Chadnli
I know.
Mine wasn't much more. Should have been less but I paid some yahoo to install the PJ as I didn't trust myself in that capacity... yet I should have as the job was lousy and needed to be redone to align right. the guy charged me $200+.
$550 for the BenQ PE 7700... $200 for the screen materials including the black velvet trim tape, for a 116 diag. picture... $65 for a 26ft. HDMI cable... $135 for the Wirehider conduit for it and the speaker wires.
Mine is wall mounted and resides behind curtains that Im getting put up this weekend I believe.
Spending $3000 +, a few years ago for a 61 inch Sony RPJ cured me from spending lots on small displays. Its also cleaner looking, interferes less with the 2 ch audio system, and virtually disappears when not in use.
In fact the idea was to have something which did not affect the 2 ch audio nearly as much as a large glass lens, or big ol box sitting there behind the speakers allowing the sound to gather into pockets above and beside it.
and lets face it, when it comes to detail and video resolution such as plasmas provide, even if I wanted to see the hairs and pores on peoples skin, or each blade of grass
I cant. If I could I would have a plasma in my BR or office
and still have the PJ + big screen outfit in the main HT room.
That the single most significant item which provides the greatest impact in an HT system is a theater-sized display
IMO