augie]

I'm leaving for Minneapolis in an hour. Thanks for the tips about the Audio King in Woodbury. I'm actually going to Burnsville MN, and your comments lead me to the Audio King there. They have a Sharp 9000 with a non-perfed Accuview screen.


The Accuview is a Sharp screen, right? Is it actually made for Sharp by someone else, like Da-Lite or Draper? Is it 1.3 gain?


On the way home, I may go an hour out of my way to Schaumburg and visit the Great Indoors there. I've been there once before but was not prepared. After spending so much time on the forum the last several weeks, now I am VERY prepared. They have the 9000 and a non-perfed Grayhawk.


Thanks again. I'll let you know what I think when I get back.

 

[Spizz]

Augie- How did you go? What did you think? How was it with the perforated screen? What's taking you so long


Spero D.

 

[Augie]

I'm back. And Spero, thanks for your enthusiasm.


I saw the 9000 on a non-perforated 16:9 1.3 gain SharpVision screen at the Audio King in Burnsville, Minnesota. I showed up on Sunday morning at 11 AM, walked into their home theater room, and wasn't bothered by a salesman for the 1 hour and 15 minutes I was there. It was paradise! Salesmen poked their heads in a couple of times and asked if I was doing okay. I said yes and they went away. (They had a Sharp LCD there also. I didn't notice if it was the 10 or 11. I didn't watch it.)


There were two problems with the set up there: the glass door in the back of the room and the 1.3 gain screen. The glass door was "frosted", but it still let in a lot of light from the showroom. The extra light in the room and the 1.3 gain screen washed out the picture a bit -- too much for my taste.


What I learned:

• If I want to watch the 9000 with the lights up a bit, the 1.3 gain screen is NOT the way to go. I would imagine the Grayhawk would be perfect in that situation.
  
• The ripples my wife saw on the Draper perforated screen were definitely caused by the perforations. We didn't see any ripples on the non-perfed screen.

I didn't see a Grayhawk this weekend, but after seeing the washed out 1.3 picture, it seems like the Grayhawk is the way to go. I'll be Christmas shopping in Schaumburg in December. If I haven't already bought the 9000/Grayhawk combo, I'll check out the Great Indoors again.


Thanks everyone!