Kenwood's SAT7100 home theatre kit comprises two rear floor-standing satellite speakers (with stands), centre speaker, subwoofer, and three front speakers to provide a roomy, expansive sound. Kenwood has paid close attention to detail, shipping just about everything you would need to connect the kit up in a home environment. The box is packed with antennae, a sleek black remote control, batteries, speakers, stands, screws and even all the speaker cables.

The silver and black satellite speakers feature metal guards, threaded tripod mounts and a wall-mounting slot on the back panel to provide a myriad of placement options that should suit most home theatre configurations.

The core of the system, the KRF-7090D-S 120W x 7 audio-video control centre is a massive double-height unit that measures 44 x 16 x 40cm and weighs just less than 12kg. It features six-channel input, Dolby Digital EX 6.1ch, Dolby Pro Logic IIx 7.1ch and DTS-ES 6.1ch decoding, front connectors for S-Video and composite, and a massive range of sockets on the back. The silver front face features buttons to switch between inputs, adjust the volume and quickly mute a source. Tone controls, a headphone socket and the radio tuner round out the front face, but it's the back that belies the unit's true power.

A glance across the rear panel reveals AM and FM antennae, phono input, CD-in and MiniDisc line in and out. There's room for three S-Video and composite connectors and a single S-Video and composite output, along with a DVD/six-channel input, two component lines in and a single component line out. There's even a coaxial/S/PDIF digital audio input, and a 90W switched AC outlet to drive other hi-fi components. A subwoofer output and bank of speaker connectors fill up the last remaining square millimetres of space. This massive range of connectors should allow even the most decked-out home theatre systems to plug in with ease. The unit will even remember the settings for each individual channel, so you don't need to worry about constantly tweaking tone or volume for every device in your house.

The SW-39HT subwoofer offered a solid, punchy low end and it came to life when playing back movies packed with explosions and deep rumbles. The satellite speakers also offer wide frequency response, and were able to handle subtle spatial effects well. The kit includes ample speakers so they can be positioned to create an effective surround sound setup, and there's no distortion at high volumes. The kit is backed up by a one-year warranty, and is both easy to set up and well appointed. Just remember that you have to snake a lot of cable around the lounge room to drive all the speakers.