Exceptional Stereo Sound
Written: Jan 20 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Superb sound quality, great surround capability, nice looking
Cons: Small remote, hard to use
The Bottom Line: Great surround-sound features; wonderful, fully customizable sound, lots of features.
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| Horizons832's Full Review: Panasonic SC-AK77 |
When I went shopping for a new stereo to replace my regular computer speakers I was using, I wanted something that would last me forever. I looked into an Onkyo component system, but quickly found that the speakers would put me over budget by a lot. Good speakers, after all, are the key to good sound. So I kept looking and pretty much gave up until I came across the Panasonic SC-AK77 stereo system. I was specifically looking for something with good quality sound, affordability, surround sound, and of course a CD Player. I got more than I asked for with this stereo, and, honestly, it was one of the best purchases I've ever made.
The stereo is easy to setup, all the speaker wires are color-coded and simply plug into the back of the unit. You can also use the standard RCA-type cables to hook up a DVD player or something with a 6-channel output for the surround capabilities of this stereo. There are also 2 auxiliary inputs for computers of other external devices with a standard left-right stereo output. Once everything was hooked up, I turned it on and found that the quality was superb! The unit comes with 5 speakers: 2 front, 1 center, and 2 surround. There are 3 modes of surround sound: Dobly ProLogic (which uses all the speakers and is great for VHS tapes and cassettes), surround mid (which does not use the center speaker), and surround max (which also does not use the center speaker). Depending on the type of music you like to listen to, there will always be a setting that suits you.
Since this stereo has so many features, it can be a little hard to figure out at first, but once you get past that you'll find that this system is easy to use. Everything is customizable, so no matter what song you're listening to, it will always sound great. There are a lot of preset equalizer settings, or you can custom set your own, a feature that is not available in most of the Panasonic stereos. There are also several options for 3D sound, and a special 3D equalizer setting. You can really make your music sound like anything you'd like with this system: make it sound like it's at a concert hall, or make it sound like you're listening through a recording monitor!
The tape players (while I don't use them much) sound great, especially with the Dolby ProLogic enabled, and the CD changer is also easy to use. The only problem with the CD changer is that it takes a while to change, and you cannot listen to a CD while it is changing.
The tuner can be set to mono if the stereo quality is too distorted (due to a bad signal), but I've never had to do that. Also, the volume can be set to extremely loud or extremely soft, unlike some stereos which either aren't loud enough, or don't get quiet enough. There's also a headphones jack for when you can't use the speakers.
When used with my DVD player, I sometimes forget that I'm home, the quality of the sound produced is realistic and movie theater-like. This is a great stereo to use with a home theater. There are just so many combinations of settings to choose from that you'll always find one that'll work with what you're doing with the stereo system.
The remote, while small, is easy to use, and contains almost all of the functions that the main unit does.
Overall, I'd recommend this to someone wanted to play both surround music and regular music. The SC-AK66 model is similar to this, except it does not include surround or the additional speakers, and lacks most of the customizable features that this unit has. Therefore, I'd say that this system was worth every penny I paid for it, and I'd definitely buy Panasonic products in the future!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Horizons832
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Member: J D
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
I like trains
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