First Impressions of SA-HE200
Written: Nov 13 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Massive number of inputs, solid sound, very configurable, and inexpensive!
Cons: Overload sensitive, very remote dependent.
The Bottom Line: Excellent performance, and a great price.
|
|
|
| gelsheimer's Full Review: Panasonic SA-HE200 6.1 Channels Receiver |
The HE200 is one of the higher end receivers made by Panasonic, and one model higher than the highly rated HE100 which is designed for a broader audience.
The basics of the HE-200 is that it provides 6.1 channels, with 130 watts for each channel. More than enough for virtually any home application. Set up is straight forward, just make sure the shelf you put this on is strong (unit weighs 25 pounds) and allows for good cooling since this baby gets hot when its worked hard.
Connectivity is excellent. Loads of discrete inputs, with multiple digital inputs including coaxial. You won't run out of places to add things. Downside is that things get pretty busy back there, so you'll want to have good accessibility and light when hooking it all up.
The front panel is very basic... with minimal controls. While this delivers a sleek and fashionable look, it also means you're tied to the remote to do anything beyond volume and input selection. For me, once everything is set this is not a problem... but some people like to finesse the unit for every application. The remote, though functional, is nothing to write home about (or here for that matter).
I mentioned the unit is 'overload sensitive'. The unit will detect if its overloaded, and will shut down. Problem is, it declares an overload if I turn my TV on before the receiver. No idea why, and not a real issue since I'm in the habit of turning on the receiver first anyway, but it can be an annoyance.
Sound quality is excellent. I have JBL primary speakers and Paradigms all round and really enjoy the sound quality. Note that I'm not an audiophile, so others might find something wrong, but to me it's darn good. It's quite configurable too.. allowing you to tell the receiver how far each speaker is from you so the sound is timed appropriately.
Reliability-wise, Panasonic is a consistantly highly rated brand by that consumer magazine which we can't mention the name of :)
I bought it in Toronto for $450 CAD, about $300 USD. At this price, it is really hard to beat.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
gelsheimer
|
|
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.