Panasonic SC-PT770 Home Theater - a Blockbuster Entertainment Bargain
Written: Sep 12 '09 (Updated Sep 27 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: powerful audio and video performance, a nice variety of features, modest price
Cons: you won't find any of today's cutting edge home theater options in this system
The Bottom Line: Electronics stores may tell you that Blu-Ray is the only way to go, but Panasonic's SC-PT770 proves that there's still plenty of bang in DVD based systems.
DrFaustus's Full Review: Panasonic SC-PT770 Theater System with Wireless Sp...
There's one key question that anyone looking to buy a home theater system these days needs to ask himself or herself... Well, to be honest, there are really two key questions if we include "Is it really in my best interest to buy a new home theater system in today's wintery economic climate?" but let's assume that you've already answered that question in the affirmative. The big question that needs to be asked right now is "Do I look for a Blu-Ray system or a DVD system?"
I'm not going to try to answer that question for anyone here. You situation won't match mine entirely, but here's what led me to the DVD side of the fence after deciding that I was in the market for a new home theater system. My television is an HDTV model, but it isn't particularly huge. With its thirty-inch screen (which feels about the rite size for my modest apartment), the standard definition images of a regular DVD are still going to look quite respectable. As crystal clear as being there in person? No, but unless I crawl up within two or three feet of my television, DVD quality is more than enough for my favorite movies and TV shows. Moreover, I've built up a video library over the last few years of several hundred DVD's none of which would benefit from the high definition video output that a Blu-Ray player offers. And while I do enjoy a big Hollywood blockbuster, when it comes to buying movies, I lean a little bit more toward the art-house, indie side of things, and while they're readily available on DVD, hardly any of those films are canditates for Blu-Ray release any time soon. The real deciding factors, though, was a much more practical one. All of the full Blu-Ray home theater packages that I browsed through cost about twice as much as Panasonic's nicely featured SC-PT770 DVD-based home theater system. The decision practically made itself for me.
Hard-core home theater hobbyists will probably stay away from a system like this, opting instead for a dedicated audio receiver and a separate video player unit that they can plug into it, but for anyone who's not interested in lots of tinkering, the Panasonic SC-PT770 is a great system. From its elegantly slim, streamlined design to its ease of setup to its powerful audio and video output, this is so much more than just a DVD player.
There's lots to applaud in Panasonic's system, both major and minor selling points, and it's a little tough to know where to start. At the risk of coming off as a bit random, let's just jump around from point to point as they come to me.
• wireless surround sound speakers - A five-speaker-plus-sub-woofer setup is pretty much standard for a home theater system these days, but the Panasonic SC-PT770 is able to send audio signals to the rear speakers using an integrated 2.4GHz signal. The speakers themselves aren't truly free from wires – they still need to be plugged into a small signal receiver that sits at the back of the room – but there's no need to run speaker wire all the way from the front of the room where the DVD player sits to the back of the room where your rear speakers are mounted, which can save an awful lot of clutter.
• upconversion for hi definition televisions - The Panasonic SC-PT770 won't pretend to match the crystal clear image quality that Blu-Ray affords viewers, but the hardware runs the video signal through some image enhancement processes to make the DVD's you already own, which typically look a little grainy on any high definition television, a few steps crisper and sharper when the unit is connected to your television through and HDMI cable or with component cables. (Be aware, though, that turning on this option is hidden away in the functions menu and might be overlooked by some users.)
• integreated iPod dock - The central unit of Panasonic's SC-PT770 features a small slide-out drawer with an iPod dock connector. Drop in an iPod or iPhone, and you're all set to enjoy your electronic music collection through the home stereo speakers. You can use the Panasonic remote control to browse through all of your songs and podcasts , and you can even watch videos stored on your iPod up on the TV screen.
• digital audio input - Some home theater system only offer traditional red and white stereo plugs for auxiliary audio input, meaning that you'll only get true 5.1 channel surround sound for material that is played directly from a DVD disk. But the extra digital audio input jack on the back of the Panasonic SC-PT770's main unit means that you can also plug in an X-Box/Playstation or watch high definition television channels and listen to what you're watching with the truly immersive feel of sound all around you, not just the relatively flat experience of two-channel stereo sound.
• easy set-up - Color coded plugs on the end of the included speaker wires make it easy to properly connect everything to the central unit and to the wireless receiver. And once everything is plugged in and turned on, calibrating the speakers for the ideal listening experience is simple - the system comes with a plug-in microphone that you place wherever you plan to sit while watching movies, then with the push of a button the system cycles some white noise through the speakers and adjusts the levels to find a perfect balance.
• five disk DVD changer - The ability to load several disks at once (and to swap out one disk while another is playing) is perfect for marathon sessions of multi-DVD sets or music fans who want to throw a few CD's in and hit shuffle.
• powerful audio performance - It doesn't take too much to push the volume up to the point of feeling the vibrations all throughout the room, and you can get to that point without any audio distortion. As an apartment dweller, I've actually had to catch myself and turn things down out of consideration for the people below me (especially when watching television stations that like to broadcast their commercials at a higher volume than their regular programming, but that's hardly the fault of the home theater system).
• clear, crisp sound - Audio from various sources sounds uniformly clean. Both hi-def and standard cable broadcasts deliver a fine balance between dialogue, background noise, and soundtrack music. DVD's, even those with booming action sequences, deliver detailed sound with no noticeable audio artifacts. CD playback is crisp enough for me to pick out fine details in the instrumental mix, particularly for re-mastered versions of older albums. There's even a "dialogue enhancer" option buried away in the functions menu that will ensure that character dialogue in television and DVD's won't get lost behind any over-the-top sound effects and music.
As much as I've enjoyed watching DVD's and television and listening to music with the Panasonic SC-PT770, there are a few gripes that keep it from being an absolutely perfect home theater system:
- cumbersome front speakers - The front speakers are designed as pillars that stand at about four feet tall. They look rather boxy and cumbersome. I'd have much preferred something smaller that could easily be mounted on posts or on the wall as owners see fit. (The center and rear speakers, though, are nicely compact without sacrificing any power).
- wireless interference - The Panasonic SC-PT770 has had no trouble sending audio through the air to its rear speakers, but after setting everything up, I found that my laptop computer and my Wii were having a lot of trouble connecting to my wireless router. I was able to get around the problem by digging into the router's settings and changing to a different channel, but it was a hassle I would have preferred not to have to deal with.
- proprietary speaker wires - Given the specially designed colored plugs for the speaker wire, it's difficult to find a way to use your own speaker wires with this system. Anyone who wants to install this unit in a room that has already had audio wiring installed behind the walls will have to do some wire splicing if they want to keep all the wires hidden.
- no wired option for rear speakers - As nice as having wireless speakers for the left and right rear channels is, there are a some situations where it would indeed be nice to be able to run wires all the way from the central unit to the back of the room - perhaps there's no other way to avoid interference with cordless phones and computer routers, or maybe there's no electrical outlet at the back of the room where you can plug in the rear wireless receiver. The central unit only has audio jacks for the subwoofer and the front and central speakers. If you want the surround sound experience, you're locked in to the 2.4 GHz setup.
And of course, as a modestly priced unit, the Panasonic SC-PT770 doesn't offer any of today's cutting edge home theater technology. We're starting to see home theater systems that offer internet connectivity for YouTube viewing and Netflix movie streaming, but those are all Blu-Ray systems, and right now you're not going to find an all-in-one video and audio unit that includes such online options for much less that double the price of the Panasonic SC-PT770.
If money were no object, I'm sure I would have opted for a Blu-Ray home theater system instead, but then again, if money were indeed no object, I'd also have a massively large television and a living room luxurious enough to support (and even demand) such excess. For its price, though, the Panasonic SC-PT770 is as feature rich and powerful as one could realistically hope for.
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