Customer Reviews

Panasonic SC-BT203 1000W 7.1 Channel Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Sound System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We purchased this system from Costco after the Onkyo system we ordered from Amazon.com arrived damaged. I have to emphasize that this is a poor substitute for the Onkyo system in many ways; however, for the last 9 months it has provided us with good playback of BDs and its sound quality is quite good.

To begin, the speaker cable connection system of the SC-BT203 is fool-proof. Each speaker cable is color-coded and the location for each speaker is clearly outlined on the colorful setup card it comes with. This same speaker cable system is also the undoing of the whole system: the connection is proprietary and, if one cable or speaker fails, I'm assuming you will have to replace the entire unit. Hasn't happened yet and we hope it won't happen for a long while.

Second, the speakers are very small in size, but the sound each one generates is quite adequate for our 400 sq ft family room environment. The subwoofer in particular makes the whole room shake at the right times.

Third, we are avid movie watchers and we've discovered that, after watching 2 or 3 movies on Blu-ray disc in a row, the system tends to freeze. I know it's not overheating because the cabinet we have it in is completely open. Maybe its memory gets full or it gets too hot inside. Either way, as long as we let it rest for a few hours it works fine again. This does not happen when we play regular DVDs.

Last, because the amplifier unit comes bundled up with the Blu-ray disc player, if one or the other goes bad, the entire system will have to be sent out for repair or be entirely replaced.

PROS:
-Good price
-Very good surround sound
-Easy to setup, speaker hookup super-easy

CONS:
-No iPod adapter included
-One single unit
-Proprietary speaker connections

We purchased a Panasonic SC-BT203 Blue-ray home theater system from Costco Saturday January 30, 2010. The packaging was not damaged, and there were no indications it had been previously opened. The packaging excluded all speaker cables, and the connectors in the back of the unit are a proprietary design.

We contacted Panasonic, and they ran us through a series of requirements, including faxing the register tape along with the serial number and other details. We went through this process completely twice, because they said they had no record of our service ticket, even though we read it back to them.

We had Costco Valet service (which we highly recommend) try to contact them and that failed. We will never buy another Panasonic product again. The price of replacement cables on a piece part basis from Panasonic for the 7 missing cables is almost 80% of the cost of the original package.

If you get a complete package, I'm sure the quality is good, but if you have a problem like this, service is non-existent. At this point we have a $460 paperweight. Panasonic SC-BT203 1000W 7.1 Channel Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Sound System

This unit can decode DTS if its on a Blu ray it is playing itself
But if you feed it an external audio - it works good for Dolby but does not decode DTS.

Its like giving a step-motherly treatment for external audio feeds

Cannot be called as a home theater system .

Otherwise - the sound is OK for our 26x16 room (we go up to 40 for some movies(max being 50))

really upset to find out after getting it does not get netflix and no plans for an up date to get it according to Panasonic

Very nice combo.
You have a bluray player + DVD player + I-Pod player and other features... with a Sound System.
I am very happy with this combo. PANASONIC is a good brand, I did not notice any problems while reading my discs.