New Austin Thread (1 Viewer)

[Nils Luehrmann]

On the subject of DVDs...
Anyone interested in buying/selling/trading DVDs?
Now that my DVD collection (link listed in sig) has gone over the 500 mark, my wife has asked me to not add any more to it so that if I want to add a DVD I have to sell one.
Here is a list of some of the DVDs I am willing to sell or trade:
Link Removed 8MM (Special Edition)
Link Removed The Abyss (2-disc THX Special Edition)
Link Removed Alien (20th Anniversary THX Edition)
Link Removed Aliens (THX Special Edition)
Link Removed Almost Famous
Link Removed American Psycho (Special Edition)
Link Removed Apollo 13 (Collector's Edition)
Link Removed Basic Instinct (Special Edition - Unrated Director's Cut)
Link Removed The Beach (Special Edition)
Link Removed Being John Malkovich (Special Edition)
Link Removed Cruel Intentions (Collector's Edition)
Link Removed Devil's Advocate (Special Edition)
Link Removed Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (VERY RARE OOP 1st Edition)
Link Removed Horton Hears a Who! (included on the DVD listed above)
Link Removed Fiddler on the Roof (Special Edition - OOP 1st Edition)
Link Removed Fight Club (2-disc Special Edition)
Link Removed The Lair of the White Worm (Special Edition)
Link Removed Leviathan
Link Removed The Matrix (Special Edition)
Link Removed Monty Python's Life of Brian
Link Removed The Mummy (Collector's Edition)
Link Removed Rules of Engagement (Special Edition)
Link Removed Scream 3 (Collector's Series)
Link Removed The Usual Suspects (Special Edition - OOP 1st Edition)
Link Removed What Lies Beneath (Special Edition)
Link Removed Wild Wild West (Special Edition)
Link Removed Wonder Boys (Special Edition)
The following are unopenned as they were given as gifts, but I already had them:
Link Removed Il Postino (Collector's Series)
Link Removed Pi: Faith in Chaos (Special Edition)
Yoy can also look at my Wish List shown on my DVD Collection web page. If you have any on that list you want to sell or trade, let me know!
Thanks!

 

[Colin Dunn]

Nils - I may be interested in "Aliens" and "Apollo 13." I'll bring cash to the meet...

 

[Colin Dunn]

Everyone -

I've been working on a Web site with pictures from the first Austin HT meet, as well as the most recent meet. Tomorrow morning I will put the finishing touches on the site and post it. The wait is almost over...

 

[Chad Anson]

I was not-so-pleasantly surpised to awake to the sound of inlaws at the door. Silly me to think that a 2.5 hour drive would be a nice buffer to prevent unexpected visits.

Hope that the meet went well!

 

[Colin Dunn]

The meet went well, but it was kind of a small crowd:

Hank Frankenberg

Greg Risley

Frederick Falk

Nils Luehrmann

Jonathan Atkins

(edit: I forgot someone! Now he's on the list!) Scott Oliver

Rodney (whose last name I don't remember)

... and myself ...

It was quite an adventure, with a few interesting hazards along the way ... an overpriced margarita, a hair-triggered staple gun, a rattlesnake lurking in a meadow, navigating the Video Essentials disc (always a challenge), and of course, Austin traffic...

The meet sounds like it was fraught with danger, but it was fun. I'll have a write-up and pictures posted later in the week...

 

[Greg Risley]

Hey guys, I just got back from watching Hank play in the Austin Symphonic Band, down at Zilker Park. Took my wife, kids, and my Mom and Dad. Nothing beats live music. The kids were a little distracted at first but that final Circus March perked up their ears.
I think the meet went pretty good. Things were interesting to say the least starting with me eating Hanks meal, but hey I'm a dog and once that plates in front of me, you stand to loose a digit if you reach for it. Of course who will ever forget Frederick(Croc Hunter)Falk for saving my cul-de-sac from the threat of the monster rattler. My son was telling Grandma today of the heroics.
Much thanks to Hank for his great effort in getting the acoustic raw materials ready and letting us play in his work shop. Note to Hank, next power tool purchase how about a non-possesed stapler, that thing was trying to cause grievous injury. I can not wait to hear those line arrays that Hank has put together. I could not keep my hands off those great cabinets. Great moment with Hank and Frederick arguing over whose was thicker; cable that is. Probably had Hanks neighbors wondering.
The projector shoot-out really turned into a screen shoot-out but it really opened my eyes to some great cheap alternatives for screens. Oh if only I knew then what I know now. The little projectors Nils brought were very nice and very quite compared to my lt150, and once again Colins Sony impressed. I don't think anyone could go wrong picking up any of these projectors, unless you already have a Sony G90 with Snell Wilcox Interporlator, but hey I bet we can focus ours quicker. I think I will try to book the community center for later this summer or maybe this fall and work on getting just a nice selection of projectors and we can setup a few of those Plas-Tex screens for quick comparisons.
Big thanks to everyone who got to come, I really enjoyed myself.
Greg
PS
Frederick you didn't happen to end up with an extra copy of Highlander still in your player?

 

[Chad Anson]

You've got to watch out for those ritas at Iguana Grill -- some of em are like $10. Reminds me of my NYC days.

 

[Frederick_Falk]

Well, I had a great time and am already looking forward to our next meet. Yes, this last one was quite the adventure. My wife was not happy that I brought a 4 foot-long timber rattlesnake home with me from the meet, but that kept her attention and she didn't notice the DVD's that I purchased from Nils. Well, the snake has a new home at the Balcones Canyons Wildlife Preserve and he is very happy with his new home.
Greg: I haven't even set my DVD player back up yet, but I am willing to bet that there is still a DVD in it (I will check it tonight when I get home from work and email you if I have it). Thanks again for co-hosting this meet and please tell your wife we give her a big thank you for opening up her home to all of us (we were there until almost 11 PM; what a trooper).
Hank: Sorry we missed the big concert but I ended up having church business meetings that evening that I could not get out of but I hope to be able to come to one in the near future. Another big thank you to you for co-hosting the other half of this meet. I am looking forward to coming over this Saturday to see (and hear) the new speakers once you get them done. I will give you more information on the June dive trip when I see you then.
Colin: I am looking forward to seeing all of the pics from the past several meets. Thanks again for bringing your projector out so we could compare it with the others.
Nils: Always great to see you and what a wealth of information we were able to learn from you and this projector shoot-out. Unfortunately, I now have more choices to consider but I am more informed about what questions to ask when I get ready to buy a projector. So, which unit of the two are you going to keep or are you going to send both back? I suspect we won't see much of you for a couple of months with the new arrival expected July 1st. Please tell your wife that we will keep her and the baby (and you too) in our thoughts and prayers.
Well, until next time I hope you all have a great week.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Tool Time guys: thanks for coming over and for everyone taking a turn at cutting fiberglas board, gluing and nailing frames and attaching burlap. Some of you are dangerous dudes with a hammer, and that hair trigger staple gun was a riot! Now you know how to build sound absorbers, so add that skill to your resumes. Sorry I couldn't make the projector shootout, but next time I'll be there.

BTW, I just received a notification from Outlaw Audio that my name has come up on the waiting list and I can now order a new 950 pre/pro. Now for some power amp action!

I'll post a message or send you e-mails soon about next weekend for giving the Line Source towers a tryout. It'll probably be Saturday rather than Sunday, but I'll let you know.

 

[Mark Hayenga]

Finals are over now for me. Sorry I missed this meet, I really wanted to see the projectors in action but I went a little crazy over finals and had to disappear for a few days. Now that finals are over, it's time for some Don Eduardo and some speakerbuilding

 

[Frederick_Falk]

Greg: Yes your missing DVD was in my player. Do you need it right away? If not, I will bring it to the next meet. If so, I will mail it to you. Send me an email and we will discuss details.
Okay, let's close this thread and start a new one for the next meet!

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

One more, guys. Danny Richie, GR Research plans to be here Friday afternoon to wire in the Line Source drivers and crossovers, so if you want to hear those orange monsters, come over to my house Saturday morning, say around 10:00.

 

[Colin Dunn]

Hank - I will be there on Saturday.

And by the way, the HT meet pix are up! Check out my new thread for the link...

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Hank,

Thanks for having us all over at the abode again. You did a marvelous job on those speaker cabinets! Absolutely stunning. Oh yeah.... they sounded pretty good too. Of course they would sound much better located, say.... in my house? lol

I forgot to ask you about Steve's ISF job. How did it go and are you happy with the results? Also, what type of color anylizer did he use?

One of these days you'll have to come by the house and pay me a vist, after all we are practically neighbors.

I am in the middle of redesigning my HT room to make it more "user friendly" as my wife puts it.

But I should have the screen up and the projector running sometime in the next couple weeks. If you'd like to come by for a movie, just let me know.

 

[Paul_Laiming]

Hey guys, I just found this board via avsforum. I wish I could have come to your last couple meetings!! I live just 5 minutes from Iguana Grill. Anyway, Im pretty new to front PJs, but I just bought a Sony 1031Q two weeks ago and am building the Parkland Plastics screen. I've built an HTPC but could use some advice on its setup and the video card.
Thats about it. If anyone has a similiar setup please let me know. Im also wondering how to mount my PP screen.
feel free to email: [email protected]
or AOL IM me: plaiming2
later,
paul

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Nils and Paul, this thread should probably be shut down and it's also probably not being checked by our local guys now that the meet is past. I just happened to notice a recent post date, so I just now read your posts.

Paul, Colin Dunn has kept a fairly complete local member e-mail list, so you could send him yours for future notices.

Nils, the ISF calibration definitely helped. #1 was the gray scale. The blue gun wasn't in torch mode, it was in what I declared "Afterburner Mode". Steve plotted it "Off the chart" at 55,000 at one point!! Also, the green gun was physically out of focus such that you couldn't see scan lines in the green "+" targets, so he opened the back of the set, loosened the lens assy and focused it.

Steve's equipment includes:

Sencore CP-288 Auto Color Pro II color analyzer

AV Standards TVS Pro color temp reference

Accupel HDG-2000 HDTV calibration generator (not used on my set)

BTW, Steve showed me a credit at the end of a Mits RPTV in the June issue of Widescreen Review.

All in all, the set is as good as it can be, given that it's a low end set that I intend to last a couple of years and then move to front projection. When the time comes, I'll definitely call upon your expert guidance. Thanks for the offer to visit. I'd like to see your HT construction.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Paul,
Glad you found us. I wasn't sure whether my post on AVS had gotten burried and lost - lol
For others new to HTA (combo of Austin AVS & HTF members), I believe the following posts archived a lot of info regarding the group and some of the meets, demos, and special trips that were made. I stopped archiving last Summer because I accepted a position at CST which created a conflict of interest, but now that that is fortunately over with, I can once again talk shop!
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ht=AustinTexas

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Hank,
Glad to hear you are pleased with your calibration. It certainly sounds like your set was a prime candidate for one.
I've worked on a few RPTV Mits, and have always dreaded doing ISFs on them. Mits, are very nice performing sets, but they are VERY temperamental when it comes to calibration. In comparison, I can finish an ISF on a Toshiba in about 1.5 hours, versus 3 or more with a Mits. If the convergence is way off on a Mits, its not unheard of for an ISF to take as long as 4-5 hours - OUCH!
I do like the Sencore CP-288, especially when used with a laptop. My only complaint with Sencore is that they have the worst suction cups I have ever had the displeasure of using. I don't know what company is OEMing these for Sencore, but they simply don't work longer than say, 15 minutes at a time. I once was at an ISF where the cup wouldn't stay attached for longer than a minute. The poor tech had to hold it in place the entire time.
BTW: Colin and I went over to Bill Urschel's last night to see the effect of some of the calibration/tweaking efforts Bill has been doing on his Sony 10HT. I'm no expert regarding the 10HT, but his efforts have appeared to improve the black level and certainly improved the red levels, but I also felt there was a slight green hue throughout the picture, which was noticeable in gray scenes and especially on skin tones. In fairness, some of the material we were watching was shot using a green cinematic filter (Dark City Link Removed , and The Others Link Removed ), but even in scenes from Mission Impossible II Link Removed , the skin tones were noticeably green as were scenes from the 2001 epic Anime film "Metropolis" Link Removed .
My gut tells me the green panel on his 10HT is driving too heavily, but Bill sounded like he was confident this was not the case.
Bill leant Colin is 10HT calibration equipment so I am anxious to hear from Colin on what kind of results he gets from them.
PS: At least for me, I checked the box below that alerts me via email when someone posts to this thread. I suspect many of the other members have done the same so I think those that have been participating on this thread probably will still be alerted when new posts are added. On the other hand, you are probably right in that we should start a new thread - certainly once we start talking about what we all would like to do for the next meeting.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Hank (and any other DIY minded / PLAS-TEX users)
Colin bought the two extra 5x10 PLAS-TEX screens from me and is interested in making a two-sided screen where one side would have the "rough" PLAS-TEX surface, while the other side would jave the "smooth" PLAS-TEX surface. This way he can not only compare the two, but I suspect diferent types of video material might look better on one side versus the other so this way he would be able to match the screen to the specific type of material he might be watching at any given time.
I'm not much of a carpenter, but I'm sure Hank could easily come up with a good design and maybe we could all get together and help Colin make the frame. Could be a fun project as long as Jonathan doesn't get to carried away with the staple gun....

 

[Colin Dunn]

There are more replies and views for this thread than for the Southern California meet! Way to go!