Grim, Nice link.
I just recently got a laser disk player on ebay that has S-video and digtal sound out. I agree that a good laserdisk will beat a poor DVD transfer. John
I got your message but got a mailler daemon failure notice when I tried to contact you.
Your system sounds good although some mention of ancillary equipment for the projector to enhance performance was mentioned so will that 4 grand deal get bigger in cost and become less of a deal ? Here's the link I'm talking about...
http://www.projectorcentral.com/sony_vpl-hs51.htm
Also a few other tidbits... make sure your HVAC system doesn't blow on your 96" screen... even a little bit of air will result in a big annoying waving screen. Dust control can also be an issue... for a dedicated AV room you could put in a air filter along with a dehumidifier (if it's in the basement) If it is a dedicated AV room then a dedicated electric feed meant only for your AV equipment is in order as well.
Lighting... you might want to consider putting a couple of wall sconce with dimmer switches behind your screen. A very mild ambient light to the sides of your screen will actually make for less eye strain rather than a totally dark room. As an example Phillips was doing this with their "ambi-light" plasma sets.
Lastly... can you not hook up your laser disc player to the projector ? Many laser discs had fantastic quality transfers... much better than many second rate digital transfers you see on many dvds. You could always see about feeding the signal through a farouda or other brand up-converter for better performance as well. BTW... many laser disc players also had a digital audio output that you may be able to hook up to your 5.1 sound system.
Good luck !
grim

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic