Xtreme Projectors Hotrodded Apple TV 4K Video StreamerImpressions: A Brief BLAST about the Xtreme Projectors Hot-Rodded Apple TV (TVX) 4K Video Streamer

Dr. David W. Robinson: a moment. Vancouver, WA, 2022. (Photograph by Colt Milton; image processing by Robinson)

Every now and then in a blue moon it happens. A quick blast about a design that really rocks me, and is reasonably straightforward to bring to your attention. (That's rare; most require a lot of work to develop their product profile.)

Only this time, it's about a video product that you really need to know about.

No cognitive dissonance here; very many audiophiles are also videophiles, as I have been for decades. In fact, it's pretty rare for me to find an audiophile who is completely indifferent to quality in video. With the exploding world of streaming HD/4K video (which actually is plowing the bandwidth channel for high-definition audio, providentially), getting things right for top-notch performance requires knowledge, attention to detail, and sourcing superior components in the video chain to produce the best experience possible.

Enter the Xtreme Projectors Apple TV 4K custom streamer.

The Xtreme Projectors hotrodded Apple TV 4K Streamer to the left. Note the dedicated 4-pin power plug dongle. To the right is the much larger linear power supply for the Apple 4K Streamer. In front is the next-gen Apple TV remote, which is of mainly of a satisfying aluminum construction…much better than the previous plastic model.

Bill Parish told me about this…and he was raving. Knowing my love for top-o'-the-heap video, he said that I just had to try this out!

Folks, when Bill raves, I listen. I have a short list of audiobuds in the industry who share this distinction with him. I scout. They scout. We swap stories over the campfire, or cigars, or pipes, or drinks; we send smoke signals to more distant friends.

That's how you find things out that you might otherwise miss. And you do it pretty quickly.

Given Bill's enthusiasm, I immediately contacted Chris Stephens, the Chief Honcho over at Xtreme Projectors via Zoom. As the conversation developed, it was clear that Chris knew a helluva lot about video. He usually hotrods video projectors, but had decided to give a shot at modding a massive consumer product instead: the Apple TV 4K.

Now, I have an Apple TV 4K here, one that I purchased within the past seven or eight months. I used it occasionally, but because I hadn't noticed a particularly striking difference between the Apple TV 4K and my default video streamer, the Amazon Fire Box (not the Fire Stick), it didn't move up in my video playback pantheon. I had outfitted both with Furutech HDMI cables…necessary for the requisite bandwidth…but otherwise things were pretty ordinary.

Upon the arrival of the Xtreme Projectors unit, I was able to dig in immediately on the setup. Since I've done this a couple of times before with the Apple TV series, I knew what would be involved. Apple makes things pretty easy to get your Apple TV account pointed to a new device.

The brilliant new Furutech LAN-8 NCF (CAT8) Ethernet Cable

In order to assure the highest possible performance from Chris Stephen's hotrodded work, I had assembled the following key components in advance of its arrival:

Kubala-Sosna Realization AC Power Cable, a true reference-grade power pipe
The aforementioned Furutech HDMI cable, their HDMI-N1-4 (soon to be upgraded to their new HF-A-NCF with its much higher 48GBps bandwidth)
Furutech's new LAN-8 NCF (CAT8) Ethernet cable
Two Furutech Daytona 303 Line Conditioner/Power Distributors (now discontinued, sadly) were already in place

Once the Xtreme Projectors 4K Streamer unit was in place, I was able to do the connections pretty quickly. We have a 65" Sony Bravia 4K OLED with the X1 video chipset, which Chris said would be perfect for the streamer.

The first step is to power up the unit and complete the Apple setup and account connection. That was simple enough, although I did have to re-pair the remote before I could proceed. Specific configuration for the streamer is given on a small accompanying sheet. There are some definite parameters that have to be set, Chris said, to get the highest performance from his design. They are pretty easy to set, although it helps to be familiar with the Apple TV 4K settings menu to find them quickly.

Once that was done, I followed his recommendation of downloading the YouTube Premium app to the Apple TV 4K streamer's apps section. (Since I also wanted to use our Amazon Prime account with the device, I downloaded that as well.) The usual connection to those accounts followed. Then I went to a specific playlist on YouTube premium, with the search string "appletvx demo clips."

That brought up a list of 8K sources that would play at 4K on our TV. I clicked "play"…and then…

KAPOW!!!

Absolutely the most amazing video playback that I've ever seen in our home theater/surround room!

I was mesmerized by what I was seeing. Beautiful, rich colors…the jet black of OLED…but with cleanly delineated lines, forms, shapes, and shading. No banding that I noticed at any point, and no motion artifacts that I could detect. Frankly, those 8K samples were stunning.

And this was with a streaming source on YouTube Premium! (Yes, we have a 1GBPS feed here via Xfinity, and a LAN with nothing but Cisco Managed Switches in place…but still.)

Frankly, it was better than I remembered the 4K optical discs that I have in my library, and I have a lot of them.

Lila and I were both bowled over. So has every visitor been who has seen the results.

Another plus: every YouTube and Amazon Prime source that we've streamed, from 720p to 4K, likewise improved in their performance via the Xtreme Projectors Apple TV 4K—some quite dramatically. You'll see all sorts of video gains, I think.

And better is yet to come: a set of Furutech's new HF-A-NCF with 48gbps bandwidth is on the road to me now, to further upgrade the video cabling, and also to try a high-speed HDMI switcher with multiple sources. We'll see what happens.

So...no drawbacks; all pluses.

Clearly the combination of hotrodding the Apple TV 4K, the linear power supply, superior cabling, and proper configuration with the Xtreme Projectors product has led to a remarkable result, one that rejoices my videophile soul. Streaming with this design transforms video streaming from second-place to world-class-better-than-optical levels. And I didn't think that was possible, being an old 4K optical disc fan. Chris Stephens is really onto something here.

Is this a Brief Impressions rave?

Can't you tell?

As a result, I am awarding Chris Stephens and Xtreme Projectors one of my 2022 Positive Feedback Brutus Awards for video…richly deserved!

If you love high-end video, and have the necessary infrastructure, cabling, and a 4K TV (preferably with OLED for the deep blacks), then you simply must check out this Xtreme Projectors video streamer.

Ye Olde Editor's highest recommendation, with enthusiasm!

For more information, or to purchase the Xtreme Projectors Apple TV 4K custom video streamer:

Price: USD $2,500.00

Xtreme Projectors

17435 N 7th St

Phoenix, AZ 85022

Contact: Chris Stephens

Title: Principal

Phone: 602.788.4151

Email: [email protected]

GTT Audio

Bill Parish