Edgar
Active member
Hi everyone, first post here!
I’m thinking about getting a Kaleidescape system, and would like to validate my thinking among owners. I have a dedicated home theater, and have posted some questions on another home theater forum that has some overlap in membership with this one. However, this will represent a big purchase for me, and I’d like to walk through my thinking here in the dedicated owners forum to both corroborate and cast a wider net for feedback.
I currently have a JVC NX5 projector (although I am replacing it with a JVC NZ7) in a dedicated, light-controlled room. It projects onto a 127” CinemaScope AT screen. Sound is 5.2.4, properly placed, treated, and room-corrected. Sources are an AppleTV 4K for streaming content, and an Oppo 203 for discs. I do not have a video processor or a control system, other than my Harmony Elite remote and regular Lutron Caseta light switches. I do have a Synology NAS and Plex set up, but just couldn’t bring myself to go through the whole ripping process. It’s basically a 4K77 and home data server. But it could also potentially host Home Assistant later in the journey.
What I like about my setup is that the mild-mannered Oppo I always had connected to a TV, turned into a superhero in the theater. I can keep my projector zoomed to 2.4:1 and enjoy a number of convenient features, like instant back and forth scaling to 16:9; the ability to share that feature with my AppleTV via HDMI pass-through; and best of all, having subtitles, transport timeline, and top menu fully moved to the 2.4:1 body of the image.
What I’m thinking I’ll get from a K system is a more sophisticated version of those scaling and self-contained 2.4:1 operations, plus the convenience of not dealing with discs, and some film-specific content features that come from being a dedicated movie player with locally stored and indexed digital versions of the films. I’m excited to see how much more I can enjoy my movie collection when they’re not trapped in the Phantom Zone of my disc wall.
I am also motivated by growing problems with physical media. I recently enjoyed a renaissance with 4K discs once I set up my theater. Discs far eclipse streaming to my eye and ear, which became more obvious when spread across 127” and a dome of spatial sound. So I ramped back up, and enjoyed collecting the Steelbook versions of the discs. However, with The Digital Bits breaking the news that Best Buy is getting out of physical, that means the US is losing its main source of Steelbook exclusives. Maybe another will pick it up. But it’s happening at the same time that several major releases that I want to see are not getting a 4K disc. I wanted to see The Whale and A Haunting in Venice, and buy them on 4K disc. I don’t want to rent them on streaming. I have gigabit fiber, but even as good as streaming has become, I still see motion hiccups, compression artifacts, and several other small inconveniences that I know I don’t actually have to deal with. I want to watch these movies as a seamless simulation of seeing them in a movie theater.
So I’m at K’s door. Given this class of products seems 10x the cost of adjacent hardware, I was leaning toward a cheaper way in, a used Strato S with 12TB onboard. However, given how much K retains value, it would have cost only 20% more to get a new bundle of the Strato C and an 8TB drive – that would also be faster and snappier. But also a step down in storage. Thinking further, I do consistently have about 275 films in my core collection, I would have that space on a 22TB bundle for about 25% more from the 8TB bundle. And if I’m going to eventually settle in at the mid-tier option, which I usually do, then I’m actually saving myself time and money by just getting the correct system the first time. I realize this reads like a slippery slope as well, so that’s the part I really would appreciate feedback on. Sorry about the long road to get here, but hopefully the context helps provide the relevant details for a choice that really depends on the individual’s key factors. What do you think of my plan? If my thought process sounds familiar, but in your experience you found satisfaction in a different way, please share your thoughts!
I’m thinking about getting a Kaleidescape system, and would like to validate my thinking among owners. I have a dedicated home theater, and have posted some questions on another home theater forum that has some overlap in membership with this one. However, this will represent a big purchase for me, and I’d like to walk through my thinking here in the dedicated owners forum to both corroborate and cast a wider net for feedback.
I currently have a JVC NX5 projector (although I am replacing it with a JVC NZ7) in a dedicated, light-controlled room. It projects onto a 127” CinemaScope AT screen. Sound is 5.2.4, properly placed, treated, and room-corrected. Sources are an AppleTV 4K for streaming content, and an Oppo 203 for discs. I do not have a video processor or a control system, other than my Harmony Elite remote and regular Lutron Caseta light switches. I do have a Synology NAS and Plex set up, but just couldn’t bring myself to go through the whole ripping process. It’s basically a 4K77 and home data server. But it could also potentially host Home Assistant later in the journey.
What I like about my setup is that the mild-mannered Oppo I always had connected to a TV, turned into a superhero in the theater. I can keep my projector zoomed to 2.4:1 and enjoy a number of convenient features, like instant back and forth scaling to 16:9; the ability to share that feature with my AppleTV via HDMI pass-through; and best of all, having subtitles, transport timeline, and top menu fully moved to the 2.4:1 body of the image.
What I’m thinking I’ll get from a K system is a more sophisticated version of those scaling and self-contained 2.4:1 operations, plus the convenience of not dealing with discs, and some film-specific content features that come from being a dedicated movie player with locally stored and indexed digital versions of the films. I’m excited to see how much more I can enjoy my movie collection when they’re not trapped in the Phantom Zone of my disc wall.
I am also motivated by growing problems with physical media. I recently enjoyed a renaissance with 4K discs once I set up my theater. Discs far eclipse streaming to my eye and ear, which became more obvious when spread across 127” and a dome of spatial sound. So I ramped back up, and enjoyed collecting the Steelbook versions of the discs. However, with The Digital Bits breaking the news that Best Buy is getting out of physical, that means the US is losing its main source of Steelbook exclusives. Maybe another will pick it up. But it’s happening at the same time that several major releases that I want to see are not getting a 4K disc. I wanted to see The Whale and A Haunting in Venice, and buy them on 4K disc. I don’t want to rent them on streaming. I have gigabit fiber, but even as good as streaming has become, I still see motion hiccups, compression artifacts, and several other small inconveniences that I know I don’t actually have to deal with. I want to watch these movies as a seamless simulation of seeing them in a movie theater.
So I’m at K’s door. Given this class of products seems 10x the cost of adjacent hardware, I was leaning toward a cheaper way in, a used Strato S with 12TB onboard. However, given how much K retains value, it would have cost only 20% more to get a new bundle of the Strato C and an 8TB drive – that would also be faster and snappier. But also a step down in storage. Thinking further, I do consistently have about 275 films in my core collection, I would have that space on a 22TB bundle for about 25% more from the 8TB bundle. And if I’m going to eventually settle in at the mid-tier option, which I usually do, then I’m actually saving myself time and money by just getting the correct system the first time. I realize this reads like a slippery slope as well, so that’s the part I really would appreciate feedback on. Sorry about the long road to get here, but hopefully the context helps provide the relevant details for a choice that really depends on the individual’s key factors. What do you think of my plan? If my thought process sounds familiar, but in your experience you found satisfaction in a different way, please share your thoughts!
