Ask S&V

Bryan Wolff

I have not reviewed any such screen, but I suspect they need a very smooth wall to even come close to an actual screen—otherwise, the texture of the wall would be visible through the material unless it's very thick. In your application, this probably isn't as much of a concern as it would be in a dedicated home theater, so it might be a great option for you.

The only paint-on screen company I know of is Goo Systems, which makes Screen Goo in white and several shades of gray. The company sells a base coat and top coat, which might address the wall-texture problem. If the projected image will be viewed in a room with ambient light—say, during Sunday services—one of the gray colors is probably best. The picture above shows two Goo Systems Digital Grey Lite screens at the First United Presbyterian Church in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Heated Debate
I have a Pioneer Elite receiver, but the built-in cabinet for it is not deep enough. Can I position the receiver vertically without causing damage to the unit? The fan to disperse heat is located on the top of the receiver and would still be fully exposed. Also, the receiver would not be in danger of falling over. I just want to make sure that I would not be damaging the unit by placing it on its side and that it would still operate correctly.

Lisa Kendrick

Even though the receiver has a fan, I suspect it also relies on convection (that is, heat rising) to dissipate some heat. Thus, I wouldn't put it on its side. I guess it would still operate correctly, but I think it would not manage heat properly and therefore increase the potential for premature failure.

Mix 'n' Match
We are about to leap into the home-theater world and plan to purchase Paradigm Monitor 7 front tower speakers along with the matching center, surrounds, and subwoofer. Since I have a pair of B&W DM330 speakers already, is it okay to use them instead of the Paradigm front speakers and simply purchase the others? Some sales people suggest you should not mix brands while others advise otherwise. Of course, I don't want to jeopardize quality of sound.

Phil Henrich

I'm in the "don't mix brands" camp. It's important for all the speakers in a surround setup to have similar tonal characteristics, which is much easier to achieve when all the speakers are from the same manufacturer. If you want to keep the B&Ws, I would suggest getting matching B&W center and surrounds. Getting a sub from the same company isn't as important, but it is preferred. Otherwise, get the Paradigms and use the B&Ws in a separate 2-channel system.

If you have a home-theater question, please send it to scott.wilkinson@sorc.com.