These things are sweet! My homebrew LCD projector was fun but the picture quality was lackluster so I looked for alternatives that wouldn't break the bank and CRT projectors quickly caught my attention. I scored my NEC PG9000 (aka 9PG) from AVS member Ericglo for the price of $560 that included the giant setup remote. This is a lower-middle range CRT and it still throws a picture that is not far removed from the local cinema. The blues and reds are phenomenal and when a movie fades to black I can't see who's sitting next to me (so I pretend it's Jessica Simpson). CRT guys are quite defensive about their machines and I can confirm that it's completely warranted.
I've started converting the middle living room into a theater in my new house and hanging the beast was the first step. I used 1/2" threaded rod to connect the lower and upper pieces of Superstrut and 10-1.5 metric bolts to connect the lower strut to the projector feet. The upper pieces of strut are connected to the 2x6 ceiling joists using 1/2" lag screws 4" long. I thought the 1/2" would be better than 3/8" like everybody else uses but after I put up the first piece I realized a 1/2" socket wouldn't fit in the channel so I had to cut a socket in half so it could slide down the length of the strut to the bolt. That's twice in a week I had to cut a socket in half to make it fit... go figure.
I've ordered a 4x8 sheet of Wilsonart Designer White laminate from Home Depot to take the place of my beat up blackout cloth. Lens to screen is 121" for a 81x46" 16:9 screen.
This is the old setup from my rent house that kept the projector in the way.
These things are too big to have on the floor!
