Kenwood AX-8 Theater System
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- Main Speakers Power Output: 25 Watts
- Included Components: DVD Player
- Number Of Speakers: 5 Speakers and Subwoofer
- Subwoofer Power Output: 100 Watt RMS
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Excellent all-in-one home theater system.
Pros
Excellent sound quality; easy setup.
Cons
I'm sure the picky audiophile would find something wrong, but I didn't!
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
I would highly recommend this system to anyone looking for an excellent home theater system, who doesn't want a lot of components and wires cluttering their living room.
Recently, I was looking to upgrade my home theater system from my old Dolby ProLogic system to a new Dolby Digital 5.1 system. Not being the big audiophile, I didn't want a bunch of complicated components and overpriced speakers, since I wouldn't really notice the difference anyway.
After a little shopping, I noticed that there were several all-in-one systems that seemed to fit the bill. Normally, I'm wary of systems that try to combine more than one function within the same unit, like those combo TV/VCR units. But this Kenwood Unity system caught my eye, not only because of the Boston Acoustics brand name attached to the twin-driver speakers, but also because of its sleek design and modern look. $1000 seemed a little much for me at first, but I realized that putting together a comparable system myself would wind up costing me more anyway.
Of course, the best way to demo a home theatre system is to play a DVD with lots of explosions in it. So the salesperson cues up chapter 2 of "Swordfish", and watching dozens of people being blown up never sounded so good! I guess there had been one too many demos of that DVD, since the right rear speaker was blown out, but I got the point. This was one phenomenal system, and suddenly the price tag seemed justified, especially after hearing the $600 Sony system next to it (with its single-driver speakers).
After getting my new system home, setting it up was a snap. All necessary speaker cables are supplied for you and are color-coded. A standard video cable is also supplied for plugging the unit into your monitor. The speaker cables were more than adequate; the cables for the rear speakers are nearly 50 feet long. I'm used to the heavy-gauge Monster cable, though, so these cables did seem a little flimsy to me. A universal remote is also supplied, which can be programmed to control just about any brand of TV, VCR, satellite/cable box, etc.
Anyway, here's some specs, for those who want the gritty details:
The DVD/CD player/receiver plays DVD-Video discs, CDs, audio CD-Rs and CD-RWs, and MP3 CDs; has built-in Dolby Digital/DTS/Pro Logic II decoding; 5-channel amplifier (25 watts x 5); 3 audio DSP modes; BassTrac? subwoofer EQ AM/FM tuner with 30 station presets; 1 audio input; 2 A/V inputs (1 is in/out); composite and S-video; 1 monitor video output (composite, S-video and component video); 2 digital audio inputs (1 optical or coaxial, 1 optical only); optical digital audio output; video black level control; 96kHz/24-bit audio A/D and D/A converters.
The powered subwoofer has an 8" cone and a 100-watt amplifier (RMS). The front, rear, and center speakers are video-shielded, 2-way design with 3" mid/woofer and 3/4" tweeter, and are wall-mountable (keyhole slot or threaded insert).
I am very happy with this system, and would recommend it highly to anyone looking to get into the Dolby Digital home theater experience.
After a little shopping, I noticed that there were several all-in-one systems that seemed to fit the bill. Normally, I'm wary of systems that try to combine more than one function within the same unit, like those combo TV/VCR units. But this Kenwood Unity system caught my eye, not only because of the Boston Acoustics brand name attached to the twin-driver speakers, but also because of its sleek design and modern look. $1000 seemed a little much for me at first, but I realized that putting together a comparable system myself would wind up costing me more anyway.
Of course, the best way to demo a home theatre system is to play a DVD with lots of explosions in it. So the salesperson cues up chapter 2 of "Swordfish", and watching dozens of people being blown up never sounded so good! I guess there had been one too many demos of that DVD, since the right rear speaker was blown out, but I got the point. This was one phenomenal system, and suddenly the price tag seemed justified, especially after hearing the $600 Sony system next to it (with its single-driver speakers).
After getting my new system home, setting it up was a snap. All necessary speaker cables are supplied for you and are color-coded. A standard video cable is also supplied for plugging the unit into your monitor. The speaker cables were more than adequate; the cables for the rear speakers are nearly 50 feet long. I'm used to the heavy-gauge Monster cable, though, so these cables did seem a little flimsy to me. A universal remote is also supplied, which can be programmed to control just about any brand of TV, VCR, satellite/cable box, etc.
Anyway, here's some specs, for those who want the gritty details:
The DVD/CD player/receiver plays DVD-Video discs, CDs, audio CD-Rs and CD-RWs, and MP3 CDs; has built-in Dolby Digital/DTS/Pro Logic II decoding; 5-channel amplifier (25 watts x 5); 3 audio DSP modes; BassTrac? subwoofer EQ AM/FM tuner with 30 station presets; 1 audio input; 2 A/V inputs (1 is in/out); composite and S-video; 1 monitor video output (composite, S-video and component video); 2 digital audio inputs (1 optical or coaxial, 1 optical only); optical digital audio output; video black level control; 96kHz/24-bit audio A/D and D/A converters.
The powered subwoofer has an 8" cone and a 100-watt amplifier (RMS). The front, rear, and center speakers are video-shielded, 2-way design with 3" mid/woofer and 3/4" tweeter, and are wall-mountable (keyhole slot or threaded insert).
I am very happy with this system, and would recommend it highly to anyone looking to get into the Dolby Digital home theater experience.
