Panasonic SA-XR50 Slim-Design Home Theater Receiver (Black)

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [1.89mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 16.9 x 2.9 inches ; 9.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 13 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: B0001IXUF8
• Item model number: SAXR50
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,453 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Panasonic SA-XR50 Home-Theater Receiver for A/V surround sound - If you use a DVD player on your TV or plan to upgrade to HDTV soon, having multichannel surround sound is extremely important to complete the truest home-theater experience. Though HDTV offers a 5.1 channel surround mode, this receiver can deliver 6.1 channels (adding a rear center speaker) for new DVD output. So you've got the choice of your surround mode. This receiver also has a stereo mode for your audio recordings. Let's call this a receiver for all seasons! Rear Audio Inputs - RCA - 4, Coaxial - 1, Optical - 2 Rear Video Inputs - Composite - 3, S-Video - 3, Component - 2 Selectable DSP modes Port for adding external FM antenna Slim Design - 2.9 H x 16.9 W x 14.7 D Weighs 8.8 Pounds Includes Remote Control Black Finish

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Digital Amplifier Technolgy Sets This Reciever Apart, August 31, 2004

By 

[e-mail] (WI, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic SA-XR50 Slim-Design Home Theater Receiver (Black) (Electronics)

What sets this receiver appart is the new technology Panasonic introduced recently. It's the Digital Amplifier, technolgy based on the class "D" Switching Amplifier and a chip developed by TI.

There is no DAC (digital-analog converter) in the conventional sense. All digital input signals activate the amp by switching the amplifier stages on or off based on the data (0's and 1's). The amp responds in pulses of 100-200hz. The pulse artifacts are then filtered out. It's a true digital amplifier. All analog signals (tape deck etc.) are converted into 192/24 DIGITAL signals first and only then fed into the digital amp.

There's no preamplifier in this receiver either!! Tone, volume, and other controls are handled digitally. When you use a digital connection to this reciever you are getting as pure a signal as is possible.

Distortion caused by analog signals is non-existent as long as the signal is digital. Example: Use a digital optical or coax connection from your CD or DVD player and the signal STAYS digital until it gets to your speakers. Even analog signals are extremely clean because they are converted to 192/24 digital signals and only then fed into the digital amp.

The tuner is also extremely good. Plus this is a 6.1 Home Theater reciever with all the bells and whistles, an awesome buy at this price.

The only caveat I have with this receiver is that it requires a 20 hour break-in period. Right out of the box, the sound is a bit too bright and has a hard digital edge when used for critical listening. It takes about 20 hours of use before it mellows into the smooth but crisp sound reproduction it is capable of.

This digital amplifier can actually out perform $2000 designer amps due to its advanced digital technology. Eventually all manufacturers will be using this technology but for now the XR50 is your best bet!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light n' Easy, December 15, 2004

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Panasonic SA-XR50 Slim-Design Home Theater Receiver (Black) (Electronics)

The one important thing to note when buying electronic equipment is that once you pop, you can't stop. Every time you think that you have the perfect system, something else comes along that you absolutely HAVE to have, which leads to something else, and so on ad infinitum.

Having bought new surround sound speakers, we needed a new DVD player, and then, naturally, a new receiver. The weight of this system is a big plus, being less than half the weight of our old one, but the new one's not as aesthetically pleasing with those shiny silver buttons.

Leaning over the shoulder of my resident techie, I can now advise as follows:

1. You cannot connect a turntable to this receiver; there are no phono inputs. Not good for those of us who still have LPs.

2. It's DVD-Audio ready for the audiophiles among us.

3. Setup is relatively easy, controlled by two buttons only: a multi control button and the input selector button. This can be irritating if you need to adjust the tone after you have finished setting up, since there are no separate bass and treble buttons, and you have to go through the setup menu again. You can however adjust the level of the surround speakers and subwoofer from the remote.

4. No onscreen display available

5. No switched AC outlets to allow you to plug in other components.

6. In addition to the receiver, the universal remote can be used to control a TV, tape, DVD player/recorder, VCR, CD player and the radio. This reduces the number of remotes you need around you. It has a weird shape that takes some getting used to, and I still use my separate remotes - guess old habits die hard.

7. Input jacks on the front make connecting camcorders, video games, etc. quite easy.

8. When listening to music or looking at a movie, there are SFC (Sound field control) modes which you can choose to enhance the sound environment. For music there are six modes (live, pop/rock, jazz, etc.), and for movies another six (action, drama, sports, etc.) However, to the untrained ear, like mine, I cannot detect a significant difference if any of these modes are selected.

Overall, the sound from this receiver is quite good, very clean, though it doesn't seem as powerful as my old receiver (a Technics SADX930). This could be due to differences in the calibration of the volume control, but since I rarely play it at very high volumes this is a non-issue. The centre channel seems a bit weak compared to the other channels, but with so many sound options to choose from and customize, it is very possible that I may have missed something and need to tweak it some more.

A very nice receiver for the price and features.

Amanda Richards, December 14, 2004

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular...the one to get, December 18, 2004

By 

Art (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic SA-XR50 Slim-Design Home Theater Receiver (Black) (Electronics)

Hmmm, lets see...for under $250 you can get the best of a very small crop of cutting edge digital amplifier receivers. What does this mean? It means that although you don't get 7.1 channels or some of the bells and whistles of $1000 receivers, you get sound quality that is as good if not better. That is what I call a good deal.

As other reviewers have noted, this receiver has a digital amplifier (not to be confused with digital surround sound that all receivers have). This is brand spanking new technology...less than two years in consumer audio. What it translates to is that you can get true audiophile sound quality for a fraction of the price. I first heard of this receiver on audiophile and home theater message boards. Here I was reading of people replacing thousand dollar high end receivers with this Panasonic unit. And not just a few people, but many. I'm not an audiophile, but I can appreciate good sound. This receiver has it.

I replaced a three year old Pioneer mid-level surround receiver with this one. The difference was night and day. The only comparison I can make is to recall the first time I heard a cd play. For those who are old enough to have listened to tapes and albums, you know what I mean. This receiver is that good. You'll hear things on your cd's and movies (both good and bad) that you never heard before.

If you want a big, heavy, feature rich receiver, try a Pioneer 1014 or something similar. If you want small, light, with spectacular sound like you've never heard before, this is the receiver to get. If you want both, spend another couple hundred or so and get a Panasonic XR-70. But, at it's price point, nothing out there offers sound quality even remotely close to the xr-50.