SONY SXRD 60"...WOW!!!

That is exactly what I was thinking when I replaced my bulb. I had started getting jealous of the picture quality of my friend's plasma TV he purchased eight months ago. Now that I have replaced the bulb on my SXRD the pq is very close to his plasma.

 

No comparison to a plasma. Plasmas look weird to me. I can see the little boxes no matter what's on the screen. Hate those things.

 

+1. Plasma has great branding but the black levels in even high end plasma are terrible imho.

 

Have you seen this TV in real life?

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/P...maTVs Monitors/EliteTVs/ci.New+PRO-151FD.Kuro

Black levels so low, they are not measurable, even with professional equipment. Below 0.001fL.

 

I recently saw this set at a local dealer's publicity event. They had 5 or 6 other plasma screens as well as 3 or 4 LCD sets. All had been ISF calibrated and the Kuro just blew away every thing else except the standard Pioneer plasma which came close but was not quite as good. This set has clearly established a new level of picture standard for plasma sets (IMHO none of the LCD's came close, so if you are going flat panal go plasma). Several years ago when I was considering an SXRD (I did not take the plunge) I thought the SXRD was equal to the plasma sets. It would be interesting to compare the SXRD to this set.

I should mention that the dealer's show room lighting was adjusted for optimal picture quality.

 

Tony, was that the Value Electronics event?

 

Yes, in Scarsdale, NY, where you there too?

 

I still remain stunned by the picture quality of the SXRD.

Best damn TV I've ever seen. I'm proud to be an owner even with the OB problem (now fixed).

Yet one day I will have to move on to a new set so its great to read that Pioneer does things right with plasma.

 

I have not seen it yet. I will look for it.

 

+1. Picture quality is breathtaking. It's got the Breath of Cinema.

 

I'm up here in Montreal watching the Yankees on a 19" Hotel TV really missing my Sony SXRD....
Watching sports in HD on the Sony is just incredible.

(ok - I'm going to shut off my TV and go out for a great French meal with my wife now so don't feel sorry for me..)

 

Well at least pick up some DVDAs or SACDs for me Rick.

Romantic getaway with the wife? You can't fool us. You probably did a search for all the Montreal record stores.

 

No, but I watched the webcast.

You could say I'm fair "enthusiastic" about display technology

 

Nothing like in-laws to take the rug-rats.

I did check the archives and am staying near the two used shops that were mentioned...
Nothing but limited stock and high prices...


I still need to get my SXRD calibrated... Waiting to get a BluRay player before I do this so it will be perfect.

 

You may want to install a new bulb a month before you get your set calibrated. As your current bulb ages, it changes the characteristics of the light output.

 

I'm the proud owner of a 70inch SXRD that I've not had any trouble with at this point(touch wood). I bought mine from an independent dealer who came out, set it up, and spent just a few minutes doing various basic tweaks. I'm a veteran tweaker when it comes to audio systems, but the picture on this tv is so damn good I don't even want to experiment to see if it can be any better for fear of not getting it back to where it is now. I know that's not rational, I'm just sayin'.

 

To me, rear screens always have problems with corner-to-corner focusing, along with hot spots in the center. Viewing angles also suffer; they can look good head-on, but not so good off to the side. Getting good black detail out of a translucent screen is a nightmare as well. The SXRDs were among the best out there, but I never felt my mastering projects translated well to screens like this, because they strayed so far from the reference quality CRT monitors we use in the mastering bays.

While I know rear screen projectors had a lot of admirers, to me, I'm glad they're fading fast from the market. Direct-view monitors overcome a lot of these problems, and I think they'll last longer, as well. Neither plasma nor LCD are ideal, but I think they're both better than rear screen projectors, all things being equal.

 

Yes, that is a problem with rear projection. My good friend has two (!) SXRDs in the same room, a KDS-60A2020 and KDS-60A3000. They are better than virtually all rear projection sets, but cannot have perfect focus near the corners. Also, you'll never be able to see all 1920x1080 pixels, because you're always going to have overscan on a rear projection set.

I came *this* close to getting the Sony KDS-60XBR5 set, until Sony literally canceled it, and their entire rear projection series in December '07 right before I was going to purchase.

You might be surprised just how good the latest Pioneer 1080p Kuro's are, especially with black. There is really no area where they are weak, except they are priced too high compared to similar-sized displays.

Only Mitsubishi and Samsung make RPTVs any longer, both use DLP. Pretty amazing when you think that as recently as 5 years ago, 95%+ of all "big screens" that were sold were RPTVs.

 

I'm gonna miss RPTV's from a HT standpoint. My SXRD allows me to use its top to hold my center channel speaker from Onix Rockets with a special platform.

Newer flat panel TV's of course have no shelf space on top since their so skinny.

What will I do with my very large center channel when the day comes I need to but a new HDTV?

I'll be forced to attach a shelf to the back wall to support the speaker.

 

I have not seen any issues on the SXRD yet in those areas.

 

You'd need a dedicated stand for a center speaker, or a piece of furniture that can hold a flat panel on a stand and a center speaker underneath.

 

The Onix Rocket Center Channel is too large for any piece of furniture. No way is anything available to fit it under a large TV.

I used to own a Cambridge Audio center channel speaker that was very low profile but long that could sit under the TV but the Onix is a beast.

 

I'm gonna go ahead and get a replacement bulb. I've had my set since December of '05...so I know it's gotta be just a matter of time now, and since it's football season again..well. Anyway, for those of you who have performed this surgery, is it easy enough to do? Are there instructions somewhere? Also, I see two different things for sale at various places...one is just the bulb, and the other is the bulb and the housing. The latter is about $150 more expensive. Is it much more difficult to install a new bulb in the existing housing or something?

 

Trust me, I know. You would need something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/High-End-Center...0777578QQihZ011QQcategoryZ14992QQcmdZViewItem

 

A bulb with the enclosure is a whole lot easier to replace. With a bulb only you will have to make sure you are wearing gloves so your hands don't touch any part of the bulb. The oils on your skin will pretty much ruin the bulb. With a new bulb with the enclosure you don't have to worry about touching the bulb. Here is a ebsite that sells SXRD bulbs. Someone at another forum has used this vendor. http://www.discount-merchant.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=KDS-55A2000&Search.x=8&Search.y=7