My experience with the PT-AE8000 has been real good. It should be nearing the $2,000.00 price point now.
I haven't used it for 3D yet but it already has a really good depth to the image. Once the focus is set per source its really good.
The dark room helps, you can run it on eco which cuts the noise in half. I haven't seen it in a well lit room but it is quite bright on both settings.
I run mine on Normal all the time, no real messing with the settings once each source is adjusted and saved.