Panasonic SA-HE100K Home Theater Receiver

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [1.18mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 16.9 x 6.2 inches ; 27.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 28 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000067DK0
• Item model number: SAHE100K
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,003 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The SA-HE100 has been designed for ultimate audio performance, delivering cutting-edge surround sound from CDs, DVDs, and high-resolution formats like SACD and DVD-Audio with high power and great features. The receiver is equipped with six discrete RCA analog inputs to deliver the enhanced sound quality of multi-channel SACD (Super Audio CD) and DVD-Audio music.

It also decodes DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1-channel sources and Dolby Pro Logic II, which converts sound from regular two-channel stereo sources into 5.1 channel for spacious surround effect. And, you'll also enjoy DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX extended surround formats, which add a rear center channel for a full 6.1-channels of surround--great for large rooms and home theaters with above-average resolution.

The SA-HE100 incorporates Panasonic's "Times Six" power amplifiers, which use Class H+ circuitry for a smooth, consistent sound from all six main channels. It delivers a full 100 watts per channel output (at 1 kHz into 6 ohms with 0.9 percent THD) so you'll feel the powerful bass of favorite music or the stomp of the Tyrannosaurus Rex breathing down your neck. You'll get slightly higher power--or lower distortion across the audio spectrum, depending on how you look at it--with stereo playback: 100 wpc from 40 to 20,000 Hz into 6 ohms with 0.9 percent THD).

The receiver uses Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOS-FET) circuitry to enhance performance. By improving power bandwidth and contributing to highly linear sound quality, MOS-FET allows the receiver to reproduce a broader spectrum of frequencies than do standard amplifiers. Among other advantages, MOS-FET is what makes this model completely SACD and DVD-Audio compatible, with the ability to reproduce the rich, lifelike sound the formats are quickly becoming known for.

The SA-HE100 includes three optical and one coaxial digital-audio inputs, three S-video inputs, and one S-video output, as well as two high-resolution component-video inputs.

Product Description

Give your ears something worth listening to with this 6.1-channel surround sound receiver from Panasonic. It is ready to take on the challenge with 600 total watts of power at your fingertips. With a built-in Dolby Digital/DTS decoder, Dolby Pro Logic II, and a DTS-ES decoder, it makes sure your music sounds amazing, and your movie soundtracks come to life. Want more? It's DVD-audio ready. You can even connect your high-resolution components thanks to the 3 S-Video inputs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does the Core Job 100%, Skimps a Few Frills, May 20, 2003

By 

C. W. Toraason "macboots" (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic SA-HE100K Home Theater Receiver (Electronics)

This was my first purchase when putting together my home theater system, based on Consumer Reports' recommendation. I still can't believe what a value I got for the money spent.

Does the job of decoding every type of DTS signal (even DTS-ES Discrete) and Dolby signals up to Dolby Digital 5.1 (however no Dolby Digital EX). One of the few receivers in any price range that is rated to power 4 Ohm speakers (albeit front only), and puts out more power than many [other]models. And of course the sound is great.

This is the core of my system consisting of a 30" HDTV and 6.1 speaker setup. I will say that I am now limited on my digital inputs, having my PS2, DVD player, and laptop all giving it digital (via Toslink optical) audio; if I ever get digital cable the PS2 will have to go to RCA stereo output.

Gives all the options you need for speaker setup, including filter for small speakers (100-200 Hz), individual speaker distance, and attenuation (+/- 10db).

Frills missed: radio station labeling, sleep timer, 7.1 channel out, not as many "environment" sound fields (only 6) as some, and no on-screen display. I consider these inconsequential though... the only thing I can really pick on is the "universal" remote is garbage for controlling anything else. Fortunately my TV has a good universal for controlling the receiver, otherwise I'd have to buy one.

There is a help function if there is a problem, I have never had to use it and can't speak to its effectiveness. It does require some time to setup, but no more than any other receiver should. The inputs and outputs are all clearly labeled on the back, and there is a composite video and RCA stereo connection in front for ease of use with a camcorder or video game system.

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent performance, competitive price, April 15, 2003

By 

edcaroleg "edcaroleg" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic SA-HE100K Home Theater Receiver (Electronics)

We bought this receiver to update our Sony analog pro-logic receiver that was still performing well (within its capability) after nine hard years in our theatre system.

The Panasonic SA-HE100 performance is excellent, as expected. The digital features result in improved realism especially in DVD mode.

There are, however, some features absent from this unit and included on the Sony, that I miss.

1.) There is no sleep timer.
2.) There is limited relative volume adjustment (+/- 10db)between front speakers and the other speakers in the theatre system. This prevents use of my TV's speakers for the center channel without an additional attenuator. (Sony had+/- 30db)
3.) No provision for title of radio stations.
4.) Not possible to operate in "surround" mode with speaker "A" (theatre speakers), when speaker "B" (speakers throughout home)is operating. (Sony didn't care.) "Stereo" is the only sound field available for theatre, "A" speakers, when 'B" speakers are in use.
5.) "Operating Instructions" contains all the necessary information to install and operate the receiver in the most complex system. Interpretation is another matter. A good deal of study is required to properly utilize the capabilities of this receiver. The Sony manual was far superior.
6.) The capability of the remote control is limited.
7.) No provision for connecting my second tape player.

63 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Product!, July 3, 2003

By 

adara (Iasi, Romania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic SA-HE100K Home Theater Receiver (Electronics)

I want to share my one month experience with this receiver. I got it for 380$ in Romania (yes the taxes are huge in Europe). First of all, the European version is slightly different. There are no component video connectors on the back, just svideo and composite. There is no subwoofer button (the sub can be configured via remote though); instead it is used for the help function. And the help button is used for RDS (Radio Data System). Maybe RDS is a European only facility.
The good news is that the SA-HE100 is for sure Dolby Digital EX compatible. It is mentioned in many places on the web, in the manual and I also found it on the Panasonic website. This is what I found on the web: "Please be advised that Panasonic SA-HE100 also has Dolby Digital EX. Up until February 2002 the only way a company could advertise Dolby Digital EX was if the receiver was THX certified. After that time the condition was lifted and now manufactures can promote this feature without THX certification. Unfortunately lifting the THX certification requirement so late in the production development of the SA-HE100 did not allow Panasonic the necessary time to change the programming code for the microprocessor, the silk screening of the unit, the manuals or the box.
To turn on DD EX with older 5.1 films simply depress the "Enhanced Surround" button. Newer films with Dolby Digital EX logo include a "flag" that will automatically turn on the DD EX decoder in the SA-HE200 Receiver.
With the SA-HE100 this "flag" is not detected. As mentioned above, simply manually select the "Enhanced Surround" button to activate 6.1 decoding. Also please be advised that with all DD EX sound tracks, the surround back channel is in Analog. Dolby simply uses a Dolby Pro Logic chip to create the surround back information from the discrete surround channels from the 5.1 recording. The manual suggests using Enhanced Surround too for Dolby EX. And this is what I found on the Panasonic main website (resellers corner): "Built-in Dolby Digital and DTS-ES decoders with Matrix 6.1 and NEO 6.1 Enhanced Surround for a 6.1 ch. surround sound reproduction (Dolby Digital EX playable).
As I had a Technics amplifier before, I was pleased with the way the receiver sounded. Although the S/N ratio is lower, this is not a problem as there is no audible noise even at high volume. I am using a pair of Technics loudspeakers for the front channels, the SB-M500. These are excellent speakers but I noticed that the bass was not very powerful at low and normal volume. So I purchased a Panasonic SB-TP10 surround system, composed of five 40W satellites and one 100W active subwoofer. For 260$ these speakers are quite decent and the low frequency problem was immediately solved! To my surprise the LFE channel works with stereo too and gives punch to the low volume auditions. Of course the subwoofer can be adjusted or even completely shut down via remote. One neat thing is that the volume of the sub is memorized differently on each surround mode. Now concerning the various processing modes, don't imagine that stereo recordings will sound better with Prologic II or NEO:6 because they don't. Thankfully the stereo mode is gorgeous. This is really a good hi-fi amplifier with a great sound and a good power reserve. And it is DVD Audio compatible! There were some concerns about the heat generated by the amp and the fact that the players piled upon it could be affected. This is not a problem, I have the tape deck and DVD over the receiver and even at sustained high volume its surface temperature never went over 40C (104F). The receiver is great for movies too, giving a new dimension to the experience. Be advised that you will need an extra speaker for the central rear channel. If you already have large hi-fi speakers for R and L you can use one of the satellites for RC (rear center). I haven't found any DTS ES or Dolby EX DVD's, but the RC can be used even with normal 5.1 sound and it works pretty well. The tuner part is quite complete, with auto tuning and station name display. There are also PTY (program type) and RT (radio text) functions. There is a sleep timer and a wake function. As mentioned before the manual is a joke, but I had fun discovering the numerous and sometimes undocumented features. It's like they had this super versatile product and they were afraid people would be frightened by the possibilities and so they hid them! The remote is ok, working with my other Panasonic products, and though some of the features are not accessible through it (treble, balance, etc.) they are not important. I never had any trouble in 10 years with any Panasonic/Technics product and I believe they are built better than other similar brands at the same time offering many more features. It is 200$ cheaper than the Sony equivalent (STR-DB1080)!
What I don't like: lack of a second Tape or Aux input, no analog/digital input selection via remote and no enhanced surround/NEO:6 switching through the same remote. These are just some small nags that don't affect the great value of this receiver. I am pleased and will look for Panasonic products in the future too!