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This topic comprises 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
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Topic: Century MSC or Simplex Apogee what's the better pick?
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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!
Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 05-08-2007 04:50 PM
Remember a Strong dealer can sell, PR1014s, Milleniums, Centurys, Apogees...they are all Strong now. The price for an Apogee is identical to the Milleniums, idenically equipped. So it really is the customer's choice on those. Centurys are more pricey since they don't sell anywhere near as many. I have seen no incentives what so ever to sell one model over the other other than their list pricing. I'm sure Strong would take the sale regardless of badge on the projector so long as it has a Strong badge on there too.
Strong does offer package pricing but it must include a complete system...projector/soundhead, lamphouse/pedestal (or console), transport (or second projector) and lenses. While package systemd don't always offer the best of everything...I like the Super Lume-X a bit (and the Ultra-80)...the 2500B does offer very good lamphouse adjustment. Strong power is not significantly better/worse than others (and they have it in brute force as well as switching) and while some will like Schneider more on lenses, nobody would rate ISCO as anything worse than their #1 or #2 lens. I guess what I'm saying is that with the varitey that Strong offers, you could certainly do worse than one of their packages.
As has been demonstrated a bit above, people have strong opinions on what is good/crap so the reasons for pushing one piece over another may just be..."I've had real good luck with....yadda yadda yadda"
Taking a look in the picture gallery at the South Branch Cinema 6 one can see how I've mixed in and matched to achieve what I feel is a very high bang for the buck system. I should also point out that the proper use of Film Guard has extended the life of the Kinoton skates to about 4000-hours each!
I do agree on staying clear of the turrets in a venue such as this though I'm surprised that the Christie does not offer the single lens holder. I know I've mounted my single lens holder on them to align the console/projector and they bolt right up and are pin registered. Christie absolutely wins on the machining to precision contest. I still don't care for their gear/belt system, nor can I forgive all the pain their earlier incarnations have caused me an others over the years.
In case Christie still makes it...the Lens Mount and Focus assembly (complete less lens holder) is/was 119239-001. The lens holder itself is/was a 119238-001. As I said, they WILL fit the current models (just remove the turret catch arm and mount the lens mount using the same hardware and it is all pin registered).
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 05-08-2007 06:18 PM
Having installed 2 complexes in the last 6 months with Christie projector heads, I can report that the current Christie projector is nothing like the bouncy godawful earlier incarnations. In fact, even though I LOVE Kinoton, putting the two side by side in the same building on the same screens, from a viewer's standpoint...the current Christie is an amazingly close second!
It is important to note that the Christie has a much better designed turret with the ability to correct for side to side as well as top to bottom focusing issues during install, whereas the Kinoton is very limited. (Making ANY adjustment is essentially starting over from scratch, and god forbid you have to remove a lens from the turret...getting it precisely lined up is a bitch because simply tightening the lens holder screws throws off not only positioning on screen, but focus too.)
Christie's aperture design is also far superior to Kinoton's in that there is no play in the aperture when the machine is running, and if the foundation and such shifts a little bit, the Christie is effortless to re-tweek via the turret.
The only thing I really do despise about the current Christie is the soundhead design. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate that damned o'ring they put on their sounddrums and the longer arms are a major pain to thread. I used to could thread a Christie in under 5 seconds with loops sized precisely to a specific sprocket hole (witnessed by many) every time. Now thanks to that soundhead design it takes me several times longer. It also puts extra stress and wear on the airpot. Overall though I can put up with it given the new round tooth belts and injection molded pulleys which were shown at ShoWest 2007 that will be amazingly cheap and easy to change out.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying the Christie is as good as a Kinoton, but it does have some better design aspects and it is a close second. The Kinoton's strong points are that it has the best on screen resolution and you will never, EVER need to focus it regardless of what warped, buckled or mangled piece of film you run through it. The Kinoton's chain drive system is also impossible to beat. It's just a chain! The Kinoton is essentially a projector that does not need routine maintenance, with the exception of making sure the skate alignment does not slip. If it does, the skate will be chewed up by the intermittent sprocket within days, but like Steve pointed out, they are cheap to replace.
If you were to bring ANY current model Strong projector into these comparisons, the Strong would fail by a large comparison on every point in terms of performance. In terms of support, I've also experienced the worst from any projector manufacturer from Strong. (Reportedly staff has changed, so maybe they have improved lately.)
So I guess my point is twofold. First, the Christie package is a pretty damn good one, so "packages" aren't always a bad thing. Second, do what you can to get your dealer to let you get something else. You are really getting bent over if they won't let you purchase through another manufacturer. (I suspect though that they will be more than happy to quote you on other equipment on the surface, but in reality they will price jack up the other guys so much you will be forced to go with the Strong. This happens all the time.)
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. That they slept on the job is why some of them don't have jobs any more. Its easy to automate at a later date anyway if its ever needed. The other BIG problem with that Brad is that the next person to be running that booth won't know how to run that automation... I find this to be the biggest single problem in many plex's as well, even with simple automation installed. Kids WON'T take the time to read the instructions.... they typically are not paid enough to want to do so, some I'm convinced can't even read. Sure you can train them till you're blue in the face but those that do care are smart enough to leave and are off to make $2.00 more an hour at McDonalds three weeks later.
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