Kaleidescape has officially introduced its latest offering, the Strato V. This new device promises to deliver an enhanced home theater experience with 4K Dolby Vision playback and lossless audio, all at a more accessible price point of $3,995. The Kaleidescape Strato V is designed to cater to both standalone use and integration with Kaleidescape’s broader system, making it a versatile option for various user needs.
The Kaleidescape Strato V is engineered to provide a premium movie-watching experience. It supports 4K resolution with Dolby Vision and offers lossless audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. This combination ensures that users get the highest quality in both video and audio, creating an immersive viewing experience.
One of the main features of the Kaleidescape Strato V is its ability to function as a standalone device. In this mode, it acts as a single playback zone and can store approximately 10 reference-quality 4K movies on its internal solid-state drive (SSD). Kaleidescape has introduced a streamlined user interface for standalone use, optimized for navigating a smaller movie library. This makes it easier for users to find and play their favorite movies without the need for extensive browsing.
For users looking for more extensive storage options, the Strato V can be integrated with Kaleidescape’s Terra Prime movie servers. When combined with these servers, the Strato V's interface defaults to the full Kaleidescape experience, allowing users to navigate a more extensive library seamlessly. Multiple Strato V units can be grouped with one or more Terra servers, enabling scalable storage and playback solutions to suit various installation needs.
The device is equipped with Gigabit Ethernet, enabling fast downloads of Kaleidescape 4K movies in as little as 10 minutes, even during playback. This feature should ensure that performance is not compromised while downloading content. Additionally, movies can be set to auto-delete 48 hours after playback to free up space on the SSD, providing efficient storage management.
Internally, the Kaleidescape Strato V boasts significant upgrades in electronics and grounding topology. These improvements aim to improve signal quality and robustness, ensuring reliable performance. The player-side decode for high-bitrate audio codecs provides flexibility in maximizing sound quality with various downstream components. This means users with older audio equipment that may not support modern audio codecs can still enjoy high-quality sound.
The Strato V offers access to the Kaleidescape movie store, which features thousands of 4K and HD titles, including movies, TV series, and concerts. Over a hundred titles are currently available in Dolby Vision, with more expected to be added. The movie store provides content with lossless multichannel and object-based audio, enriching the viewing experience with high-quality sound.
“Kaleidescape has delivered on what customers have been asking for with the new Strato V movie player, now offering Dolby Vision with lossless audio at a lower cost of entry,” says Tayloe Stansbury, chairman & CEO of Kaleidescape.
“It’s a testament to our commitment to continued innovation as the Strato V integrates new electronics and playback capabilities while maintaining the high level of performance we’re renowned for.”
The introduction of the Strato V represents Kaleidescape’s strategy to offer a more affordable entry point into its ecosystem. Priced at $3,995, the Kaleidescape Strato V is significantly less expensive than the Terra Prime Solid State Movie Server, which costs nearly $14,000. This makes the Strato V an attractive option for new customers and those with compatible Dolby Vision displays or older audio systems that lack support for Dolby TrueHD or DTS:HD.
For existing Kaleidescape customers, the Strato C remains a viable option, particularly for those with a Co-Star configuration or a large library of HD content. The choice between Strato V and Strato C depends on the specific needs and existing equipment of the user. If you are interested in more of Kaleidescape's products, check out their offerings at Dreamedia, and don't forget to check out our review of Kaleidescape's system.
