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Panasonic SC-HT05 Home Theater System

Panasonic SC-HT05 Home Theater System

List Price: $249.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Stay away from Panasonic!
Review: Customer Service - the Panasonic website claims this is very important to them. I had my home theater only 3-4 months when a VCR tape got stuck. I has now been at the service center for almost 4 months! When I am lucky enough to get a response from Panasonic (which is rare), they make promises of completion and/or replacement. But promises won't play the DVD's my family would have liked to watch together over the holidays. When we finally got through to the customer service center on the phone, they had the nerve to hand up on us twice. IF YOU WANT A COMPANY TO STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS - STAY AWAY FROM PANASONIC!!! I have truly given up hope of even getting my home theater back from the Panasonic service center.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome System & Awesome Price
Review: I bought this Panasonic system a few days ago and I love it! The installation was a little confusing at first, but then I figured it out.
The system looks really awesome with it's silver finish and the chrome accents on the subwoofer and receiver. I think this system is perfect for a bedroom, which is where I placed mine. It really fills the room with sound.

One thing you will need is a Coaxial Audio Cable to hook up a DVD player to this. They run for about $15-20 at a local radio shack. The cable really makea a difference in the audio. I was surprised the cable wasn't included in the box, I luckily had one already.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best HTIB in its Price Range
Review: I bought this system a week ago, and I love it. The sound is excellent, and thanks to its 3 digital inputs (not 2 total inputs as another review claimed), I have my DVD, Satellite receiver, and PS2 all connected digitally. The receiver also has a number of analog inputs. The receiver also comes with video jacks, but I don't recommend using them, since they are only RCA jacks. I use S-Video and Component connections for my video, which are much higher quality.

When you're watching TV, the receiver will automatically switch between Dolby Digital when it is offered and Dolby Pro Logic 2. For DVDs, the receiver will also decode DTS.

All of the speakers attach to the sub, which is quite sizable. The other speakers are small, and pack a lot of power for their size. The receiver is more compact than any other I have seen, and is actually smaller than my DVD player. A lot of receivers are bloated with a lot of empty space inside, thankfully Panasonic didn't follow that trend.

As noted in another review, definitely DO NOT use Panasonic's speaker cable. It is really thin, and will kill the quality of the audio. Buy some speaker cable and also tips, which make life a lot easier.

My only (minor) complaint is the remote, which needs a better layout. At the bottom of the remote, there are 4 rows of 5 identical-size buttons.

For $200, this is a great system. Most systems at this price point don't have as many digital inputs, and the speakers are great. I highly recommend this system.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Value
Review: If you have a small to medium sized room this system should work great. It has many input options for expandability and it really has great sound. Don't expect extreme volume levels. Take care to set things up correctly. This system really works well, the bass is very powerful and the overall sound quality is very good.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not enough audio inputs
Review: The problem with this system is it only had 2 audio inputs. I could hook up my DVD and VCR, but not my new HDTV or any other components, such as a CD player or iPod. There are several other Home Theaters of similar quality and price that have 5 or more audio inputs.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The best in its price range!
Review: This little system is the best for Dolby Digital and DTS in its price range! If you've got a small-to-medium sized room, you won't be disappointed.

Inputs:
- 1 Coax Digital Audio input (for your DVD player)
- 2 Optical Digital Audio inputs (for your CD player, PlayStation2, etc.)
- 4 Audio inputs (for TV, VCR, Tape, etc.)

Of course, there's more than just the inputs. The system really does sound good and everything, from the center channel to the surrounds to the subwoofer, works very well together.

If you like to tweak, the system has a test-mode so that you can adjust the level of the speakers to make some louder or quieter. The subwoofer can even be adjusted on-the-fly during TV/CD/DVD playback with the remote -- good for when there's too much or not enough of that big bass sound!

Along the same lines, you can enable a sort of night viewing mode that's actually called "Dynamic Range Compression." This feature will take the really quiet sounds and make them louder and take the really loud sounds and make them quieter. Unfortunately, you can't enable this feature from the remote, so you'll have to press a series of buttons on the unit itself. (This is my biggest complaint and the reason I'm giving 4 instead of 5 stars.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this system as much as I do!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Random squeals and buzzing using digital input
Review: This system sounds great and is easy to set up. I would give it 5 stars if it worked 100% of the time.

However, my first one has squeals and buzzing happening at random times when using the digital audio input (both coaxial and RCA). There have been multiple reports of this on cnet's user reviews as well. It doesn't happen on every system, but when it does, you'll know it. I'll be returning the system today. I'll try one more time, but if the second one doesn't work, I'll go with Sony's equivalent even though it has one less digital audio input.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Bang for the Buck
Review: We settled on this system because:
- We already owned a 5-disc progressive scan DVD player
- The size of the room and seating position eliminated 6.1 systems as a possibility
- Two optical inputs
- Two-way front and rear speakers

This system sounds great with both the Pro Logic II applied to PCM stereo content (like the Band of Brothers reruns on the History Channel) as well as quality 5.1 content. We watched The Last Samurai with this system last night and were very impressed. If having your dogs constantly jumping up thinking someone/thing is outside is a measure of system quality, then this one is a beauty. The rear surrounds got them started every time. As for power, I haven't had any need to crank it past 50% volume yet.

The only other consideration you may want to make is that the power supply and amp are within the subwoofer, and the control and power cord from the sub to the receiver is only ~6ft, which does limit sub placement.

One tip if you decide to purchase this system: go out and get yourself a roll of 16-gauge wire. They supply ~105 ft of pre-cut wire (5 sections) with this system, but it is a bit thin. You'll need connectors if you want to go 14 gauge or thicker based on the speaker connection size.

If you've got a smallish room and already own a DVD player, consider this system.


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