The first question I ask a client who says they want a home theater projector screen and soundbar setup is not about budget. It is about the room: which one, where the couch sits, and whether the ceiling fan is going to hum through the quiet scenes. Fifteen years and roughly 340 installs after my first crew job, I have learned that the room wins more fights than any spec sheet does. People spend real money on gear that never had a chance because the screen went up across a window or the subwoofer ended up in a corner. Then they blame the box.
So when I put a receiver, two 120 inch screens, and a sound bar side by side, I am not pretending they fight for the same slot in a system. They compete for the same money and the same free weekend, and that is the comparison that actually matters when you are standing in your living room with a credit card.
The short answer: fix the audio first if your television is the weak link, and if you are projecting, buy the screen you can keep tight rather than the screen that folds small. The Sony STRDH590 is the only component here that builds a real system, the ULTIMEA bar is the fastest fix for flat TV sound, and between the two 120 inch screens, the three-layer PVC is the one I would anchor outdoors while the foldable fabric is the one I would carry.
Here is how they line up on the things that decide the purchase.
Sony STRDH590 5.2 Channel Surround Sound Home Theater Receiver
The only component here that powers real speakers, passes 4K HDR sources, and gives you 5.2 channels instead of virtual ones
It is not a speaker and not a screen; it needs speakers, wire, and shelf space before it makes a single sound
Mdbebbron 120 inch Projector Screen 16:9 Foldable Anti-Crease
Folds down, travels, sets up indoors or out, and takes projection from either side
Fabric that folds has to be stretched flat, and it is not a permanent wall installation
Projector Screen 120 inch, Outdoor Projector Screen with 3-Layers PVC
Three-layer PVC holds a flat surface better and is built for outdoor duty
Heavier, wants anchoring and a frame, and does not pack into a bag for movie night on the road
ULTIMEA 7.1ch Sound Bar w/Subwoofer, Virtual Surround System for Smart TV
One bar and one subwoofer, no speaker wire to run, no receiver to program
The 7.1 label describes processing, not speakers placed around your room
Prices and availability were captured from Amazon Creators API and may change.
The screen decision: foldable fabric versus three-layer PVC
Two 120 inch screens with two different jobs, which is why the price difference never decides this on its own.
The Mdbebbron is built around portability. It is a 16:9 foldable, anti-crease fabric screen that supports double-sided projection, which means the same surface works whether the projector sits in front of it or behind it. That matters in three situations I run into constantly: a backyard night where you want the image facing the patio instead of the fence, a spare room that doubles as a guest room during the week, and any setup that has to come down and go back in a closet before the in-laws arrive.
The trade-off is tension. Fabric that folds has to be pulled flat, and any screen that is not held flat shows its wrinkles as shadow lines in bright scenes. Anti-crease fabric helps, but anti-crease is not the same as a tensioned frame. Plan on mounting it to something rigid and pulling it taut rather than hanging it from two hooks and hoping. If the screen has to travel, this is the one to buy: Visit on Amazon →.
The outdoor screen with 3-layer PVC is the opposite trade. The layered PVC surface is there to survive weather and to hold a flatter face over time, which is exactly what you want if the screen is going to live on a patio wall or a dedicated outdoor frame. What you give up is convenience. It is heavier, it wants real anchoring because wind will treat a 120 inch sail like a sail, and it does not fold into a tote. One more thing: a smoother, more reflective surface makes projector placement angle matter more. The further off-axis the projector sits, the more the image changes corner to corner. Hanging it is easy. Aiming it correctly is the part people skip: Visit on Amazon →.
If your screen lives indoors and never moves, neither of these is the endgame. A fixed frame or a painted wall beats both. These two are for people who need portability or weather resistance, and each one is honest about which of those it is.
The audio decision: a receiver or a sound bar
The ULTIMEA 7.1ch bar with subwoofer and virtual surround is the fast option. One bar, one subwoofer, no speaker wire run to the corners of the room, no receiver menu to learn. For a smart TV with thin built-in speakers, that is a genuine jump in dialogue clarity and low end, and it happens in one afternoon.
Read the name carefully, though. It says 7.1ch and it also says virtual surround, and that second phrase is the tell. Virtual surround is created in digital signal processing, not by speakers placed beside and behind you. That does not make it bad. It means the effect depends on your room and your seating position far more than a discrete system does, and the "7.1" describes a processing target rather than a count of boxes in your living room. Bar position matters enormously here: put it at ear height or as close as your furniture allows, not on the floor and not tucked inside a cabinet. Most of the "bad sound" I get called about is placement, not product: Visit on Amazon →.
The Sony STRDH590 is the slow option that ends somewhere better. It is a 5.2 channel receiver, which means it can drive five speakers and two subwoofers, and it passes 4K HDR sources through it with Bluetooth on board. It is the only piece in this comparison that gives you real, discrete channels in real positions. It is also the only piece that does nothing at all until you connect speakers to it.
If you already own speakers, buy the receiver first
This is the part of the install where I save clients money. If there is a pair of bookshelf speakers or an old five-channel set in your garage, the Sony STRDH590 turns that dormant pile into a system, and it will beat a sound bar on channel separation and on how loud it stays clean. The receiver is the upgrade; the speakers you already own are the payoff.
If you own nothing to connect, the math changes. A receiver plus five speakers plus a subwoofer plus wire is a project, not a purchase, and the bar wins on time and hassle by a wide margin. There is no shame in that. There is only the question of what you actually own and how much weekend you want to spend: Visit on Amazon →.
Where each of these loses
The Sony STRDH590 loses to setup time. Two channel, five channel, crossovers, speaker distances, level matching. None of it is hard, all of it takes an evening, and if you skip it, a receiver can sound worse than the bar it replaced. A receiver is only as good as the calibration behind it.
The Mdbebbron loses to permanence. It is a portable screen and it behaves like one. Fold lines and tension are the price of a screen that fits in a car.
The PVC outdoor screen loses to flexibility. Weather resistance and a flat face cost you weight, anchoring, and a fixed address. It is not the screen you move between the patio and the living room.
The ULTIMEA bar loses to physics. Virtual surround cannot place a sound behind you the way a speaker behind you can. It also cannot be expanded into a 5.2 system later, because there are no speaker outputs to grow into.
Placement rules that matter more than the gear
Every one of these products is judged in a room, and the room does not care what you paid.
Screen height first: the bottom of the image should sit near seated eye level, not up near the ceiling. A screen mounted too high is the single most common projector complaint I hear, and no amount of screen quality fixes it.
Then projector angle. Keep it as close to perpendicular to the screen as you can, because every degree of off-axis throw shows up as brightness variation across the image. This is where the PVC surface is least forgiving and where a portable fabric screen with a slightly forgiving texture is easier to live with.
Then the subwoofer. Move it. I have never once had a subwoofer land in the perfect spot on the first try, and the corner is usually boom, not bass. If you have a moment, play a low test tone, walk the room, and put the sub where it sounds most even at the seat, not where it looks tidy behind the couch.
Finally, screen the light. A projector with the lights on gives you a washed-out image, and no screen material on this list defeats a window at noon.
Questions I get on install day
Do I need a receiver if I buy a sound bar? No. A bar with its own subwoofer is a complete audio path for a TV. A receiver is for people who want discrete speakers and the ability to expand.
Can I use a sound bar with a projector instead of a TV? Yes, as long as your projector or your streaming source gives the bar an audio output to connect to. That is a source question, not a bar question.
Which screen should I buy if I want both indoor and outdoor use? The foldable Mdbebbron, and accept the tension work. The PVC screen is happiest when it stays put.
Is 120 inches too big? Not for most rooms, but seating distance decides it. Sit closer than you should and the image gets grainy; sit too far and you lose the point of the size.
Can I build this over time? Yes, and you should. Buy the piece that fixes your biggest problem first.
The order I would buy these in
- The ULTIMEA bar if the television itself is your weakest link and you want a one-afternoon fix. Visit on Amazon →.
- The Sony STRDH590 if you already own speakers, or if you intend to build a real 5.2 setup. Visit on Amazon →.
- The Mdbebbron if your screen has to move. Visit on Amazon →.
- The 3-layer PVC outdoor screen if the patio is the destination and it will stay there. Visit on Amazon →.
Notice what is not on that list: buying all four at once. None of these items needs another one to work, which is the whole point of comparing them this way. They solve different problems in the same room, and the fastest way to waste money in this hobby is buying the second-best answer to a question you have not asked yet.
What is next on my bench
I am re-running room sweeps on the current batch of sound bars after another round of firmware updates, and the pattern so far is predictable: one update fixes a bass hump, another one flattens the presence range where dialogue lives. Whether a bar measures well in your room is the only question that matters, and it is answerable with a calibrated microphone and an afternoon. The screens on this list do not need that treatment. They need a tape measure, a level, and a projector aimed square.