Black Boxes: Akoo Kima KS110 wireless audio transmitter

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by Charles Mohnike
Winter 2001

Akoo
(708) 583-9600
[www.akoo.com]
$100

The Kima KS110 is one of a few new, inexpensive wireless products designed to extend PC-based audio beyond the confines of plastic desktop speakers. Using a transmitter, the Kima sends audio from a desktop PC or Net-top unit to a remote receptor unit attached to audio gear located elsewhere in your home or office. The Kima allows computer-based media fans to hear their favorite Net-only radio stations or MP3 files without being chained to their office chairs.

Setting Up
Setting up the Kima was a snap. Installation was just a matter of hooking up the transmitter and receptor units. In our test case, the process took about five minutes.

Before connecting the receptor unit to our audio equipment, we decided to test both of the Kima methods for sending broadcast signals to remote audio appliances.

Just as if the Kima was a CD player or a cassette deck, we used the included RCA cables and attached the receptor to an auxiliary input on our home A/V receiver. This option delivered the best audio quality, but also made the receptor unit slightly less portable. This method is best when the audio is sent to just one A/V device, instead of moving the receptor to several different units around the home.

The Kima's FM-retransmission method is handy if you have already used all of your A/V gear's auxiliary inputs or you plan to listen to Web audio on a portable radio or other unit that has no RCA hookups. The Kima receptor will retransmit the audio signal it receives on either the 88.1 MHz or 88.3 MHz channels of your FM radio. The Kima transmitter and receptor can be up to 1,000 feet apart, but the receptor unit must be placed within a foot of your A/V receiver to hear its broadcast.

Performance
To test the Kima's audio performance, we first hooked up the receptor to a stereo system using the RCA-cable option. Lower-bitrate broadcasts, such as National Public Radio's news program All Things Considered, sounded the same on our audio receiver as they did on our PC's speakers. But when we tested MP3 music files, there was a marked difference between the sound on our PC's desktop speakers and the Kima broadcast version playing on our A/V receiver.

We noted an expected drop in audio quality when we sent a broadcast through our FM receiver rather than a direct audio connection during the Kima FM retransmission method of receptor testing. The signal was still sufficiently clear for general listening. The performance drop was more noticeable with high-quality MP3s than with low-bitrate Webcasts.

We tested the Kima set with several audio units around our office and we were able to get a clear, uninterrupted signal anywhere on the property, even on the second floor and at the far reaches of our parking lot.

The Kima offers a great method for drawing PC-based audio away from your PC. It's easy to install, easy to use, and delivers good sound quality. At $100, the unit is a great purchase for fans of Web-based audio.

SMART SPECS

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