Jamestown or Elite Please Advise - Page 15

I'm disappointed to see deliver time is still at least a month. For those that waited it out, it the screen quality worth it giving the time you had to wait for it? Or would you shell our the extra $50-$100, and get a namebrand screen within a week and a half?

I'm hoping to have my theatre room ready for a screen in July, so given that, sounds like I need to order one now to have it ready by then.

BTW- when other sellers ship out fixed screens, do all fixed screen require this much assembly? Or is it a huge box they deliver to your front door :P? This would be my first fixed frame purchase.

from wat i gather your going to need to assemble any fixed screens

This thread has helped a lot. A lot of good info in here for newbs like me considering budget minded screens.

I received the screen. Ordered on April 11th, received it May 24th. I'll probably put it together this weekend.

putting it together now, I'll put up some pictures and opinion on the assembly process and frame quality in my thread later on today.

Good deal mine should b here by Friday according to ups ordered on April 14 post up pics n let me knw the quality

Nebrunner how did u like the JT screen any pics.

Recieved my jt screen but i was a bit disappointed with the way it was shipped. Box waa good no signs of exterior damage but no foam or padding inside. Jusr newspaper clippings acting as filler. I wont be able to mount it for bout a week or so.

Same here, but mine arrived with no damages so I didnt care about the lack of packaging.

I have some pictures up on my thread, the screensize was not what I ordered so I didn't completely assemble it including fabric.

I think we can safely say that the "10 to 13 working days for delivery" advertised on the Jamestown website has gone out the window.

I bought a refurbed projector the same day I paid for the Jamestown screen. I'm about to go over my 30 day window for being able to return the projector and I still can't test it on a real screen. This irks me a bit.

I'd like to center my recessed projector mount box in the ceiling and put up the ceiling drywall around it, but I can't until I'm sure exactly where the screen is going to dryfit on the wall. I can't and this irks me a bit.

James was backlogged on orders and he still shut down the shop this week to go fishing "retool the floor." This irks me a bit.

Of course, I am also the least patient person in the world. Grrrr.

152" diagonal - Seymour AV XD fabric with black backing. Ordered 4-7-12, Shipped 5-17-12.

Very, very satisfied with the value for money - more than $1200 cheaper than the same screen from Seymour AV.

Obviously, the difference is mainly in the frame and the jamestown frame looks DIY vs the Seymour (especially in the rear). It's just a few wood slats and is held together by metal bars and screws that you install. Also, I would imagine that the Seymour screen has some kind of snaps or fasteners on the fabric (my old Carada screen did), so you don't have to stretch it yourself.

five suggestions for these frames:

(1) don't use the wood screws that came with the screen - use 1.5 inch number 8 wood screws - they are a little longer and will hold better
(2) the larger frames would benefit from a much longer metal bar connection holding the left and right horizontal wood pieces together at the top and bottom - mine pulled apart way too easily with just a little torque on the frame when moving it (even when trying to be careful) [hence my recommendation in number 1]
(3) it will take you a while to stretch the fabric without any wrinkles at all and you will have to go back and forth many times - work from the middle to the corners
(4) try to center the material as best you can before you start tightening because if it is crooked and gets pulled up against a screw, it will cause a wrinkle and you will need to enlarge the gap with scissors and retighten to get rid of that wrinkle
(5) after you test fit the fabric under the tabs, but before you start tightening, trim the corners of the fabric so there is no extra fabric in the corner to bunch up and cause a hard-to-remove wrinkle

I have not hung it yet, but the included hardware seems to be sufficient. It's the same two piece hardware that Carada uses.

Any questions, please just ask.

-David
Edited by Davecraze - 6/11/12 at 7:21pm

Thanks Dave. Your delivery dates were very helpful.

Six weeks for you should equate to seven or eight weeks for me (adding in their shut down for retooling). That tells me my delivery is at least another month out.

Plan B. At least I know how to proceed with my build.

I'm still on the fence about a Jamestown screen. It looks like most have had good things to say about the product with a few exceptions regarding build quality. I got a quote from James to do a Seymour acoustically transparent screen in 2.35:1 at 130" wide. I'm a little concerned about the whole things staying together. My last screen was an Elite fixed frame 16:9 and I loved the aluminum frame but after almost two years of owning it I began to notice some black spots on the surface. I believe that this is the black backing bleeding through and Elite refused to replace the material as I was about a month past my warranty expiration. I was not happy about this and had a somewhat heated discussion with a rep on the phone there. I see that they make a screen similar in size to what I want and the price would not be much more than the Jamestown version but I can't really compare the Elite AT fabric to the Seymour and I don't really want to give Elite my business again after their being so insistent that this could not be their problem. I take excellent care of my equipment and that screen had not been touched by human hands since I assembled it. I have no doubts that it was defective material. I think the Jamestown would be an affordable alternatitve to the Seymour screen that I REALLY want but I guess the only way to know for sure is to try it.

^^^ I was pretty much in the same boat and was not willing to gamble on the elite AT fabric vs the known quality of the Seymour XD plus Seymour black backing. Also, the older Elite AT 1080 acousticpro fabric was not as tight of a weave as the Seymour XD and I was concerned about moire.

It is not as cut and dry now, though. There is a new Elite AT 1080 fabric with a tighter weave that looks closer to the Seymour XD. There is also a new Elite 4K fabric that seems to be a much tighter weave than the XD (looks like Seymour's 4K fabric). I don't know if these new Elite screens are even yet available for purchase at retail.

I am not a DIY guy (I don't even own real tools) but I would probably get a Jamestown frame again. Although it is not as elegant as an Seymour frame and not as easy to put together, it looks (from the front) like 95% of the total screen appearance for 50% of the cost. Also, my room is a cave so any slight frame velvet imperfections (I have not found any) or even the joint between the horizontal bars (it is there but hard to see at any viewing distance) are not visible to the naked eye.

Good to know, thanks for the information. I think in the end, the fabric is the most important part and I don't consider my modest home theater (a spare bedroom) to be a showcase anyway so as long as the Jamestown frame will stay together I think it will be money well spent.

I'm pretty impressed with the Jamestown screen. Anybody have any suggestion for more robust mounting hardware?

Ehn. I better search this thread first. I'm sure the answer is here somewhere.

I think the included hardware will be more than sufficient. I have a 152 screen and it weighs about 40-45 pounds. The two cleat brackets will easily hold that if you only hit one stud per bracket. If you hit two studs per bracket, you could probably suspend yourself from it with no problem.

As an example, this somewhat similar single french cleat holds 200 pounds:

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/tools-hardware-hardware-fasteners-fasteners-picture-hanging-picture-mirror/ook-hangman-200-lb-french-cleat-picture-hanger-with-wall-dog-mounting-screws-13-piece-pack-179220.html

and here is a 300 pound one (though longer than the Jamestown included cleats):

http://www.amazon.com/Hangman-Products-HP-30-Heavy-Duty-Aluminum/dp/B000IU12J0

I used that one you linked to at Home Depot for a DIY headboard project a while back and it was really nice. Way overkill but it was cheap and the built in level was a nice feature. The way I see it, the longer the cleat is the more chance you have of hitting studs and spreading the load more evenly.

Perfect, Dave. Just perfect. Two of those smaller french cleats from the Big Orange D worked great.

You Da Man.

Sure thing. I ended up using those same cleats from HD also because they had a lot more room for error due to the angle of the cleats.

Just some (poorly photographed) screenshots of my Jamestown 152" diagonal screen with Seymour XD fabric and Seymour blackbacking. Please ignore my as-yet unpainted height and wide speaker grills. Projector is an Epson 5010 and room is 17 x 13 x 9.

With flash so can see the screen on the wall - it's hard to get good pics due to the wall color and all the acoustical panels:



YAMJ jukebox:



Monsters Inc:



Hugo:


Edited by Davecraze - 7/4/12 at 8:18pm

Looks great!

I ordered a 134" Jamestown screen with a custom 6" border last August and it was a breeze to assemble... no wrinkles here and picture looks excellent with my Epson 1080p projector. Room is light controlled pretty much. Can't beat the quality for the price! I had a friend over the other night that told me I could get much better contrast with a screen he sells.... it was over $5k. Way out of my price range. I am definately happy with my screen, especially for what I would have to pay to get a better one.

For attaching it to the wall... i used some 4x4 blocks (painted black and about 12" long) attached to the wall with construction adhesive and then some black sheet rock screws right through the velour.

There are reasons to buy exotic screens but there is no reason for such a screen in a fully light controlled room with a projector with excellent contrast and black levels. . Any white screen is the best for such application. My opinion is that your friend is feeding you BS.

Getting ready to pull the trigger on a 130" screen on ebay. Have the processing/shipping times been any better as of recently?

I told him I thought I would go with a newer, better projector as I am happy with my screen.

Have you received your screen yet? I ordered mine on 7/20 and was expecting to get a tracking number emailed any day now, but from reading this thread 'ol James neglected to tell me about the almost 2 month wait. I am not willing to wait that long and if will cancel my order tomorrow and go another route. It may be well worth the wait for the money, but I am very impatient especially when I have my first projector hanging ready to go with no screen.

I have not received a shipment notice yet. I placed my order on 7/11. I emailed them yesterday and they said they were held up due to supplier issues and should be able to ship my screen later this week. We will see. I'm in the same boat as you, first projector hung and ready to go.

Sounds like I better order now if I want a screen by Halloween.

Man I wish I had known this before I placed my order. I could have ordered another brand or even have built my own screen by now.