Options:

I have a few thousand dollars set aside for the media room... I won't likely have much more budget for the next year.

A> Spend all my money on a 1080p digital projector
B> Spend part of my money on a 720p digital projector and the rest on amplifiers
C> Spend similar money to "B" on repairing my 8" EM CRT projector and the rest on amplifiers

(FWIW... The 8" CRT will display higher resolutions than 720p, but not quite 1080p... it will do it with better color/greyscale accuracy than any digital, higher contrast ratio, etc... the downside... not as bright, huge, and slightly more maintenance needy)

Current equipment:
(Broken) Electrohome Marquee 8500 Ultra (CRT Projector)
Mitsubishi WS-55859 CRT 1080i RPTV (this will be replaced by whichever projector)
DVDO iScan VP50
Sony STR-DA3ES 6.1 receiver
3x M&K LCR-750 (front/center/right)
2x M&K VX-1250 (LFE)
4x M&K Surround-550 (surrounds and surround backs)
Oppo 970
XBox 360
DirecTV HR-20 (HD-DVR) and H-20 (HD receiver)

B.

right now I only have their regular Tivo setup, plus OTA HD.
-is operation as fast/seamless as the non-HD DVRs (assuming you had one previously)?
-is HD quality from this hardware comparable to OTA HD?

I gotta think the prices have come down a bit for this hardware compared to last year when I last checked?

It's not Tivo based... this is the new DirecTV designed and built box.

I had a SAT-T60... the first generation DirecTV Tivo. Standard definition. It was great. It was also somewhat slow.

Then I got a HR10-250... the DirecTV HD Tivo. Also great, but really slow.

Now I have the HR-20. This is 100% not-Tivo based DirecTV designed and built HD-DVR. I don't miss the Tivo interface at all. It's a LOT faster than the Tivos. It has a few bugs, but none really bother me. Trickplay isn't quite as good as Tivo, but it's fine for me.

As for picture quality... all of my HD boxes support OTA as well as satellite HD. The OTA feeds are quite a bit nicer looking than the satellite feeds of the same channels.

The HR-20 is a lease-only unit (as are all new DirecTV receivers.) You pay $5/mo to lease it, and a $299 up-front non-refundable fee to get it. While it's still a rip off, it's a lot better than the $999 HR10-250 that's now sitting in my closet.

I ended up with the Panasonic AX100. It is very nice. The brightness is awesome, and the contrast is respectable. Black levels are okay although certainly not anywhere near CRT levels.

Other quality 720p projectors to consider: Optoma HD73 (if the damn thing is ever released), Sharp XVZ3000, Sanyo Z5. You may also want to look into the Sharp DT500 from Costco. It is $1500, and comes with Costco's satisfaction guarantee.

In retrospect, I probably should have looked into that deal more seriously. But I needed the installation flexibility of the LCD projector.

On the other hand, your Marquee is a much better projector than my Sony 1252 ever was. So maybe you'd prefer to repair it. What does it need?

Cheers,
Peter

heh... just

All 3 of 'em are toasty.

My in-laws have the Panny 900. It throws a pretty nice picture on the screen. I'm just not quite convinced yet.

While the CRTs are more trouble to install in many aspects, they're actually more forgiving in the screen geometry department. You'd never want to think about touching a keystone correction on a digital, but it's no problem with CRT.

If I had $10,000 to spend, I know what I'd be buying... a 9" CRT. No question. But with the more limited budget, it's a tougher decision.

I had the keystone correction on my Sony maxed out.

If I were working with a 10k budget, I would get the new JVC R1 -- it's about $6k.

What is your budget anyway? And how desperately do you need amps?

I know that M&K speakers sound beautiful but are not very effecient. But a SonyES receiver should be able to drive them well enough.

I have NHT speakers, which are also not very efficient. I am using my Yamaha receiver to drive the surrounds, and a 2-channel Aragon amplifier to drive the mains. Maybe you could do something like that? Or do you want the same amplification for all channels?

So depending on your projector budget, I would suggest looking at either the Sharp XVZ3000, or try to get a good deal on the BenQ 8720.

-- P.

$2,500-$3,500 ish.

The Sony drives the M&K's OK, but it's really not up to the task. It gets REALLY hot, clips, etc.

I'd like to buy amps with the intent of going to full separates with a pre/pro later in the year, so 7 channels of amps is what I'd want.

I'm thinking B or C are my best options... it's just that 1080p is getting tantalizingly close to being within reach ;)

I'm not even at the stage of trying to pick a projector... I've got to decide which kind I want first.

If you ONLY have the HR-20, you don't pay it... you just pay the $299 upfront. Every receiver beyond the 1st is $5/mo.

That fee does not include any programming... what you pay for programming depends on the packages you select.