Good value...but think carefully
Written: Jan 11 '04
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Pros: Good value, 3 digital optical inputs , 1 coax digital input. Nice sound.
Cons: Front panel not intuitive.. Remote does not have many features. Bad binding post design.
The Bottom Line: Good overall, but think twice.
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| obrienaj's Full Review: Panasonic SA-HE100 5.1 Channels Receiver |
After recently acquiring a digital DVR to go with my satellite TV system I began to think it was time to upgrade my 10-year-old Sony pro-logic surround sound system to a modern receiver with DTS and Dolby Digital capabilities. I also wanted to get better support for a powered sub-woofer.
Casual window-shopping at electronics stores indicated that receivers were quite inexpensive these days. I thought I might get a low-end $150 system but after reading many favorable reviews (including a Consumer Reports "Best Buy" rating) I settled on the Panasonic SAHE100 for $239.
The Panasonic SAHE100 has all the input capabilities I need, three digital inputs, one digital coax input, and all the regular left/right/video or S-Video inputs that you will need. This is important since most of us have a VCR, DVD player, cable/satellite TV, TIVO, Tape Deck, CD player, and in my kid's case..a karaoke machine to hook in to the receiver
I bought the Panasonic SAHE100 for Christmas and was anxious to hook it up to play a DVD. I have hooked up many a stereo system in my time but this receiver has many more things to consider. For once in my life, I actually read the manual TWICE before attempting anything. I had read other reviews that express dissatisfaction with the manual; my first impressions were that the manual was "okay".
When hooking up a modern receiver of this type, your expense does not stop with the purchase of the receiver. Digital optical inputs require optical cables. I knew this and planned to buy them before Christmas. My local Wal-Mart wanted $19.95 for each cable, I needed THREE. I was not happy with having to pay a total of $60 for cables so I shopped around for a better deal. I tried four other stores and went back to Wal-Mart they were cheaper. The other RCA type or S-Video cables only cost $4-5, I already had them though.
So with the optical cables resembling my fish tank plastic tubing, I set out finally to hook the Panasonic SAHE100 up.
First problem, the speaker binding posts are not as simple as one would think they should be. Essentially, they were just different from my old Sony. No problem, I thought, just consult the manual. The section in the manual for speaker binding posts had simply picture illustrations of how to hook them up. My brain still did not understand after looking at the pictures. I asked my wife, who is better at spatial issues, she did not understand. After about 10 minutes, I figured it out but it was my first indication that the manual was less than helpful.
Finally, I was ready. In my house the kids rule, so the first DVD was Rugrats Go Wild brought by Santa. We noticed that audio was not being sent to the rear Left and Right speakers. That seemed odd, I checked and checked but nothing was heard. I then spent a total of two frustrating hours trouble shooting. Some of the lengthy time was stupidly caused by me playing DVD's and waiting for parts where we expected audio to be going to the rears. It was not until the NEXT day when reading the separate manual on the remote that I realized I could have used the TEST button to get an audio tone sent to each speaker. My old Sony had a test button ON the receiver; the Panasonic SAHE100 only has one on the remote.
By hooking the rear speaker wires to my FRONT speaker posts on the receiver, I eventually figured out that the rears worked. I discovered that the surround sound speakers were not making good contact at the receiver. Over the next few DAYS I had intermittent loss of signal to the rear speakers caused by loss of contact at the receiver binding posts. The binding post springs were not grabbing the speaker wires tightly enough. A quick post on a home theater forum brought a suggestion that "speaker pins" would work. So off I went to Radio Shack and $20 later, I had eight gold speaker pins.
I sadly discovered that the speaker pins did not solve the problem, the binding post still did not grab tightly. A few more days of trying to find a way to have the wires stick became increasingly more FRUSTRATING. Some Home Theater experts suggested that my attempts to poke the speaker wire in the little holes frequently, probably caused the binding post springs to fail. One person had experienced the same problem with a different receiver.
I took the receiver back to the store (Rexs), they were very helpful and simply gave me another Panasonic SAHE100. Back at home I had the thing up and running within 15 minutes and the binding posts held the surround sound speakers perfectly tight. The main speakers on the Panasonic SAHE100 do not use the spring type binding posts, they use better quality ones designed for thick gauge speaker wire. I am not a dummy when it comes to hooking up receivers/speakers, so I think Panasonic need to do some quality review of the type of binding posts they use for all but the main speakers. The surround and center speaker posts are small , do not handle average to heavy gauge wire very well, are VERY close together and the "flip release" tabs are very difficult to manipulate if you are on the floor behind your entertainment center!
So two weeks AFTER Christmas I finally get to put the Panasonic SAHE100 fully through its paces. The Dolby Digital and DTS signals that I have played through my DVD player and my Dish TV system have been excellent, WAY better that the old Sony surround system. With the old system I rarely heard anything to the rears, with the Dolby Digital methods there were many signals sent to the rears, I really did feel I was in the movie theater. The sub-woofer really shook my floors. I actually had to turn down the sub-woofer via the Panasonic SAHE100, something I could not do (if needed) on my Sony.
I was very happy, the Panasonic SAHE100 had achieved my objective...modern digital sound, good sound at a low price ( still a bit miffed about the extra $20 I spent on speaker pins)
If you are new to Dolby digital sound , like me, you might wonder what the difference between it and other pro-logic surround sound. Do not rely on the manual to tell you this, it does a poor job. If you buy a Panasonic SAHE100 you might also be unsure why sometime the Dolby Digital signal does not get played. Well, it seems that although the Panasonic SAHE100 often detects the presence of a digital input, there are sometimes when it does not. At these time you have to press the button on the receiver (alas, not on the remote) that says DIGITAL. The manual mentions this in the troubleshooting section but they could have done a better job at featuring this issue.
One odd thing about the Panasonic SAHE100 is the method for adjusting the tone (Bass/Treble). This area also illustrates how bad the manual is . The manual says "for adjusting the tone and balance . First select BASS , Treble or Balance and then Press [-,L] or [+,R] to adjust"
I did this a zillion times without ever getting the words BASS or TREBLE to show up on the receiver display. Through trial, error, and frustration, I eventually figured out that the BASS and TREBLE could only be changed if the Digital Input is off and the "Stereo" mode on the receiver is selected. It says NOTHING about this in the manual!
I should mention that I felt a need to increase the bass settings on the receiver compared to my old Sony. The default setting of the Panasonic SAHE100 does not have the full rich bass sound that I was used to with my Sony. The Panasonic SAHE100 only has Bass/Treble increase/decrease options. No "mid range" adjusts and none of the equalizer functions that my Sony has. I miss this.
So, I did achieve my goal and have great sound for a little cash layout. If the thing blew up tomorrow though, I think I would think twice before getting another Panasonic SAHE100. I might just look for something with better quality binding posts, more on-remote features, and more individualized sound tailoring capabilities. Oh, and a manual that has written narrative descriptions and less graphic illustrations that requires a magnifying glass to actually see and understand !
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 239
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Epinions.com ID:
obrienaj
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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