Panasonic SC-HT900 Home Theater System with 5-Disc DVD Changer : Reviews, Cheap, Discount Tv Television

Average Rating: 3.53 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The Dream System At A Fair Price!
I really searched around and cannot believe this system sells for under $500, much less $400. It took me less than two hours to completely set up the system and it was step-by-step easy! The tower system is attractive and I did not need to buy extra 'stands' or 'wall mounts'. The central speaker is small but delivers s high-powered sound. The subwoofer is powerful as well and has four levels of intensity - I like heavy bass, but set mine at level 3. The actual DVD/CD receiver is very slim and easy to maneuver. I had some trouble setting up my TV with the unit's somewhat complicated remote, but finally figured it out after several runs. You are able to adjust the sound to nine positions, depending on where you re sitting. You don't have to be front and center.

The system looks very sleek in my home and the sound is just incredible. The rear speakers play the 'echo' or 'audience' sound without heavy vocals on the 'live' recordings. It is true 5.1 digital sound. My only regret is that it does not play SACD's. Listening to my old CD's all over again is like the first time I ever listened to them. The 5.1 surround brings out sounds I never heard before and makes clear distinction between acoustic and electric guitars, multiple keyboards and backing vocalists. A great CD to test on this system is Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", but any classical recording sounds like you are in the theater! This is the real deal and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Rating:

- Very Very good inded!
I have just bought a Panasonic SC-HT900 to replace a rather messy collection of aging seperates. I am a major Sony fan and of course audions a few of the Sony options first but could never quite get excited about them then the Panasonic was recommended to me so I gave it a go. It beats the Sony's hands down (I am sad to say!). Now, to get this out the way, unlike many of the reviews I've read, I have so say that the Panasonic unit is pig ugly. Especially compared to some of the Sony units but then I'll live with it's rather dated and cluttered apearance for it's superb picture and sound. I dont understand how some people consider it underpowered unless they have VERY large rooms but in my 12'x20' room, the Panasonic has no trouble at all in filling the space with detail and a deep, warm, well controlled bass. I wouldn't score it highly on ease of use initially but you get use to it. The 4 floorstanding speakers are attractive and seem to do their job admirally. The inclusion of DTS was a big plus for me but I'd never compared DTS with DD5.1 before. Only 2 of my DVD have DTS but flicking between DTS and DD shows a clear difference. Add also that apart from SACD, I dont think there is a shiny disc format it wont handle.

The system was a breeze to set up and delighted me straight away. For the money, this truly is superb.

I think the build quality could be better on the main unit. It feels a little flimsy so I will be especially gentle to it.

Bottom line, despite the negative points, I am delighted that I didnt buy the Sony. It would have been a choice of fashion over function and I have a better system for choosing the Panasonic. Maybe I'll get used to the looks. Who knows. Love is blind.

And just 1 final complaint to the manufacturers about all of the systems I looked at. Why do none of them have optical out? I will have to keep my CD player just to copy stuff on to my MiniDisc walkman!

So, why 4 stars and not 5? Well, not attractive, unclear manual, feels a bit poorly built. But I'll forgive a whole lot for what it does do well. Picture and sound are just great. I was grinning for ages.

Buy now and you wont be dissapointed. Especially at the price.

Rating:

- Great unit, great deal, add your own fan to avoid problems
This unit looks great, sounds great, and the price is unbeatable. The overheating seems to be causing a lot of people problems, if not for that I would give this unit 5 stars. If you have some guts and some basic knowledge about electricity and electronics you can avoid these problems. I got a really good deal on one, then found out about the overheating. Not wanting this to be a problem I decided to investigate. I popped off the back panel of the sub to find that the fan wasn't actually working. I imagine that it is supposed to kick on when things start getting hot, but my unit was already really hot. The heatsink inside was almost too hot to touch. The fan is 80mm so I took a standard led case fan and replaced the stock one. The stock one has some non standard screw holes so I had to use some strong adhesive foam tape to hold the new fan in place. Then I ran the wire outside the sub and rigged up a small ac/dc power adapter to power the fan. It took about 30 minutes to do and now my unit runs very cool, and has a cool looking blue glow on the wall coming from the fan to boot. You could just use the stock fan and rig up an adapter to it but I didn't want to cut off the connector in case I needed to take the unit back. For the adapter use something between 7 and 12 volts, lower voltage = quiter fan but less airflow. If you don't want to open it up, you could just mount a fan right on the outside of the vent. I think the major problem is there is a defect in the board that doesn't turn the fan on, and you don't want a bunch of really hot electronics with no airflow.