LATEST ADDITIONS

Performance
Build Quality
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Excellent audio fidelity
Attractive
Easy to assemble

Minus
Expensive relative to capability
No Atmos speakers or dedicated surrounds
Center channel model is a 2-way

THE VERDICT
The Focal Aria Evo X No. 2 towers blend stunning design with powerful, detailed sound, making them a standout in high-end audio.

Focal, the French audio manufacturer with roots in professional and consumer speaker design, has seamlessly blended technical prowess with stylish aesthetics in its products. Their Aria Evo X series continues this tradition, featuring an organic Moss Green finish and flax drivers that not only perform exceptionally but also offer a unique, natural look.

Synchronicity is the album that vaulted the blended British/American trio The Police into the megaplatinum global-phenomenon stratosphere, itself a 10-track master class of envelope-pushing pop songwriting, clever and sometimes challenging song arrangements, and truly elite musicianship. To properly fete the band’s studio swan song, A&M/Polydor/Universal Music Recordings has issued several expanded multiformat editions of Synchronicity, including an 84-track 6CD box set and a more abbreviated 43-track 4LP box set. Read Mike Mettler’s review of both super deluxe editions to see if you should add either, or both, to your collection and listening rotation accordingly. . .

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Solid build quality
Intuitive controls
Fully customizable movie wall
Dual hard drive enclosures
Third-party app integration
Minus
Movie discovery needs improvement
Slow boot-up
Quirky handling of Dolby Digital Files

THE VERDICT
A best-in-class experience for accessing and playing your digitally stored movie and music collection.

For about a year and a half I had the privilege of having a Kaleidescape Strato C Movie Player paired with its Terra 48TB Movie Server in my home on an extended loan from the company. The plan was to test the system, write a review on it, and then continue to write reviews of titles available in the Kaleidescape store throughout the loan period.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and when the evaluation period came to a close I was given an opportunity to purchase the review sample for a very good price, but chose not to for a variety of reasons...