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Are AT screens a must.

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  jasonsmithpharmd 
#1 ·
I am planning a HT/bar/pool room. I am not a top notch quallity guy I just want a nice big picture with good surround sound at the most affordable price. I would like to keep the projector and screen at under 3 grand if possible. The viewing distance will be close at about 11.5 ft. I will have 1 curved row of 4 recliners. Behind that will be the bar and to the left will the the pool table. Light can be kept to a minimum. But since it will be a game/bar/ht room I would like to be able to use the projector with soft levels of light. I have many questions but I will try to keep this focused.


My settup will only allow for 5.1 sound as there will be no left wall. I currently have a pair of polk tsi 300 floor speakers, I could just buy one extra speaker online for cheap and have 3 matching fronts that would meet my needs. To do this I would need to place the speakers behind the screen.


The first challange Is reguarding the projector screen. I know I want a fixed screen ranging from 120-150 inch diagonal. Viewing the screen from 11.5 ft I am concerned about poor visual quality of the AT screens. The other concern is Extra cost of a AT screen. I can paint behind the screen black no problem. Speakers are black with black grills.


My question is would it be stupid to try and place speakers behind a regular screen? Has anyone ever done this will decent results, will the difference be very noticable?


If I was to go the AT way am I viewing at to close of a distance?


My goal price range is 2500-3000 for projector and screen.

Regular, Weaved, perforated, Any screen recommendations out there?

Any projector recommendations out there?
 
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#2 ·
SeymourAV is used quite a bit for DIY AT.
http://www.seymourav.com/screensDIY.asp

Poke around their website and you can get a a screen from a couple hundred to a couple thousand depending on how much you do yourself.


Do not place speakers behind a regular screen. You are going to lose high frequency if not more of the audible spectrum. Then you'll equalize to get more power from the tweeters. Then blow your tweeters. Especially because most people use some sort of dome tweeter instead of a waveguide and compression driver. See, how how it all devolves so quickly.
 
#3 ·

Quote:
The viewing distance will be close at about 11.5 ft. I will have 1 curved row of 4 recliners.

would this be flat to the wall? or 11.5ft from a false wall?


I own a seymour Xd do-it-yourself screen and 11.5ft is right in the area where you start to see the weave. People will start to notice anywhere from 10-12ft (some claim to see the weave at 15ft....must have eagle eye's) I start to notice mine anywhere from 11-12ft but only on bright scenes....like a sky shot or bright white background.


If you can make it work, A/T screens are awesome.........three fronts the same and you have a seamless front sound stage. Sound localizing accuracy is very underrated; with an A/T screen you get pin point sound accuracy (well at least it appears to me you do).


The Seymour material is very inexpensive. I paid $380 (at the time I purchased....including shipping, to Canada) for enough material to build a 153" screen. You just need to build a frame. My wall, screen and screen frame were built for around $800.
 
#4 ·
+1 on both Seymour A/V for screens

+2 on don't put speakers behind a non-AT screen, the sound will be impacted negatively to a large degree


As a way to cut costs on my AT screen, I opted for Seymour A/V DIY screen material + a Jamestown frame - ended up costing me $600, which to me is not bad for a 136" wide AT screen. I am using a JVC RS-20 with it, which I purchased used locally about a year ago for $2500 with a spare bulb. So pretty close to your budget, and used JVCs should be even cheaper now.
 
#5 ·
A BenQ W6000 or Epson 3010 would set you back around $1500 and either would be bright enough for a dimly lit room. JVC's have great blacks, but are not known for being especially bright.


I would also recommend Seymour AT screens. They are very responsive to requests and have a DIY option.
 
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