Of all the network tasks video streaming is the hardest.. my experience is that wireless can work and work well but if you make too heavy a demand on it, then it has issues.. I guess I am a little lost as to how this is all wired up.. and it just seemed a waste of opportunity to not wire the TC to the ATV if they are in close proximity.
You have the modem in the basement. That would have to be wired directly to the WAN port of the TC upstairs.. which in turn is wired to the iMac downstairs. Is this correct?
The problem of connecting wireless is that unlike ethernet which works perfectly in any location.. wifi is like real estate.. location location location..
Many people have their AV systems all stacked in a closed cabinet under the TV.. it has tinted glass on the front.. and metal cases everywhere.. all of those things block wifi perfectly.. !! And since wifi works in straight lines.. it cannot bend around corners or find little holes to come through.. location is highly important. In the end test it and see. That is the only way to do it.. but I would encourage you to think wiring if the possibility is there.. otherwise suck and see.. My own setup for the moment uses video over a wireless link.. and other than being lazy and too old to worry.. I find the wireless link breaks down once a day on average. Even my wife now tells me to restart the router and she restarts the other one to restore the link.. I was using two apple wireless routers.. I actually swapped to a completely different brand and it was reliable for more than a day.. blessed relief.. about 3 days later.. and then completely broke down.. even restarts would not work so back to the apple setup.. That is how wireless is. If it was just data it would be no problems but with video streaming the setup is much more difficult.
Wireless works on single link, half duplex. And no matter the range the problem is this is very poor configuration for streaming video which should be full duplex so the stream can continue. We can get deeper into it if you want.. but the proof is simply try it and see.. if it works poorly then run ethernet or at worse, use EOP (home plug) adapters which do tend to be more reliable if they work.. nobody knows until you install them if they will work because it depends on the house circuits.
With music playback via stereo only in mind and because it is said that (1) compromises picture quality, I prefer so far (2). Your feedback is greatly appreciated
Depends on the quality of the AMP, the size of the TV and how good your eyes are. Never take "it is said" to be definitive.. I discovered that myths abound in the world of hifi even more than wifi. Test it yourself and see.. put your eyes on the TV and swap between a direct hdmi connection and a hdmi via the amp.. The difference might be so small your eyes cannot tell the difference..
I am old and use older equipment so any switching I do is via a remote to the amp.. if you want digital switching between different outputs you might be worthwhile investing in more recently made AMP or proper switching gear.. as that is a real pain if you cannot get a setup that works well for you.. Just be less than convinced by hearsay and try different options yourself.
(at least that's what the copyright info says on the box).
I think you are basing far too much on the box.. which is printed once and after all the copyright doesn't change. It will only change with change of model.
Feed the serial numbers into a selection of websites where it will attempt to give you actual place and week of manufacture.. which is buried in some serial numbers. Apple is not going to hold old stock .. as with any company stock will go out as it arrives in pretty smart order.. the only time apple would stockpile is before a release.. and they usually sell out the whole lot in a few days.. it is their marketing strategy.. !! Stock of items will generally operate on modern principles of supply on demand.. as high levels of stock mean cash tied up and doing nothing.