Since 1999 I have been continuously building my audio/video system. I started out with a Yamaha home theater receiver that my parents bought me for my 16th birthday in 1997 and a set of old Marantz speakers. I bought the Energy Take 2 speakers and Energy subwoofer in 1999.

In January 2006 I decided to go all out and acquire the Energy C-3's that I had dreamed of owning since I auditioned them in a high-end audio store in 2002. Energy Speakers are made in Canada and their Connoisseur line-up is considered by many audiophiles to be one of the best "affordable" speakers available.

February 2006 brought me an opportunity to purchase a used Sony CRT projector from a nearby home theater guru that I couldn't pass up. CRT projectors are considered by many to be superior to current DLP and LCD projector technologies. They produce the most vivid colors, clearest images, most movie-like video, and largest picture for the shortest throw distance. They have several disadvantages in that they are large, heavy (mine weighs in at 142 lbs), dim, and difficult to calibrate and converge for the average consumer. Due to the cost savings involved with a CRT, I couldn't hesitate but to buy one. In March 2006, I added the C-C1 center channel to complete my home theater set up.

Recently, I made my own screen out of a 4' x 8' sheet of white Parkland Plastic hardboard. I used window molding tacked with black felt fabric for the masking border. In the end the entire screen only cost me $25 worth of materials.

Update! (7/20/2006) - I just received my hi-def component-to-VGA transcoder in the mail today. I no longer have to use my PC as a video source. I can now hook up my standard DVD player or PS2 to my projector without being restricted to 480i resolution. I am running 480p out of the Toshiba DVD player and the picture is noticeably clearer. I even tried the 1080i hi-definition signal on the PS2 in Gran Turismo 4. It's much more crystal clear at such a higher resolution!

I am debating on how I should hook up the component video sources to my projector. Currently I have a component cable running to the transcoder, then an HD15/5BNC breakout cable running to the projector. I think I will keep the transcoder near the projector so that I don't have to run a low quality SVGA monitor extension cable at such a long length (25'). I think I will stick with a 25' component cable and see how that works.

My next purchase will be an upscaling DVD player so that I can input 720p or 1080i into my projector.