KEF KIT100 DVD Home Cinema System

chrisku

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Jan 5, 2008
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Hi Guys

Am looking for a home cinema system to go with my new Panasonic TH42PX70B Plasma.

Ideally I would love to buy a seperate Denon amp and kef speakers. However, I dont think mygirlfriend would be very happy with all the wires over the place.

Therefore, I am starting look at 2.1 home cinema in a box systems.

So far I have looked at the BOSE 321 and the KEF KIT100. Can anyone tell me if either of these are any good?

One disappointing thing I have found is that I believe neither have HDMI connections.

Can anyone recommend a good home cinema 2.1 cinema in a box system for no more than £1000 with HDMI connections to be able to upscale standard dvds to 720i and 1080P.

Thanks
 

Andy Clough

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The KEF KIT100 is a good, solid 4-star system, although it's been around for a while and a range of new models is on the way. We haven't tested the Bose 321, so I can't comment on that.

You should also consider the Denon Smart Series S-301 (£1000) which has HDMI connectivity and can upscale to 720p or 1080i (but not 1080p). I'd definitely go for the Denon S-301 (not S-101) as it has a vastly better picture than its junior sibling, thanks to improved digital-to-analogue conversion in the video department.

I've a feeling new Denon models are on the way too, but you might still be able to pick up an S-301 at a decent price.

At the other end of the price scale is the Samsung HT-X200 (£350) 2.1 system, another good, solid 4-star product.
 
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Anonymous

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Another system worth considering, although also untested, is the new KEF KIT120. It's essentially similar to the 100, but includes an HDMI output, together with a spanking new black gloss finish. You can read a little more about it in the February issue, although an exact time for the full review is yet to be confirmed. The recently launched Arcam Solo Movie 2.1 is impressive too, although by the time you've added speakers, it'll set you back more than £2000.

One other option could be Pioneer's excellent LX01 home cinema in a box system. It does use surround speakers, but they're small enough to be installed in a stealthy fashion, and the unit's performance is exemplary. Expect to pay around £1500 for one -ÿsounds like a lot, but once you delve into what it can do (which is a lot - including hard-disk audio and video recording, high-def audio decoding and more) it's actually fairly priced. You can read more about it in our January issue.
 
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Anonymous

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KEF's new KIT120 which is the replacement is in the shops now and inside this months copy of WHF.
 
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Anonymous

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Thanks to the team at What Hi-Fi?

I always read the magazines with intrigue and found it informative, interesting and invigorating.

Thank you for your great reviews too and i believe it has been helpful to us all in our search for musical, audio and visual raptures.

I must have been the most blessed guy to have just recently been given a Samsung LA40M81 and blueray Sony PS3 for my birthday, and ever since hooking up the xbox360 and Nintendo WII too, I thought i would be wisked away into HD audio and visual gaming and movie paradise. Yet something was quite amiss and did not feel quite right as I soon found out, I had no sound and hence began the search for a system that could elevate me to AV heaven once again.

Being in a odd shaped living room with furniture that does not allow for the wires of a 5.1 system, I too am now considering one that is 2.1 system or even wireless for that matter.

In my initial search for answers, i have trolled through What Hi-Fi? magazines and of course the internet and finally the forum for answers to the Holy grail. I thought i have narrowed down to a system which is the Denon S 302, that seems to boast much potential. However as i searched on, I found that there much more options, and i had only barely scratched the surface. There was the Kef KIT 120 and even the Kef's wireless as shown in the February issue. Happy as it is, I went into this website and found even more up and coming alternatives, such as B&W's liberty. Thinking my solutions to the system was close at hand, and only waiting for the reviews, life started to take a turn as i scrolled i saw in wonderment of the Maranzt Cinematic soundbar and others that were a "one" speaker option and finally not sound reflective as I had furnitures to worry about. To me, I became akin of a kid being in Willy's Wonkers chocolate factory except not knowing which candy to eat given the limited real estate that I had.

Thinking I had it all, I inadvertently became confused with the different surround system alogorithm which each system used proprietory or otherwise. There was DTS, Audyssey, Audistry which eventually blew my technologically challenged mind.

Hence, the only thing to do now for me is to wait, and let the experts take over, and hope with both fingers crossed, that What Hi-Fi? does a shootout review for a system for the wire phobic and space compressed such as me.

I hope in the end, the search for such a system, would be well worth it, sound and othwerwise or it might just be easier to sell the house and find another room that could fit a 5.1 system after all.
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Thanks so much What Hi-Fi?
 

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