A Look At Kaleidescape's
Strato C Movie Player and
Compact Terra Prime HDD Movie Server
JoeRod
4/7/2024
After many years of denying that the Kaleidescape Movie System was clearly better than the Apple 4K or Nvidia Shield TV Pro I am here to go on record and admit that I was wrong! The Kscape as I call it had in instantaneous impact in sound. Image was definitely an upgrade which reminded me of when we had resolution changes. The bigger the screen the more it is noticeable. As for sound the Lossless Multichannel Audio was exactly what I remember getting from my favorite Blu-ray players. The soundtracks were jarring with detail and powerful precise surround activity. I started with comparing the Bee Keeper then jumped into one of my all time favorites with Forrest Gump. I was amazed at how good it both looked and sounded. Elvis was also a great combination. Pure eye candy as well as ear candy. Not meaning to sound like a broken record (no pun intended EP) but the kscape is 100 percent the essential source to watch a movie for both videophiles and audiophiles.
I wasn't sure what to expect when the Kaleidescape boxes arrived on a recent Saturday morning. Using the provided ethernet cables I connected them to the Linksys Mesh Node I have behind my home theater rack. After I registered the units following the easy peasy instructions you can find in the box or online I had the demo movies up and running in a matter of minutes. Russell Crowe never sounded better when he began narrating a story about a turtle. The image also was stellar. The GUI interface on my screen popped with the movie covers. It really looked special...
The remote is very cool and it is considered their new one which went in a different direction from their busier white one. Of course the white one was backlit so that could be more of a preference for some. Still the new style is super simple and many will adapt to it like a Roku remote...
So the most important thing is the MOVIES! How are they? How do they sound? Do they live up to the hype? Amazing and YES, YES! I will just say that the 4K HDR titles are truly the best cinematic experience you can get at home without a disc. I will even go as far as saying about the same. The Strato C does have terrific upscaling of HD titles to 4K. It also does an outstanding job with Dolby Atmos titles. Some movies not in Dolby Atmos do still have a kick butt DTS-HD offering. Of course this day and age we are 100 percent into Atmos titles. Our home theater is set up for Atmos with our ceiling speakers. We did Kong Skull Island and his octopus battle moment sounded and looked so good. When he sucked its tentacle into his mouth we cringed as the slurp sound ended. Trolls Band Together is a new family favorite. The girls love it! The songs in the movie never had a better stage presence. It truly is a fun one to watch and sing along with. I then jumped into one of my now older favorite classics with Elizabeth. Damn it looked so good. After watching the new Road House on Prime my guests wanted to know what the original was like with Patrick Swayze. Wow were they in for a treat. I heard sounds I haven't heard before like the knife Brad Wesley's nephew is swinging at Dalton wisping through the air! What an awesome movie and my guests wanted to see the entire movie and they loved it. It was in HD and still looked stunning! I then decided to test out my other favorite classic ALIENS and it was crisp with jolting sound. I never seen the actual Aliens look so clear before. What an epic movie experience. Our Sound Shakers in the seats had quite a workout! We miss Bill Paxton. The very first movie I ever put on (which was on my screen-less wall back in 2005) was ALIEN and this brought back that same chilling memory I had that night. The image of course didn't look nearly as good using my BenQ 7700 projector at the time with a DVHS player as it does now...
In War of the Worlds when they first come out of the street and begin zapping people the hairs on your neck stand straight up! It looked far better than the last time I viewed it on a Blu-ray disc or maybe caught it on DirecTV (no longer a subscriber.) Michael Keaton does an excellent job as does Suzy Nakamura playing detective. There were some great placed sounds throughout the movie which really made you turn your head to follow it. Also the image was second to none. Close ups yielded crisp details with a more of bland type colors but that actually helps keep the tone of the story. It's really a good movie which left us feeling bad for Mr. Knox.
EQUIPMENT USED FOR ALL OR PART OF THIS REVIEW:
JVC NZ9 8K Projector, madVR MK2 ENVY Extreme, Stewart Studiotek 144 ST100 16:9, Marantz AV10, Anthem AVM90, McIntosh MX180, Apple TV 4K 2023, NVIDIA Shield Pro, Datasat RA7300 Amps X 2, Oppo UDP-203 4K Player, Samsung UBD-K8500 4K Ultra Blu-ray player, Furman Elite-20 PFI, Monster Power HTS 5100, AC INFINITY Component Coolers, Speakers: MARTIN LOGAN ILLUSION Center, IMPRESSIONS (Left and Right), VANQUISH (HEIGHTS & ATMOS & Top), AXIS (Backs), Subwoofers- Martin Logan BalancedForce 212 X 2, Seatcraft Equinox Seating with Sound Shakers, Remote: One For All, Harmony 1100, HARMONY ELITE, Harmony ULTIMATE, Cables: Audioquest shorter HDMI cables top to bottom. Audioquest Cherry Cola 48s...
A special thank you to my good friends over at AVS Science Sales! Don't hesitate to call them. They are very knowledgeable and willing to help every step of the way! Call them at 877-823-4452. Tell them you read this and JoeRod sent you!
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JoeRodHomeTheater.com
Next up we travel to CinemaCon
in Las Vegas to check out the latest offerings coming from some of the best companies in the industry! More on that soon!
I also want to thank my family for all of their support. They love helping me with the Reviews and of course the popcorn for our guests. Jaclyn, Mila, Raelynn and Dallas more fun to come!
