I've had a very busy schedule and don't have a lot of time at the moment for extensive comparison testing, but - and this isn't the comparison that you (the royal You) likely want - I have Top Gear Maverick on my Kaleidescape system as well as available through Amazon Prime, so I compared a couple scenes between Kaleidescape and the AppleTVX.
I am using the ATVX in 4K SDR. That's the developer's recommended method, and I happen to agree with it. My A90J is calibrated by D-Nice (user on the AVS Forum) who works with the retailer who sold me the TV. In SDR vs the HDR of the Kaleidescape version, I actually prefer the video from the ATVX. As for sound, the Kaleidescape soundtrack seems slightly fuller and better sorted for the non-front speakers, but only in complicated scenes.
For example, after the second set of planes delivered the second bombs of the mission, when all four planes were trying to avoid the SAM defenses, the sense of audio envelopment was better presented on the Kaleidescape system than the ATVX when the scene was wide-angle, showing multiple SAMs and multiple planes deploying flares. In less chaotic (audio) scenes, the difference was trivial. Perhaps there was slightly better sense of ambience and bass on the Kaleidescape soundtrack, but I'm talking about slight shades of difference.
Was the difference worth $10k+?
Probably not. If you have a $200k+ home theater system, it may be worthwhile. If your HT system is like mine - less than $50k - I'm going to say not to bother. If you're home theater is a small LCD and sound bar, even the ATVX isn't worth your money.
Next Sunday I have a friend coming over who wants to see this is person. Next Saturday, I'll make time to set up both the regular ATV and ATVX in my system so we can compare those two, but I have to say since the ATVX compared so favorably with Kaleidescape, I can't imagine it's remotely close between the two ATVs.
I am using the ATVX in 4K SDR. That's the developer's recommended method, and I happen to agree with it. My A90J is calibrated by D-Nice (user on the AVS Forum) who works with the retailer who sold me the TV. In SDR vs the HDR of the Kaleidescape version, I actually prefer the video from the ATVX. As for sound, the Kaleidescape soundtrack seems slightly fuller and better sorted for the non-front speakers, but only in complicated scenes.
For example, after the second set of planes delivered the second bombs of the mission, when all four planes were trying to avoid the SAM defenses, the sense of audio envelopment was better presented on the Kaleidescape system than the ATVX when the scene was wide-angle, showing multiple SAMs and multiple planes deploying flares. In less chaotic (audio) scenes, the difference was trivial. Perhaps there was slightly better sense of ambience and bass on the Kaleidescape soundtrack, but I'm talking about slight shades of difference.
Was the difference worth $10k+?
Probably not. If you have a $200k+ home theater system, it may be worthwhile. If your HT system is like mine - less than $50k - I'm going to say not to bother. If you're home theater is a small LCD and sound bar, even the ATVX isn't worth your money.
Next Sunday I have a friend coming over who wants to see this is person. Next Saturday, I'll make time to set up both the regular ATV and ATVX in my system so we can compare those two, but I have to say since the ATVX compared so favorably with Kaleidescape, I can't imagine it's remotely close between the two ATVs.
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