KEF Ci160QR Speakers - Kitchen

Since part of the kitchen and breakfast area opens into the great room, we decided to use the same speakers to cover this area for continuity of sound.  One pair of Ci160's was enough to cover the area, and we lined them up with the existing pairs in the adjacent great room.  The high ceilings and noise associated with the kitchen (a major living space in the home) made the large Ci160's the right choice for optimal coverage.  Installation was identical to the great room speakers.

Listening Tests

Because of the open layout of the home, we always grouped the kitchen zone with the great room, or either played only one or the other so as not to have competing (different) music playing in the same section of the house.  As expected, the 160's performed well (as they had in the great room) and were able to fill the smaller space of the kitchen with ease.  The smaller and more enclosed space revealed more bass from the speakers, and during meals it was very enjoyable to have quiet yet fidelity filled music playing overhead while we dined.  This is a real-world example of why having a custom-installed whole-house audio system is such a great thing - previously we used a small iPod dock speaker system that sat on the counter.  The iPod dock speaker, while having good fidelity, was very directional, and it was hard to talk over the music.  Even at lower volumes it seemed to compete with our conversation.  Having the KEF Ci160QR's mounted in the ceiling provided a much more appealing and musical environment for our meals.  The sonic character of the speakers just blends into the room and conversation.