In another thread on the Blu-ray forum I stated that you can get a 112.5" 16:9 diagonal, 99" wide, complete system for under $2,500, if you knew where to look.

No one really believed me and thinks for that price it would look like garbage and not get close to his "mighty" Kuro, bah:

No offense, but if you only paid 2,500 for the entire setup including the speakers then there is no way you're going to even come anywhere close to matching the image quality of something like a Kuro, and any other number of consumer 50 or 60 inch panels. There's far more to image quality than just size. I paid more than that for my speakers alone, and I wouldn't consider them very high end.

Some have asked how. So I'm pointing them to this thread and forum section.

Don't beat around the bush! You have piqued my curiosity. Please list the make and model of your projector. Photos, too, if you can.

We all know we're the cheapest crowd here on AVS. Or we can be. Feel free to share. System components everything but video sources, like Blu-ray, DVD or cable box, etc. Video processors, blenders,sound receivers etc are just fine.

I'll go first.

Price to beat: System total: $1,035 (Fellenz)

Biggest Screen: $2,122.76 (troglobite)

Projector: Dwin HD-700 May 2000 $500 + $300 repair (Original price $12,500)
http://curtpalme.com/Dwin_Layout1.shtm
(with 75 ohm video mod with materials on hand $0)

Lenses: Delta HD-144 Color corrected and filtered $100

Processor: Lumagen Vision HDP $800
http://www.lumagen.com/testindex.php?module=hdp_details

Digital converter: HD-Fury $100
http://curtpalme.com/HDFury.shtm

Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 $265.55
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Certified-505-Watt-Digital-Surround/dp/B0002WPSBC

Screen: 99"x55.6875"

Rosebrand Blackout Cloth White/White $47.25
http://www.rosebrand.com/product34/Blackout-Lining-FR.aspx?tid=7

with Velvet trim: Black Veltex $4.99
http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1605_1617&products_id=9846

applied directly to the wall with duct tape: GORILLA $4.97
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100557598&categoryID=501483

System total: $2122.76

not bad, troglobite, but those speakers are definitely the weak link. still, it's an impressive set up for the price point!

Sony G70 $25
8' Wide Dalite High Power $400
Blu-ray, HD-DVD HTPC $500
Pioneer VSX-D509S Receiver $50
Mix of vintage JBL and Electrovoice speakers and subs $60

Price to beat $1,035

Yes audio is the weak link, gotta go work on that ;)

Sony G70 $25


$25 for a G70? How? Are the tubes toast? My Dwin has minty tubes. There's not one hint of wear. I'd rate maybe 9 or as low as 8.75 if that for wear. What would you rate your tube wear? But I still win for biggest screen for lowest price point! :D

It was a lucky move, I found it at a garage sale, the green and blue tubes have a little wear, but coming from a minty color filtered Marquee I have no desire to go back to what I had before.

Dwin HD-700 $350
Iscan VP30 - $500
Hdfury2 - $200
Onkyo tx-nr901 - $225
Infinity RS-625 front - $300
Yamaha center - free
Pinacle (x4) rear - free
refurb Samsung BD - $130
Toshiba HD-D2 - $60
Extron system 8 switcher - $40
Extron 202plus - $9

Total - $1814

The speakers I have had for a while. Everything else came from Ebay.

Ok...I'm going the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) route... B-Stock XG purchased in 2001 $5K.

$5000/8 Years = $625/year. A digital bought 8 years ago for the same $5K would have been in the landfill four years ago.


Mike

I have a $500 Barco 1209. $450 USD at today's exchange rate. ;)
Came with a short and a beautiful custom painted cover.

I agree with you that an excellent system is acheiveable at an affordable cost.

How about?:

Refurbished or preowned Onkyo 805. Beefy amps and room correction. $500-ish.

Oppo DV-980H via hdmi, if DVD-A/SACD is desired. $150

I'd be watching Ebay for used speakers. Something like NHT 1.1, 1.3As or even 2.3/2.5 locally.

I'd hide them behind Seymour AT screen material and do an AT setup. Or use some Screen Goo paint on carefully prep'ed drywall. 100" wide ;)

I'd build 2 subwoofers, using a pair of NHT 1259 drivers off Ebay. Hide them too, (and let Home Depot cut the MDF on their panel saw). Used amp to drive them. Cheap and highly musical, good to 23 Hz before rolling off. Or explore newer sub drivers and check out the DIY speaker forum....

Htpc with Bluray drive and HDAV 1.3 soundcard. 1 TB hard drive for ripped music, and a Gyration Air Music remote for accessing it, without needing the pj.

Or a PS3 and use it networked to a desktop pc with a large media drive in it.

12 gauge zip chord for speaker wire, and silver wire DIY interconnects.

Crt projector or perhaps even a 720P digital projector, new or used.

Some DIY bass traps (hide them too!) and some DIY acoustical wall treatment panels.

I have an onkyo receiver (can't remember the model) = Around $300
nec xg135 = $325
KLH center and rear speakers(came with a pioneer that I bought 15 years ago) = free
Sanyo floor speakers (12" woofer, and 2 smaller speakers) = free
59"x104" 16:9 homebuilt screen = >$100
home pc = $400, but I also us this as my main pc.
Breakout cable = $25.00

Total cost in #'s here is could be about $1150, but you could also cut some cost out for the pc as I had it well before the PJ

Sony 1251q- $50 + $35 for a replacement Y board= $85
HDFury - $99
Box1040- $150
Ps3- $329 (Dell Discount shipped)
Marantz 5001 AVR- $250
DIY BOC 111" wide 2.35:1 Screen - $85
JBL HLS810 Speakers (Three fronts) 10 years old, but still sound great- $300 (10 years ago)
Cheap 2 way rear speakers- $50/pair
Polk PSW10 Sub- $99 5 years ago.
monoprice cables $100
TotalL: $1218

I have other components, but this is just a basic video setup. Maynot be as sharp as a Kuro, but I'm sure the blacks are just as good. :)

NEC XG 852 CRT Projector. $500.00 (Add shipping to all items).
Original Box and Packing Material, both remotes with remote cord, Owner’s Manual, and lens caps.
NEC Ceiling bracket $100.00
Moome NEC XG-FULLHD: HDMI 1.3 Input Card with remote, $400.00; Received January 28th, 2009. Installed and tested but unused.

Lumagen VisionProHDP Video Processor; excellent condition $800.00

Below included with system

HDMI DVI cable CL2 Rated (For In-Wall Installation) (24AWG) w/net jacket- 6ft (Gold Plated)
- 3ft (Gold Plated)-10ft (Gold Plated)
HDMI DVI cable (24AWG) w/ferrites and net jacket- 6ft (Gold Plated) (NF)
2 ea. HDMI DVI cable (24AWG) w/ferrites and net jacket-15ft (Gold Plated) (NF)
Denon DVD-2900 with SDI professionally installed by Jim Peterson of Lumagen.
$1,800 total price plus shipping.