Seymour AV Center Stage Screens

Seymour AV was showing off their Center Stage projection screens at the Audioholics State of the CE Union event. Seymour AV is primarily interested in making sure you don't have to compromise with a horizontal center channel and instead can use a vertically oriented speaker (preferably identical to your mains). To do this, they offer acoustically transparent screens. In the EMP room, the new EF70T tower fronts were paired with an EF70 bookshelf placed behind the screen. This placement behind the 83" diagonal retractable screen allowed EMP to put their EF70 speaker right behind the image, literally locking the center dialog's sound to the image from any seat. The other advantage was that the speaker was now at the same height as the mains to better match the off-axis frequency response of the L/R towers.

Currently, Seymour AV only makes retractable Center Stage screens, with the display model having the optional Somfy ILT motor, IR receiver, and remote. The 1.16 gain 83 inch screen was small for the large demo room, but their standard sizes start in the 90s and go up to 132 inches diagonally. Retracting was a brisk six seconds when we wanted to check out the EMP EF70 behind it. The Yamaha receiver measured the speakers overall attenuation at about -1dB from being behind the screen. EMP's 1/24 octave laptop measurements confirmed that it was all high frequency and benign. Seymour AV also had a static display with a micro-sized Center Stage screen to show the standard RF motor, optional brushed aluminum case finish, and to let people pet the fuzzy velvet borders.

We never once noticed any moire pattern in the screen, even as close as 8 feet away (the distance where you can begin to see the woven hole pattern.) This is an excellent screen choice for those wanting a more uniform audio experience in their front three channels.

For more information, please visit www.seymourav.com.

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