January 1, 2010

Toward a Single Solution: The Anthem LTX 500 LCOS Projector

I sometimes look longingly at those cheap, one-company systems in which the TV and speakers are shipped together in a single box. The simplicity is so beguiling. Unfortunately, such systems just aren’t good enough. I want separates from companies that will sweat blood for that last iota of perfection.

I also want to avoid the dreaded trap of the home-theater-equipment separatist: You call asking for help with a problem, and they blame it on the manufacturer of another component in your system. You call that company, and they blame it on the first one. It’s enough to drive you to open a book -- which at least won’t require technical support.

The solution is a line of separate components -- from source to speakers to projector to screen to cables -- from a single manufacturer. The whole Michelada. Take away any opportunity to pass the buck.

One company is basically there. Anthem, historically a high-end company that specialized in making great audio equipment at affordable prices, has moved to the vanguard of home processors and amplifiers. Their sister company, Paradigm, makes a Signature line of speakers that are certainly at the level of Anthem’s electronics. And now Anthem sells a Blu-ray player.

And hallelujah, they now make a high-definition LCOS projector. The LTX 500 ($7495 USD) is based on a JVC platform, with a few new abilities. I called and asked for one, and they sent it.

"Can we buy this? I love it!" -- the words of a wife jaded by decades of seeing new equipment come to -- and almost always go from -- the Marshall household. She was gushing over a very pretty projector. My wife is especially interested in having a nice-looking projector for an important reason.

We have a novel arrangement in our house. I prefer a non-reflected (i.e., no mirrors) rear-projection setup for home theater. That gets rid of the fan noise, and you end up looking directly into the gun of the projector -- in other words, you get maximum brightness and clarity. To make that work, we needed at least 15’ of open real estate behind the screen, and rather than just waste that space as a dedicated projection room, it also serves as her office. Because I have to swap out projectors often, I use her credenza as the platform for these projectors. Hence her keen interest in how they look.

And the LTX 500 does look beautiful -- all piano black, with a red racing stripe down the middle and an automatic lens cover. Smaller than our JVC HD-1, it measures about 14.2"W x 6.5"H x 18.6"D and weighs only 24 pounds.

Setup was a breeze -- focus and vertical and horizontal lens shift are all powered. Just throw up one of the LTX 500’s internal test patterns to get your picture square and within boundaries, focus, and it’s done.

The LTX 500 has more inputs than most people will use, especially if they let their processors do the switching. Still, there are two HDMI inputs, one for PC, sets for component, composite, and S-video, and RS-232.

The remote control won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s used a JVC projector. It’s slim, fits the hand easily, and is backlit, though the buttons are easy enough to recognize in the dark, after a little practice.

I dropped a Blu-ray of Across the Universe into the Oppo BDP-83 and . . . nothing. I switched to the DISH HD-DVR. Still nothing. I tried bypassing the Integra processor and going straight from the Oppo into the LTX 500. More nothing.

There comes a time in every reviewer’s life where he or she envies the everyday consumer’s relationship with a dealer. This was that time. Wouldn’t it be nice to turn to the nice person from the store you bought it from and say, "Your problem!" as you wander off looking for a glass of cool Meursault?

I called Anthem. As always, I pretended to be a consumer. When I do this, I’m trying to find out how a company really works, not how well a company will treat an A/V reviewer. The service was exceptional: kind, patient, diligent, polite, respectful. I won’t describe the entire procedure, which unfolded over a couple of days, but the upshot might prove useful: After I’d tried everything I and the tech-support guy could think of, he recommended unplugging everything, waiting several minutes to make sure all the electronics had drained of juice, then powering up the LTX 500, connecting the HDMI to the Integra processor, then powering that up, and so on through the system, until everything was reconnected. In all the HDMI handshaking, something, somewhere had gotten screwed up, and we just had to reintroduce everyone. Voilą! Everything worked.

Dialing in the LTX 500’s picture was ultrasimple. After working through a test disc, Spears & Munsil’s High Definition Benchmark: Blu-ray Edition, I found that Anthem’s factory THX settings were spot on. Since the average buyer would probably have an experienced, certified installer, this won’t mean much, but it demonstrates that the folks at Anthem are perfectionists.

For those who get a certified setup, the good news is that virtually every possible parameter of the LTX 500 can be adjusted and tweaked to perfection, and its multiple memory slots mean that the projector can be set up any way you could imagine. Need a setting for dark, ambient light, and another for full lighting? No problem.

Time to watch!

It’s football season, and our local team (University of Texas) has had a pretty good season -- not only in terms of games won, but also the A-list talent in front of and behind the network cameras. Football is pageantry, and everything from the uniforms to the skin tones to the fireworks just looked perfect. The colors were entirely natural -- no "popping off the screen" or muddiness. As a camera panned across the audience, it seemed as if I were there, scanning the crowd myself. No blurring of colors or images, just eyeball-relaxing clarity.

We’ve also been on a binge of horror flicks lately, and one of the creepiest has been Orphan. This movie is dark in many ways, not least in its color palette. Here was the surprise: the blacks were noticeably blacker than with my still-very-nice JVC HD-1. Drag Me to Hell, a great return to form by director Sam Raimi, was colorfully gross and reminded me to never, ever mess with old Gypsy women.

Switching to the bright, colorful Across the Universe demonstrated the LTX 500’s incredible contrast. The "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" segment was properly trippy, with stunning colors. Even films with more muted color palettes, such as Away We Go, retained a lifelike look.

Even video games seemed to have a bit more snap. Grand Theft Auto’s car chases were more dizzying, and the tower dives in Assassin’s Creed caused moments of vertigo.

I’ve been very happy with the JVC HD-1. When it came out two-and-a-half years ago, it was the best projector I’d ever seen.

The LTX 500 was better in every way. Externally, it looks better, is smaller, and its cooling system is dramatically quieter. It does things the JVC HD-1 can’t. For instance, the Anthem mechanically protects the lens when the unit is powered off. Vertical and horizontal shift, focus, and zoom are all handled automatically from the remote; on the JVC, clunky dials must be manually turned.

Most important, the LTX 500’s picture was better. Colors looked more accurate, contrast more lifelike, and, though I know it’s impossible, the LTX’s 2,073,600 pixels seemed sharper than the HD-1’s 2,073,600 pixels.

Ah, but is the LTX 500 better than its sibling, the JVC DLA-RS20U projector? The Anthem’s singular advantage over all other projectors is that you can get it as part of an ultra-high-performance system including the Anthem Statement D2v processor and Anthem Statement amps. Otherwise, the LTX 500 and DLA-RS20U have identical specifications and probably look quite similar. In any case, the DLA-RS20U has been superseded by the newer JVC-RS25. Could an LTX-550 be in the works?

Other potential competitors in the sub-$8000 category include Sony’s VPL-VW85 and Optoma’s HD-8600. I haven’t tested either, but neither has the Anthem’s in-house hardware.

Conclusion

Even if you’re not interested in a single-company solution, Anthem’s fair price, outstanding product support, and bleeding-edge design add up to a no-brainer recommendation. I don’t think any other projector at any price will make you happier.

. . . Wes Marshall
wesm@hometheatersound.com

Anthem LTX 500 LCOS Projector
Price: $7499 USD.
Warranty: Two years parts and labor, six months on lamp.

Anthem
205 Annagem Blvd.
Mississauga, Ontario L5T 2V1
Canada
Phone: (905) 362-0958
Fax: (905) 564-4642

Website: www.anthemav.com

• Go Back