I guess I did what a lot of people do with this forum. Take! Take! Take! So this is me giving back a little of my minor Home Theater project. Not only did I get my projector for under $5000. My whole project came in at under $3000.
My requirements
1) Inexpensive.
2) I have no dedicated room for a Home Theater, so it had to be as unobtrusive as possible. (Wife requirement)
3) I live in the US, and may return to the UK in the next couple of years.
Solution
1) AE100 for under $1400. However, got dinged for $60 duty by USPS when they delivered my EMS shipped projector. (Chose EMS to try to avoid this duty. I guess Seattle customs are more used to packages from Japan, and so knew what to do).
Parkland Plastics screen for ~$50. Parkland Plastics + foam board + 3M Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive. Makes for a portable screen that I can set against a bookcase for viewing, and put away when finished, so satisfies requirement 2 as well.
Refurbished Onkyo TX-DS595 receiver + HK TS 10 speakers. $620. (Had to pay sales tax on this, as the Internet dealer was in WA).
Malata N966 with VGA output. ($370) (Chose VGA output to get the best input to the AE100).
Refurbished Panamax MAX 1000. ($99)
In-wall speaker wires + 25' VGA cable. ~$100.
2) Ran the surround sound speaker wires under the house, and hid them behind curtains. (HKS TS10 home theater system. Small front, center and surround speakers) The large sub sits in a corner, so is not too bad.
3) Malata N966 can play PAL/NTSC and is dual voltage. AE100 from Japan is purportedly dual voltage. Would need to have a transformer for the receiver and the sub.
I am not an audio or video phile, I just want to watch movies at home, so this works *really* well for me. The AE100 is really cool. I was surprised at how small it was. (Didn't pay much attention to the size specification in my research).
I have one dust blob, that is on the very far right side of the blue panel. One day I may get up the nerve to try to clean it.
Upside. After not being keen on the idea, the wife *is* impressed with the picture. Especially when watching in the early evening when she thought the sun light would affect the picture. It is still very watchable, even in a room that is not light controlled.
My requirements
1) Inexpensive.
2) I have no dedicated room for a Home Theater, so it had to be as unobtrusive as possible. (Wife requirement)
3) I live in the US, and may return to the UK in the next couple of years.
Solution
1) AE100 for under $1400. However, got dinged for $60 duty by USPS when they delivered my EMS shipped projector. (Chose EMS to try to avoid this duty. I guess Seattle customs are more used to packages from Japan, and so knew what to do).
Parkland Plastics screen for ~$50. Parkland Plastics + foam board + 3M Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive. Makes for a portable screen that I can set against a bookcase for viewing, and put away when finished, so satisfies requirement 2 as well.
Refurbished Onkyo TX-DS595 receiver + HK TS 10 speakers. $620. (Had to pay sales tax on this, as the Internet dealer was in WA).
Malata N966 with VGA output. ($370) (Chose VGA output to get the best input to the AE100).
Refurbished Panamax MAX 1000. ($99)
In-wall speaker wires + 25' VGA cable. ~$100.
2) Ran the surround sound speaker wires under the house, and hid them behind curtains. (HKS TS10 home theater system. Small front, center and surround speakers) The large sub sits in a corner, so is not too bad.
3) Malata N966 can play PAL/NTSC and is dual voltage. AE100 from Japan is purportedly dual voltage. Would need to have a transformer for the receiver and the sub.
I am not an audio or video phile, I just want to watch movies at home, so this works *really* well for me. The AE100 is really cool. I was surprised at how small it was. (Didn't pay much attention to the size specification in my research).
I have one dust blob, that is on the very far right side of the blue panel. One day I may get up the nerve to try to clean it.
Upside. After not being keen on the idea, the wife *is* impressed with the picture. Especially when watching in the early evening when she thought the sun light would affect the picture. It is still very watchable, even in a room that is not light controlled.