I haven't read through the entire thread (only the first few original posts) but thank you for writing everything up!
DH and I are new owners of 2 three-month old kittens, and I did tons of research on raw feeding prior to bringing them into our home. The second day we got them, we started raw feeding. I was relieved that they seemed to love it from the very beginning. I don't have the time or dedication to prepare special raw food for them, however, I do buy Nature's Variety raw food (which comes in convenient medallion or "kibble" form) and it works well. I portion out their daily meals the night before and leave it in the fridge to thaw overnight. I have a variety of raw diets (lamb, duck, chicken and beef) and they seem to love all of it.
As for the cost, it may be more expensive but since I never really bought very much cheap dry food I don't really notice the higher cost. Based on quick calculations, I think their raw food costs us about $80 for both kittens per month (keeping in mind kittens eat more than adult cats and stuff is more expensive in Canada).
In terms of dry food, I do feed them high quality dry food if we're heading out and can't be at home to feed them (I feed them Wellness Kitten Health), but it almost seems like they're generally "addicted" to dry food because while they were still at the rescue shelter that was all they ate. If I put down a small bowl of it out for them before I leave for a few hours, they will race to eat it even though I just fed them an hour ago. Right now I'm off for holidays (and have been since I got them) so I can feed them 3-4 times a day at home (combining raw with SOME wet food), but next week I go back to work and I"m a little worried about having to leave them dry food before I leave for work. I've considered leaving out 1-2 frozen medallions in the morning and then letting it thaw throughout the day but I'm not sure if that would make them sick. I really don't want to feed them dry if I don't have to, even if it's the "high quality" stuff.
I definitely understand what you mean about the poo though... one of my kittens gets horrible gas and really smelly poo whenever we feed her dry food...but once we get some raw food in their system, all is well and the only whiff of their poo we get is if we're standing at the door while they're doing their business!
Anyway, I hope that with raw feeding they're grow up into energetic and fit adult cats. I guess only time will tell!
In terms of litter, I am in the process of transitioning them from Special Kitty clay litter (which is what they were used to at the rescue shelter) to World's Best corn litter. Right now I use about 50/50. I think I will take the litter transitioning a little more slowly.