Stewart vs other?

[joryyroj]

I am taking the plunge and installing a new home theater in our house. It is definetly more expensive then I first calcluated. I have purchased the Optoma H56 and the Star Power the local theater store is recommending the Stewart (92") screen. Is this the best screen for this projector? Is there anything similar for less money as the Stewart is like 1900?

Also, I am thinking of purchasing the Denon 3803 Receiver and Denon 2200 DVD player anyone have any experience good or bad with these two products?

Lastly, I am considering the Axiom speakers for a 7.1 setup? Anyone have any comments for these? A

All of your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jory
Dallas TX
jory.pai@verizon.net

[JonMarsh]

You might get more input on your screen question over on the FPTV part of the forum. Which Stewart 92" screen are you looking at from your dealer? Depending on masking options and base material, the price of a good screen can climb quickly. Stewart's best material for a digital projector (IMO) is the Firehawk, it's a gray type screen with gain (retro-reflective) and some rejection of off axis ambient light. But it's more expensive than Grawhawk, if I recall correctly.

I'm an old fashion guy, from the CRT world, and I've never had a projector (except in business) that would blister paint on a wall at 20 feet (like some of the 2000 lumen digital's will do), so for my all time favorite screen surface has been DALITE High Power; it's a retro-reflective with gain ~2.4, but with a reasonable viewing angle and no hotspotting or "sparkles". A fixed installation version of these or a manual pull down is fairly moderately priced. It works best with the projector near the viewing position (i.e., table mounted), but also works pretty well ceiling mounted. Some other folks in the business (like Bill Cushman, who does reviews for various mags from time to time on projectors) like this material a lot, too; he uses it in his home. At least, that's what he told me.

I've heard stories that DA-LITE's quality control in manufacturing isn't as consistent as Stewart's, but they also stand behind their product and will fix things immediately (based on the few anecdotes of problems that I've heard), so IMO they're OK to buy from . More like Nissan quality than Lexus or Mercedes, if you will. But if you want to save money, those are the tradeoffs.

Good luck getting your theater finished, and happy viewing.

Regards,

Jon




Earth First!
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[Chris D]

I'll agree with Jon here. IMHO, you can't get anything better quality and strictly controlled than Stewart. They're the Mercedes of the projection screen world, but they can get pricy. But others are just happy with lesser expensive models from Da-Lite or Draper. Star Power is a good store--I know which one you're going to, and have been in there many times.

As I've posted elsewhere in this link:

http://www.htguide.com/CFBoards/index.cfm?fuseaction=Threads.viewthread&Tid=84607&Forum=37&StartRow=1&CFB=1

you may want to consider spending some $$$ on a screen. Buy it once, and buy it right, (one of my mottos) and you won't have to upgrade your screen for a very long time.

Bottom line, I would audition some of the other screens, which will be easy in the DFW area, to decide for yourself where in the price range you want to buy.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Clive]

The Axioms are great sounding speakers. There has been alot of good reviews about. Be aware though that Axioms can come in 4, 6 and 8 ohm loads. Make sure the reciever you choose can drive them together.

Whenever you start building the theater, open a thread over at "Spaced Out" to keep us posted on the progress!

Happy hunting.




CLIVE




HEY!! Why buy movie tickets when you can own a Theater?

[Aeromos]

Hey joryyroj,

The Axiom's are excellent speakers. You would be hard pressed to find speakers that could match them in both sound quality and price point. IMHO you couldn't go wrong with Axiom. Here is a link of my impressions of them. Make sure you read all my posts to get my initial impression after the 1st audition and the conclusion I came to after going back to hear them again. I even compared the M80 & M60 side by side.

Axiom

Enjoy!!




Aeromos
Enjoy life, it's too short to waste!!
My Collection

[Lex]

Welcome to the forum!

You might want to post your screen questions over at Front Projection.

I've got a Carada screen I like well. www.carada.com

Axioms have gotten a lot of good words I think, but I'll leave that question to the more experienced ones. Again though, a post asking specifically about them might get better results than here in your Stewart thread.

[Andrew Pratt]

Right please post a thread in the FP area if you haven't done so already and when you do please try and tell us which Stewart screen it is they're recomending. Also what made you choose the Denon Receiver over say the Rotel?

[George Bellefontaine]

Jory, I can't speak for the Denon 3803, but I own the 3801. It was my first venture into 7 .1. The Denon replaced a top of the line Yamaha integrated amp in my dedicated theater, so that says something about how I like the 3801. At the time, it was three down from the top, had most of the features of the other two, and suited my budget perfectly.




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[Brandon B]

One note - the Firehawk is not retro reflective, but merely directionally reflective. It is intended for use with a ceiling mount.

I'd definitely check into Da-Lite and the other less pricey brands. Stewart's products are unquestionably top notch, but it really sounds like you will get more bang for your buck putting that cash into other areas of your setup.

BB

edit: OK, upon thinking, I guess it is retro-reflective in the sense of it being greater than unity gain. I was thinking in terms of my highpower which is truly retro-reflective, highest gain being present on the line right back to the PJ lens. With the Firehawk, highest gain is is the line which mirrors the projection beam around a centered normal to the screen.