Evaluating used equipment for a planned microcinema

[Ari Herman]

I am gathering used projection and sound equipment for a planned 50 seat cinema in Seattle. I'm looking for feedback on an offer, so that I can make a well-informed counter offer. ANY thoughts or opinions are appreciated! Please don't hesistate to state the "obvious". Thanks y'all!

- Doremi showvault + IMB
- NC900C Compact DCI Compliant Cinema Proejctor With Lens and Lamp (only 2,500 hrs logged, but still overpriced I think?)
- UltraStereo JSD-100 Cinema Sound Processor
- UltraStereo CM-8 Cinema Booth Monitor
- QSC Model 1400 and QSC Model MX-1500a (amplifiers)
- QSC Model ISA280 Amplifier
- 3 x QSC SC-1150 Stage Channel Speakers
- 4 x QSC Cinema Surround Loudspeaker 10" SR-1000 with brackets:

Can anyone with experience on the NC900C comment on how it compares with the Barco DP2K-10s? I have a comparable offer on a Barco, but it has many, many more hours logged. Also, if you are in the PNW and are getting rid of or selling any theater equipment, please reach out!

[Marcel Birgelen]

I don't think it's appropriate to talk too much about prices here on this forum, but I'd never pay that kind of money for a Doremi ShowVault and NEC NC900C anno 2026, not even if they were new in box...

[Buck Wilson]

I'd choose the Barco personally. Our older Barco DP2000s put out better picture than our newer NEC nc1200/2000/3200s though they did have their issues over the years. If I recall, the nc900c doesn't even have a proper xenon bulb setup

All opinion for whatever it's worth to ya

[James Gardiner]

The NC900/1000 UHP lamps, do better then you expect, but yes, a Barco s10 is better. But then again, I have seen DLP rot on Barcos on this size unit while nearly never hear about it on a NC900/1000. If cost is issue, the NEC will get you there cheaper. But then again, as cinemas are currently closing more then opeing. And a cinema projector that is not in use will "Disarm" itself if not properly looked after.. Supply and demand wise, prices should be LOW.

[Leo Enticknap]

There are significant risks with the NC900. The biggest one is the ICP and its soldered on battery. If the projector is more than a decade old and has been powered down for a significant time, it is likely not long for this world. Because the ICP for the NC900 has additional hardware on it to sync the AC current to the mercury discharge lamps, a Series 2 NEC ICP out of another projector cannot be reflashed and used in a 900. A couple of years ago I had a customer who had one die: the part was back ordered, and the projector was down for six months.

The other part that tends to go out on the NC900 is the lamp ballast card (of which there are two). The part isn't very pricey, but it's quite a long and fiddly repair to do.

The Doremi IMB also has a certificate battery that should be replaced every four years. If it dies, that is the end of the ShowVault and IMB, because Dolby will no longer re-certificate the Doremi IMB. If you decide to buy, I would strongly advise that you make this conditional on the vendor replacing the battery in your presence, and then confirming that the IMB boots up OK afterwards. That will ensure that you have another 3-4 years out of it, at any rate. You also want to make sure that the ShowVault/IMB has had the certificate extension patch installed. If it hasn't, it's e-waste.

The filter capacitors in MX-1500a amps have a habit of puking up. They're not that hard to replace (I am no expert in board level electronic repairs, but even I can do them!), and with that one caveat and the occasional squirt of DeOxit for the gain pots, they will chug along pretty much forever.

Obviously, you want to test each speaker with a tone generator to make sure that there are no blown drivers.

I don't have enough experience with the other equipment on that list to be able to offer any informed opinions. Per F-T rules, I'm not going to opine on how much I'd be willing to offer with all of these issues taken care of. But given the two battery gotchas, it wouldn't be a huge sum, especially if they're not willing to replace the IMB battery and prove to you that they've done it and that the procedure was successful.

[Jay Wyatt]

Don't forget LFE sub(s) -- this is not an optional category. Didn't see them on your grocery list.

SC-1150 is generally well suited for a 50seater. SC-2150 would be a step up.
MX/MXA platform are older than I'd be comfortable going, particularly with DCAs being bountiful on eBay and used markets.
JSD-100 will do you fine but I'm partial to the JSD-60. But maybe consider finding a DCP-100 for streamlined dataport connections to amps and loudspeaker profiles.

[Allan Barnes]

There are two deals on used Barco projectors near you on EBay. BARCO 2K20C / BARCO 2K23B

[Marco Giustini]

Are UHP lamps an issue anywhere than Europe? Mercury lamps have been banned, I believe availability is quickly becoming scarce.
Just so that you are aware, both the NEC and the Barco rely on small DLP chips which have very little contrast ratio. I believe the declared ratio is 1600:1. The earlier S10 had a missing filter part on the intake so they were sucking in dirt air and their optics were getting covered in crud very easily - Barco then addressed that so you want to make sure 1. that unit is a "fixed" one 2. that unit is not full of dirt from the previous configuration

In any case, even a brand new NEC/Barco would provide a very washed-out image on screen and "only" 2K. Back in 2015 when they were released, maybe that was ok-ish. In 2026 when OLED TVs are in people's living rooms, I'm not sure.

Also: video projectors will lose light efficiency over time. It's just a fact. Swapping the lamps won't restore that 100%. This is particularly true for the Barco which has a reflector inside.
What that means is that the projectors won't be able to output the manufacturer-advertised lumens anymore. So please make sure the setup is able to reach 14fL on screen after installation. If you are buying the equipment from an integrator, I would have that in writing.

In fact, 14fL is the industry standard but you don't want 14fL at 100% power on day one. That means that in a few years' time, you'll have 9fL on screen at best. With a new projector it's recommended to have about 50% of headroom when hitting 14fL on screen. So you want to make sure you can read 14fL on screen with (ideally) 50% headroom on the power settings.

A low contrast/low brightness image on your screen is going to look pretty sad!

P.S: Please avoid high gain screens. If they tell you "you'll get more light out of them", don't believe them!

[Marcel Birgelen]

I'm not aware of of any imminent rules and regulations in the U.S. that will block the sale of new UHP lamps, but let's be real here: Lamp based projectors are on the exit and investing into a new lamp based projector in 2026 feels pretty counter-intuitive, even buying a second hand UHP projector doesn't feel like a confident move. If I'd buy a secondhand one, I'd rather buy a common xenon machine. Chances of xenon bulb supply running out before the end of reasonable life of the projector will be slim.

If the prices you're mentioned are in line with your budget, you should be able to find some relatively recent Series 2 xenon machines + IMS combinations in your vicinity with not too many hours on them, especially given the amount of exhibitors that went out of business the last year alone. You can often save a lot if you're willing to do the pick up yourselves.

One thing you might want to account for though is: Are you capable of doing this yourself or are you going to need professional help? Since you're here, I suppose you probably are going to need someone with some technical field knowledge to put the open ends together. Most of them have bills to be paid, so they're not going to do this work for free. Make sure you fit this into your big picture.

[Leo Enticknap]

Are UHP lamps an issue anywhere than Europe? Mercury lamps have been banned, I believe availability is quickly becoming scarce.

I've had customers order official NC900 and DP2K-6E lamps within the last few weeks, and so as of now at any rate, they are still available in the US. There is also a proliferation of no name Chinese knockoffs available on Ebay and Amazon, typically at about a third of the price of official ones. I've heard reports of them failing after only a few hundred hours, though.

[Steve Guttag]

With respect to the NEC lamps...since the version 6 (for typical projection) came out...the ballast failure rate has dropped to near zero. This leads me to conclude that the buik of the ballast failures were due to the failed lamps. As to the ballast change out...the lower one is the more fiddly one...which, in my experience, is 90% of the ones I had to change. Had NEC made them like cards that could "slide in" (with proper connectors for the power rating), it would have made that procedure much less absurd.

Another thing about Sharp/NEC...one of my clients just got burned by their strict 2-year warranty on lamps. They bought spare lamps for their projectors in 2023 (having just lived through supply-chain issues and it took them closer to 3-years to get through some of them (3000-hours each, for reference). At about 1800 hours they had a lamp failure...too bad...no warranty on that lamp. If Sharp doesn't think that sort of policy won't affect future purchases, they'd be wrong. It's a 3000-hour lamp...warrant it for 3000-hours...just like xenon lamp manufacturers do...particularly on OEM products. It's not like it isn't logged for the hours it actually ran, how hot it ran...etc.

[Stefan Scholz]

A list of mainly End of Lifecycle products.
If there is a choice I'd go for the Barco 10S. At least this has a Xenon lamp, and not UHP mercury, which is always green blueish, at least for me.
It may be the NC 900 is a reliable projector, but if you're in for a repair, it is anything than fun.
Especially the lamp ballasts change. The optical bloc, not possible to clean in the field. More dislike for me than like.
The lamps are eventually difficult to buy, depending on region of the world, but it still is possible to get them as of time of writing.
Both, Barco and NEC suffer from the contact issues on the card edge connectors to mainboard, and flickering colors or dots are present, when climate changes,
A reaseating or smack on the ICP helps to correct.
Image quality on on S2K is not really great. Contrast sucks, what is to be expected from a small chip. But, it's ok in most cases. I have seen worse on other early DLPs.

Sound processor is known to be robust, but also a couple of decades since purchase of age. Amplifiers are from the early 1990s or late 1980s, the number of Surround speakers is not enough in a small room with low ceiling, but that's another story.

[Marco Giustini]

Another thing about Sharp/NEC...one of my clients just got burned by their strict 2-year warranty on lamps.

If memory serves SONY did the same for the 500 series. Warranty was based on usage but also shelf life so you had to be careful of what you were purchasing.

There is also a proliferation of no name Chinese knockoffs available on Ebay and Amazon, typically at about a third of the price of official ones

I've never understood the UHP lamp market. I've had some video-projectors myself and you could find for sale the 1. Genuine 2. Genuine BULB (no cage) 2. aftermarket bulb (no cage) 3. aftermarket full lamp

I had some experience with "genuine bulb only" and in both occasions they went back to the seller as either they wouldn't fit the original cage or the uniformity was just horrible. It must be a funny market!

[Ari Herman]

Wow! Thanks to everyone for all of this helpful feedback. I'm learning a lot by reading through these responses.

There ARE subs, I just forgot to include them: 2 x JBL 4645C.

It sounds like people generally favor Barco over NEC, which is useful data. I AM planning to insist on a battery replacement before buying IF I decide to go with the ShowVault server.

I am looking for an inexpensive setup that will provide a decent experience, with the option of upgrading equipment in 3-5 years if the business succeeds. I think that approach makes sense, given the inherent risks of opening a cinema in 2026. Has anyone here DONE this kind of a shoestring setup in recent years? If so, I'm curious what decisions you made and how they worked out for you.

[Jack Ondracek]

The only piece you are looking at that I have here is the Showvault. I bought 3 of them when I converted. Until last year, they were nearly bulletproof. Then, an IMB died. No warning, good battery, all maintenance and service done on time, temp-humidity-dust controlled environment... it just quit.

So, that killed that particular Showvault. To keep the screen open, I put in a new Dolby... for $XX,XXX (!) It's fine and the operation is reasonably close enough to the Showvault, but I don't care for now having 2 server types in my booth, not to mention the kilobucks I spent for what was, for me, a lateral move.

I do have Barcos here, though larger xenon models. They've been reliable workhorses. I've lost one power supply over three projectors in 14 years... that's pretty much it.

I'm more interested in what you're trying to accomplish. I'm across the water from you and, frankly, am far more impressed with the insanity that must possess someone to open a small, single-screen cinema within the business and economic environment over there.

Many of the small, neighborhood single-screeners have closed, and most of them tried every kind of film imaginable before they did so.

Corporate multiplexes with high screen counts, starved for content, are bringing in ethnic offerings, so that's covered in many areas of the county.

Single-screen anything has a special challenge built-in, when you consider high rentals, minimum booking lengths (low content turnover) and minimum first-week terms. Most anything that's not mainstream is saturating cable and streaming services, so there's not much demand from the sit-down, ticket-buying public.

Square footage in Seattle isn't cheap, even before you consider the cost of building out the room and adding equipment.

Most of the studios have an inbred suspicion of new exhibitors, and tend to demand upfront advances against percentage costs, at least until you've proven your payment history over a year or so.

Oh... can your patrons park for free, or is getting there and/or parking an additional consideration for them? On paper, that might not seem like a big deal, but parking is an ever-increasing cash cow for the city.

You're either very smart, with an angle that hasn't yet been tried... or it might be wise of you to do some more study on the economic realities of this business, while you work on building your equipment package.

Good luck!