When to replace Marantz S3 bulb/lamp?

I'm curious what other Marantz S3 owners' experiences are regarding the Marantz lamp life. I'd like to take a poll on how long S3 owners wait until they replace their S3's lamp/bulb.


The Marantz S3 manual says:


"The maximum life limit of the lamp is 2,000 hours. Although we care very much about quality, the lamp can rarely breaks [sic] down if running time exceeds 1,000 hours. Therefore, we recommend to replace the lamp if Lamp Life gets under 1,000 hours. The lamp cannot be used exceeding the maximum life limit".


My S3 has close to 1500 hours, so its remaining lamp life is approximately 500 hours or so (used hours + remaining hours don't exactly sum to 2000). I know one of the symptoms as the lamp gets older is that the picture gets darker. I feel that it's probably not as bright as it used to be, but since its gotten darker very gradually over a period of time, I've been able to live with it.


Every once in a while (maybe every half hour or so), I hear a clicking sound (just one click or so). Not sure if this is related to the lamp, but has anyone

experienced an occassional click sound coming out of their projector?


I was thinking of getting a replacement bulb when my current lamp's usage reaches about 1700 hours or so... I like the idea of keeping a backup lamp around, but I'm afraid that if I purchase a backup lamp too early, and I don't use it right away within, say, 3 months, I might have trouble returning it if it turns out to be defective out of the box.


Anyway, I'd like to hear from other Marantz projector owners on how many hours they typically use their bulb before replacing it.


Another question is: when and how often do folks re-calibrate their display (using AVIA or DVE) in the course of a bulb's life (for example, just after replacing the bulb or a certain number of hours after replacing the bulb,

then again after a few hundred hours, etc.), and how different are the calibrations from when the bulb is new to when the bulb has reached a few hundred hours? Are the changes primarily to the picture brightness? How about contrast? Also, do you use the Color Temperature Adjustment using the Color Temperature Sensor before each calibration?



Thanks,


randman