Home > Consumer Reviews > KLH AT2100i 400 Watt Amplified Television Home Audio System

I picked up this package for $180. It is an excellent sounding system. I am very impressed. It compliements my Sony 32 inch Wega Trinitron TV. The picture on my TV is great but the sound is lacking. What is great about this system is that it is self-amplified, meaning no need to connect to a reciever.

Please ignore the 400 watt rating

The rating that counts is the RMS rating. RMS watt is the continous loudness. The subwoofer's RMS is 65 watts and the left and right speakers are 35 watt.

Setup:
Basically the setup is Plug and Play. Take the RCA cable and connect between the TV and subwoofer. Connect the speaker wire from the subwoofer to the speakers and basically your set.

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT use the enclosed speaker wire. If you do you'll be sorry. Go out and pick up a small roll of 16 guage wire! Bite the bullet pay the $$.You will not be sorry. Using the enclosed speaker wire KLH provided, the sound become distorted at mid-to-high volume. With the 16 guage wire, the sound was much fuller and no distortion.


The package also include:
1) A docking station for your ipod. You take your ipod and stick it in the provided doc station. Then run the enclosed ipod cable from the doc station to a special ipod input on the back of the woofer. I don't have and ipod so I can review that feature.

2) Includes a a bunch of other cables you might need, a Y splitter cable to, etc

3) Speaker stands and wall mounts. I didn't mount the speakers but I used the stands. The speakers stands are heavy (Which is good) and very well built. They are a snap to setup.

4) A remote control to control the loudness of the speakers and subwoofer.

Performace:
My TV sounds a hell of a lot better. My living room measure 19 by 20 feet. The sound is awesome. The subwoofer fills the room with bass (you can adjust the volume). The left and right speakers have a dome tweeter so dialouge sounds crisp. Movies and TV shows just seem to more engaging.

Aside from movies and TV, you can hook up your laptop, mp3 player, or compact disc player to the headphone jack input on the subwoofer.

Conclusion:
As long as you DON'T use the enclosed speaker wire and use 16 guage wire, you will be happy. This is an excellent 2.1 channel system for those of you who don't need a full blown home theatre but would like better sound that your TV cannot produce.
Overall, this package includes everything you need, for a great price.

I have to say I was surprised how well this system works with my LCD TV. It was quite simple to set up and I liked the towers that the speakers mounted to. The sound is excellent, and is a great option for those situations where a 5.1 surround system won't be feasible. My only issue is relatively minor.
There is a low hum that emanates from the speakers when the system is left "on" (after turning off the TV). If you turn the power off on the sub-woofer you have to reset the volume each time you turn the TV back on - so leaving the power on is recommended. I called the factory and spoke to a very knowledgeable and helpful tech rep who had some suggestions and modifications that would alleviate the hum. It's pretty much unnoticeable after a few months of having the system. For the low cost and the overall quality I would highly recommend this system.

I own a Samsung DLP television and like it a lot, and was surprised by how good the built-in sound was. All it really needed (for my use) was an added subwoofer - but there was a catch. When playing from a component input (like a DVD), the Samsung DLP will let you use either the built-in sound OR the auxilary sound outputs (which would drive a subwoofer) - but not both at the same time. Ouch!

That's where this KLH package proved itself to be a perfect solution. It combines twin satellite speakers and a subwoofer, all of which are powered by a self contained (and pretty meaty) amplifier. Plug in to your audio output jacks, and you're good to go (though if you've got a Samsung DLP, you need to use your set's remote to turn the internal mute "on" to activate the sound outputs).

Better still, the KLH package has its own remote control which allows you to set volume, main speakers, or subwoofer independently. Note that you'll be aiming the remote control at the subwoofer, and it needs to be line of sight...if you were hoping to really hide the subwoofer behind a potted plant, it won't work. That's why I knocked one star off my review...but really, I'm VERY happy with this set up (and I found it less expensively at one of the membership warehouse stores).

I used the previous reviewer's tip of changing the speaker wire to 16-gauge, and he's right...it makes a big difference! I haven't tried the iPod dock module, nor the heavy duty speaker stands- to me, they're just gravy added to an already outstanding value.

If you don't actually need to buy a full-on home theater system (amp, DVD player, surround speakers, etc) but want robust "movie sound" that's easy to set up, this is your deal!

Typically a device like this would get points added or removed for the subtle aspects of its performance - sound quality, ease of setup, etc. Unfortunately in this case none of that really matters because this speaker system doesn't perform at all.

After reading the reviews here, I also upgraded the speaker wire to 16 guage. I never tried the stock wiring, but I was happy with the results of the heavier wiring.

The first unit I received actually sounded good for about a week, then it stopped responding to any remote commands. I called KLH and was informed that I had purchased a refurbished unit (advertised as new here) and I was not eligible for warranty service. I contacted the seller, OrangeChimp, via Amazon and received a replacement subwoofer at no charge.

The replacement arrived and worked for about a month, then suddenly the left channel began to pop randomly and loudly. I finally had to disconnect the whole thing because it was just too annoying.

Maybe I am just terribly unlucky and got two bad units, but I certainly won't be taking a risk with my money (and time) with KLH again.

When it worked, the sound quality was better than the average television. I can also tell you my wife hated the aesthetics and was not sorry to see the speakers go. They didn't bother me, but I don't have that gene I suppose. :-)

I posted this review twice because this (AT2100i) is the unit I ordered and paid for, but both times I received the AT2100, which is the same unit minus the iPod speaker dock (I think). I questioned OrangeChimp at the time and was assured I had the AT2100i, even though the box plainly says AT2100 (I still have it).

This unit has a hum and eventually a squeal when left on. there is no on/off button so you have to unplug it to stop this sound. muting does not resolve the problem because the sound is from the unit itself. on my unit the bass just fizzles out something must be blown inside (the speaker is fine). I would recommend looking somewhere else for your stereo needs. the only reason I gave it 2 stars is because the speakers alone are good quality and perform well when hooked to another reciever.