Originally Posted By: nickbuol
$3000 for a lens on top of a $3000 street price projector is a bit crazy for me. I wish that I could have something like that, but I'd rather get a $5000 projector and pocket the extra $1000. (again, even that would be a stretch for me - pun intended)...

I know, the lens method yields great results, just saying that it is too spendy for me.

Originally Posted By: Home Theater Review
Before the Panamorph and the FVX200J's arrival, a true anamorphic home theater would've cost you close to $20,000 for a kickoff, but can now be had for less than $10,000. I demo'ed a system at this year's CEDIA using JVC's newest sub $3,000 D-ILA ($2,999) and a FVX200J being projected onto a 97-inch 2:35 SI Black Diamond screen. Total cost? Around $7,500. That's a tremendous value, not to mention one of the finer video demos I saw at CEDIA this year.


"Great value" sure is subjective. I would love to be in a financial situation to say that $7500 for the projector system is a "great value"... I've got enough tied up in the system already. With the 7.2 Axiom/SVS combination, the Onkyo receiver, Panny Blu-Ray, soundproofing, acoustical treatments, seating, screen, etc... I hate to actually add of the costs...


But, like you have already said, you don't want to spend $1500 on a screen. You can look for something less expensive or even go the DIY route.

I really understand why he is saying that this is such a bargain. When the JVC LCOS projector first came out it got such great reviews everywhere because of its contrast and black levels, without having an dynamic iris and it was around $8000. The performance has gotten even better since then and the prices have continued to fall, where you can now get that same performance or maybe even slightly better at $3000. Also five years ago there was an anamorphic lens option that was designed to work with the JVC (I don't remember which lens) that was $7000 to $9000, just for the lens. Now you can have the JVC projector with an anamorphic lens for $6000 total. That is a bargain to me. I don't know if I'll be able to get that kind of money together, either, but it is a dream of mine. To me having a superwide screen anamorphic lens setup is what home theater is all about. I'm perfectly happy with my M22's, VP150 and QS8's and my Onkyo 805 for the audio portion and wouldn't mind putting everything else into an the video (well I would like to upgrade the the VP150 to a VP160, but could wait to do this if or when I get a projector setup first). I just need to make sure when I finally (hopefully) get a dedicated room that the dimensions stay small enough that I don't have to go with larger front speakers and a larger subwoofer. This also helps keep the screen size smaller, which helps with the budget as well.