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Im looking for a fixed projector screen.I was told by some that Stewarts are the best,I was told by west coast hifi-by a salesman who has not heard of stewarts that da-lite is the best.Any recommendations?

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Posted

Despite what the spin doctors tell you. Take out of the equation frame, flocking etc..... the material is what you need to evaluate. Rember a fixed screen is BETTER and is prone to less roll lines or puckering. Electro tab tension screens are novel but a fought with problems. The material will expand and contract based on temp fluctuations.

The thing not too loose sight of is all unity gain screens are nothing more than colour corrected latex white paint. Which is painted on vinyl. Roller screens have a fiberglass mesh base. You need to consider your room size, colour of room, veiwing angle based on how many chairs you have wide, distance from the screen and PJ type. Some of the grey screens were designed to make up for the deficiencies of low contrast PJs. Some had reflective qualities as well. My best advice is look at one in your room if you can. If dont have a PJ then look at the two in combination. As I have found that listening to speakers in shops is fundementally floored on a scientific basis. And then end result when listening or veiwing confirms this.

If you are not in a hurry then do a lot of reading and study. Its nice to get it right the first time. Dont let the offer is only good for today etc.... blindside you. I have been thrown out of many of HT stores in W.A because they are intimated by me. I dont like BS and my BS detector is very fine tuned.

I know of you mate so send us a PM and we can talk a little further off topic to guide the correct way. I have been shafted only once in life and determined not to let it happen to anyone else. The moral of the story is REASEARCH.

Thanks

Ben

Im looking for a fixed projector screen.I was told by some that Stewarts are the best,I was told by west coast hifi-by a salesman who has not heard of stewarts that da-lite is the best.Any recommendations?

If the salesman has not heard of stewart then :D:P:P

Ben :blink:

Posted

Hi Franin,

I just went through exactly the same scenario as you.

I was originally looking at a Stewart screen, and spoke to one of the reps there in the US. He was incredibly helpful - an awesome guy. I also spoke to one of their re-sellers in the US also, once again, very knowledgable and very helpful.

What they do, and as should anyone worth their salt, is match your screen to your projector. The first questions they asked me were:

How much control do you have over ambient light?

What sort of projector is it?

How many Lumens?

And it went on from there. I was originally going to get a Stewart fixed frame screen with the Studiotek 130 fabric. Speaking to the rep from Stewart also showed just how little some of the resellers here knew about their screens. One guy here in Oz tried to sell me the greyhawk fabric. The Stewart rep told me his information was "out of date." :blink:

I then found Oz Theatre Screens in Brisbane, and gave Richard a call there and had quite a few long chats with him. He then pointed me to this site, which I joined and asked the same question as you, only a month or 2 ago.

Anyway, the advice I got from the guys was great, and I have ended up buying an OzTS "scope" screen with their "Evolution 3D" fabric. It's a big bugger at 3m wide, but it's very cool....

The screen is awesome, and I couldn't be happier with the advice I got from the guys here, and the service I received from Richard at OzTS.

The reason I didn't end up going for the Stewart was partially financial, but mostly because it was pointed out to me that since I will be upgrading my projector in a year or so, and the screens location is by no means it's final resting place, don't spend the money on a Stewart YET. make it the last screen I ever buy.

But now that I have my OzTS screen, I don't know that I'll bother with a Stewart now...

Cheers,

Chris

Posted
Hi Franin,

I just went through exactly the same scenario as you.

I was originally looking at a Stewart screen, and spoke to one of the reps there in the US. He was incredibly helpful - an awesome guy. I also spoke to one of their re-sellers in the US also, once again, very knowledgable and very helpful.

What they do, and as should anyone worth their salt, is match your screen to your projector. The first questions they asked me were:

How much control do you have over ambient light?

What sort of projector is it?

How many Lumens?

And it went on from there. I was originally going to get a Stewart fixed frame screen with the Studiotek 130 fabric. Speaking to the rep from Stewart also showed just how little some of the resellers here knew about their screens. One guy here in Oz tried to sell me the greyhawk fabric. The Stewart rep told me his information was "out of date." :blink:

I then found Oz Theatre Screens in Brisbane, and gave Richard a call there and had quite a few long chats with him. He then pointed me to this site, which I joined and asked the same question as you, only a month or 2 ago.

Anyway, the advice I got from the guys was great, and I have ended up buying an OzTS "scope" screen with their "Evolution 3D" fabric. It's a big bugger at 3m wide, but it's very cool....

The screen is awesome, and I couldn't be happier with the advice I got from the guys here, and the service I received from Richard at OzTS.

The reason I didn't end up going for the Stewart was partially financial, but mostly because it was pointed out to me that since I will be upgrading my projector in a year or so, and the screens location is by no means it's final resting place, don't spend the money on a Stewart YET. make it the last screen I ever buy.

But now that I have my OzTS screen, I don't know that I'll bother with a Stewart now...

Cheers,

Chris

Were is the screen manufactured Prior? That is the frame and or material.

Ben

Posted
was told by west coast hifi-by a salesman who has not heard of stewarts

He hasn't heard of Stewarts screens?! Which planet does he come from? :blink:

Posted
I believe they're manufactured on the Gold Coast, Qld.

Website here:

OZTS

The other interesting thing is that they sell screens through dealers, but they also sell direct to customer at a substancial saving

Guest eandoz
Posted
. I have been thrown out of many of HT stores in W.A because they are intimated by me. IBen :D

Now why do I not find this hard to believe? :blink:

Posted

Franin I have a 92" Diagonal 16:9 Da-Lite Motorised screen which I have been very happy with. If you can afford it I would go with a Stewart Studiotek 130 Screen. I couldn't afford to at the time get the Stewart so I got my Da-Lite which was over 10 years ago but I have been very happy with it since and don't see myself changing unless I redo my room and go the Microperf route which would get expensive as I would throw a Screen Research CP2 ISF & THX Cert Microperf Screen into the mix. Honestly I don't think you can go wrong with either.

Posted
I was told by west coast hifi-by a salesman who has not heard of stewarts that da-lite is the best.

Very surprised by this. WestCoast HiFi used to be a Stewart screen dealer but opted out on account of the long lead time it takes between placing an order for a screen and receiving the finished product. So they do know about them, but they can't sell you one.

Each Stewart screen is made to order in California, and shipped via airfreight, and hence makes them expensive in comparison to mass produced products transported by sea freight. The freight component alone on a Stewart screen costs more than what many other screens cost. 2nd hand Stewart screens on eBay are an option (there are some available at the moment), but expect to pay about $1,300AU to ship one here from the States. I know, I've just been quoted to have one shipped here!

If you want the best screen then Stewart is the obvious choice, but be prepared to pay and to wait. If you want the best value screen then Stewart is obviously not the choice.

Posted

Beejay,

when I spoke to the Stewart guys in the US, I was quoted about US$250 to ship it. Make sure you get a quote on Airfreight, not seafreight. Seafreight charges by the cubic metre, whereas Airfreight is done by weight. I got caught on that when I imported some gearboxes - cheaper to ship 2 by air than one by sea.

I could have had a 110" 16:9 fixed frame Stewart, landed in OZ, for less than $3k.

Ben,

Oz Theatre Screens are in Brisbane. Richard is a member on this forum. The frames are extruded Aluminium with a crushed velvet edging.

Richard imports the fabrics, but manufactures each screen individually here and ships it out. The packaging is top notch, and it really seems like a lot of time has been invested in this product.

I would love to see a review and comparison done on the OzTS against the Stewart, Da-Lite etc.

granted, Stewart offer a much larger range of fabrics, including the Microperf's for THX, but for mine, I'm happy with the OzTS.

Cheers,

Chris

Posted

Chris, I've just bought a 2nd hand Stewart GreyHawk 92" Electric Model A for $850USD. Stewart quoted me $320USD to have it overhauled in their factory. All Stewart screens are shipped by air to Australia, but they don't have any special discount arrangements with any freight forwarder. They said the shipping cost to send a screen to Australia is about $1000USD. I shopped around and got a FedEx quote by economy air of $772USD plus GST etc. So if they've quoted you $250 for shipping then I'd like a piece of that! So total cost landed is about $2600AUD.

Posted

Yeah, it was definately only about that figure. I'd quote my email for you, but I lost all my archived emails about a month ago... :blink:

Mind you, that wasn't a quote from Stewart, that was a quote from one of their agents. My work's head office is in the US, so I was going to look at shipping through them, but when he gave me the price, I thought it wasn't worth the bother.

Even when I shipped gearboxes, they were only costing US$400, and that's for 55kg's

I just did a quick calculation from the company I used to ship the gearboxes, and it came out at US$502.

That was for:

30kg

3m long

30cm wide

20cm high

delivered to the door from Philidelphia to Melbourne.

The freight charge was only US$217, the rest was taken up by fees. I also put a declared value of US$1000 on it too.

This is the company I used: Air Parcel Express

Posted
Thanks Prior good to know. TNT express and DHL are expensive at times.

Ben

Also, if you just get bulky items delivered to the nearest international airport and pick them up from there, it's often much cheaper. When I shipped my CRT from New York, it was USD$400 to Brisbane airport, or USD$1200 to my door (still in Brisbane). So an extra USD$800 or a 10 minute drive. :blink:

Posted

Yeah, this is definately the cheapest way that I've found to ship with DHL.

The "extra" to deliver to my door (work) was only an extra US$45, which wasn't bad!

Cheers,

Chris

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
just ordered my stewarts Studiotek 130 screen.hopefully be next week they should have it.

A Wise buying decision - you will enjoy it for years to come.

Posted
just ordered my stewarts Studiotek 130 screen.hopefully be next week they should have it.

Hey Franin,

Where did u get it and how much? I've been lusting over one of these for years....

Posted

Frank Prowse, I actually became good friends with one of the installers.He's getting me the price tomorrow.I've given him a deposit so hopefully next week.he said it will be around $4000 give or take $200, but he will try to do better as Im also thinking of changing my surrounds and get a better deal.

Posted

I'm glad for you Franin.

Stewart, stewart, stewart.

When I had my display ISF callibrated and we were doing light output all you had to do was watch the meter climb when he put the Stewart fabric on my Oztheatre screen..... holy.....! (it piled on about 3 foot lamberts)

Posted
(it piled on about 3 foot lamberts)

And that is a metric boat load of brightness! Especially when you consider it comes with accurate color, uniform white and spectral accuracy!

Posted
I'm glad for you Franin.

Stewart, stewart, stewart.

When I had my display ISF callibrated and we were doing light output all you had to do was watch the meter climb when he put the Stewart fabric on my Oztheatre screen..... holy.....! (it piled on about 3 foot lamberts)

Thanks nobby.I've been told there the best when it comes to screens and wait on how much it will improve my picture quality.My picture quality is great at the moment(from what im seeing), but he told me i have seen nothing yet when it comes to picture quality.So I cannot wait!! :blink::D

Posted
Thanks nobby.I've been told there the best when it comes to screens and wait on how much it will improve my picture quality.My picture quality is great at the moment(from what im seeing), but he told me i have seen nothing yet when it comes to picture quality.So I cannot wait!! :blink::D

Yes and as Worx pointed out earlier a screen is a confirmed and stable item, no need to upgrade there for decades so the money is very well spent.

Posted
And that is a metric boat load of brightness! Especially when you consider it comes with accurate color, uniform white and spectral accuracy!

Yeah it really blew me away when he put the fabric up... And I was thinking oh ****, I feel another upgrade coming on...! hehe

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