Customer Reviews

Panasonic SC-BT730 Blu-ray DiscTM 5.1 Home Theater System

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is my first blu-ray all in one home theater system. Before this i have used to Denon 2310 with Mirage Nanostat speakers.

Since wanted to buy a blu-ray and a simple wireless (primary factor for me) home theater system i went with this after reading very few review at that time.

You be the judge before you buy it after reading this review.

The things i liked:
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#1 - Wireless speaker.
Being staying at a rental house and changing my residence every year had forced me to look for wireless and it was right out of the box in this one.

#2 - Good customer support
After i hooked up all teh speakers, i did not get any sound from my wireless unit. Called the customer service. The great thing was, he knew what i was asking about and he helped me to trouble shoot and finally fixed the problem. Looks like there is a sequence to boot up the blu-ray player and wireless which i did not follow. That was easy.

#3 - You tube
Work liked a charm. No buffering issues. It was real good. (Not sure whether i can connect a keyboard in anyway to make the typing faster....any ideas????)

#4 - iPod dock
Another primary deciding factor for me.

#5 - ARC
Works well with my TV (Sharp 46LE810UN). As soon as i turn on the home theater, audio shuts off in the TV and comes from home theater (Though i like my TV audio much better when watching talk shows)

#6 - All in one remote

The things i did not like:
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#1 - Wires all over:
There are no video pass through. Though i knew this earlier i thought it would be okay. But, this made me to run wires btn many systems. From cable box to TV, then from TV Audio out to Home theater. Wii is connected directly to the TV. iPod video cables to TV.

#2 - Lip sync issue with iPod (video)
If you play iPod video, you will NOT get the output in HDMI cable. You will have to use separate video cable for that. Another set of wires.

So, i connected the iPod through composite video and now what? The audio and video is out of sync (lip sync) issue.

#3 - Not enough power output:
I seriously doubt whether this is a 1000W system. The mirage nanastat is around 600w and it sounds way better than what Panasonic. Again, i do not want to compare apples with oranges. Cost may be the deciding factor in this case ($1,200 vs $500)

#4 Poor FM:
Very weak FM output. You will have to find a good spot to keep the FM antenna (just a wire) in order to get a very normal reception. I covered every sq. inch to get a good audio signal but i never got good reception.

#5 Simulated sound not from all speakers:
It is mentioned that we will get simulated sound when 2 channel audio inputs is given. But, for some reason my center speaker (which i consider as critical) did not get any sound at all. That was a strange one.

#6 Wireless speakers
Again, the quality of the sound is good. But, definitly not enough if you have a bigger room.

#7 Proprietary speaker wire
If you have already wired your house, you will have to think again before you buy this. This unit uses proprietary speaker wire and connections. Though the length of the wires are enough for my home with currect setup, this is a serious restriction if i want to use it at bigger houses.



Other nice to haves:
#1 - Blutooth receiver - If there is a option to sync any blu tooth device with receiver, it would have been nice.

#2 - Shutting off wireless speaker using remote - I am really not sure whether this is a missing option or i did not explore it yet. I am 99% positive that we cannot shut off the wireless unit with remote. Which mean, if you really conscious about wasting power, you need to add this into your check list before you go to bed.

Other concerns:
If for some reason the wireless unit is not working (one day it is going to happen), then you have no way to use the rear speakers with wires directly running to the home theater.

I bought this system to go with my Panasonic Viera 50" plasma. The system was very easy to setup, works great, and when new updates are released it automatically notifies you that a newer release is available. Then you just select the update option and leave it alone. Common sense should tell you not to turn it off or mess with anything while it is upgrading. The Viera-Cast with built in Pandora, Netflix, and YouTube is sweet! I am very happy with this purchase.

Let me preface this by saying I consider myself a little bit of an audiophile; I pride myself on my music and my movies sounding pristine. So, needless to say I was a little hesitant about buying this (or any) home theater-in-a-box for my girlfriend. But, I did my research and decided on the Panasonic SC-BT730.

The setup was quite easy. The first thing I did was plug the wireless transmitter into the back of the player/receiver, put it in its nest, then plopped the rear speakers* in their places. The "tallboys" assembled easily enough, and while I was a little worried about tightening the screws fully, they held together fine. Due to the living room setup the wireless receiver sits next to one of the rear speakers, so the cable from the far speaker barely reaches... but it did indeed reach.

Next I setup the two front side speakers and the center speaker, noting the heft of the center speaker as I did so. These also setup easily enough that my girlfriend's 11 year old could have probably done it.

Lastly I connected the HDMI cable and antenna, then quickly and eagerly swooped up the plastic, styrofoam, and twist ties strewn about the floor.

I powered up the TV, flipped to HDMI input and turned on the BluRay... and we had blast off! I was apprehensive about the long power up time, but was relieved to find that the second time I turned it on it was much faster (even with fast start up disabled). I followed the easy on screen instructions (oops! Left the wireless receiver off), plugged in the mic for auto speaker calibration (buzzzz, buzzzz, buzzzz), and immediately played with the other settings.

After I was happy with my setting choices I turned to my girlfriend's favorite FM station and made sure it came in crystal clear (it did... as much as FM can) and programmed in a few other stations (which was pretty intuitive).

20 minutes later we were settled in (I rented the new Clash of the Titans specifically to test out our wonderful new toy) and were immediately immersed in a torrent of surround sound and visual goodness. Every time something passed "behind us" and I could *hear* it back there I would grin and momentarily flash-back to the mid (or was it late?) 80s when my father had the first surround sound setup I'd ever seen (outside of the theaters) and how giddy I was then.

I have the speaker setup reversed, if you will, with the "tallboy" speakers as the surround speakers, and the satellite speakers up front. The couch is against the wall and I don't wish to mount the satellites, but since the tallboys and the little small monitors are both 60w with the same response (120Hz - 20kHz) and the same impedance (3ohms) I thought "what the heck", and so far it's worked out well. I'll end up playing with their locations and swapping them around, but until I decide on some speaker stands it's more than functional.

The overall sound is great. The sub-woofer, of course, isn't what a powered one would be, but it produces enough to make you feel it. The tallboys, middle speaker, and the surround speakers all produce a nice clear sound... not tinny at all. While there are, of course, limitations to what a small monitor's capable of, these exceeded my expectations. Also, after adequate burn-in (played) time these speakers should sound even *better*.

In summary, I was very happy and quite impressed with the great sound this HTiB delivers, and especially for the price! ($350 on dear ol' Amazon) I've been a fan of Panasonic since I can remember, and they once again demonstrate why.

EDIT: (11/04/10)
I got a set of speaker stands and moved the satellites to where they should be and put the tallboys up front where they belong then re-run the auto setup. I have to admit, the sound is much better this way. Primarily because with the tall boys behind us most of the speaker was blocked by the couch which, of course, defeats the purpose of surround sound's detail. Now the satellites sit just barely below ear level and the tallboys are positioned to each side of the TV stand. In the time we've had this player I have had one BluRay disk not play (but it worked fine on my PS3). It was a rental so it's possible the Panasonic is just nit-picky about the condition of the disk. I've also had the opportunity to try out the NetFlix capability of the player and I'm quite happy with it. To note, you cannot search for and add things to watch from the player, but all you have to do it add something to your NetFlix queue online then enjoy! Still VERY happy with this purchase!

EDIT: (07/06/2011)
One of the rear speakers has developed a "popping" issue. I haven't had a chance to swap the rear speakers to see if it moves with the speaker (an issue with the speaker) or stays on the right side (an issue with the wireless device or cable). It's not a terribly big issue, it only happens once or twice within the time frame it takes to watch a movie, just kind of surprised me the first couple of times it happened. (It didn't startle me, it surprised me that this was happening with a Panasonic product.) I'll troubleshoot it some and update.

Also, I currently have a toslink (optical audio) cable from my TV to the system, and I have my PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and cable all wired into the TV. This was I can switch to the appropriate input for the receiver and no matter what I'm watching I get my sound on out here! The downside is you may have to adjust the surround settings in order to get sound on more than just two speakers.

Lastly, I forgot to mention in my original review, I have the BluRay and DVD playback limited by rating (GREAT feature!) but the process to unlock the player for "grown up" use is a pain. It got to the point that I've now left it unlocked as the kids are pretty much good enough that they're not going to try to watch a grown up movie.

Great system but the rear wireless speakers still aren't working. After a two minute call to the Panasonic troubleshooting I was informed to send a letter about the problem to Texas in hopes they will be able to help me. Really? Send a letter? To Texas from South Dakota? I'm sure I will like the system though once my letter and wireless speakers are working. Unfortunately there isn't even a way to hook up the rear speakers wired for the mean time.

I read a few positive and negative reviews but decided to take the plunge due to a good price and assumption that every product has a few bad apples, AND I already had a Panasonic Viera HDTV (came with my house). Everything went smoothly with the set up. All functions work as represented, including the wireless rear speakers. You will be connecting these two speakers to a "clock radio sized" wireless transmitter box that needs a home and an outlet somewhere in the back of your room. The remote works with my Panasonic TV as I had hoped it would. The Netflix and Pandora functionality are enjoyed by my teenage son quite a bit, and the IPod dock is a big plus. You can view some aspects of the IPod song menu on the TV while it is on in IPod mode if you wish. The Blueray works well, though some older DVDs may give occasional trouble when upconverting as I suppose they all do to some extent. Speaker wire comes with color coded plugs assuming a particular layout. While this is easiest to install IF you want the same layout of device to speakers to TV as the designers decided, I would have preferred Panasonic to ship the wires all the same (LONG) length and I could then cut to size. As it is, I swapped and spliced some of the wire to get things to my liking. Not hard, just a little extra work.

Some have complained that the extra cost for the special wireless network adapter that enables the unit to connect to a wireless home network is overpriced. I agree. You'll need to connect to your network somehow if you want to access Netflix, Pandora, Panasonic's Viera-cast, or any future network services (including upgrading the firmware on the unit, which I already have done once rather easily). In my case, I have simply connected to the router with a CAT 5 cable since my wireless home network is in the same location as the unit, so problem solved. If you are using cable modem service, think about moving it near the unit so you can do this too before you commit to buying the wireless adapter.

Hard to beat this deal for cost, sound and compatibility with a Panasonic set. Sound is very good for general television, sports and movie watching. You'd have to really be a demanding listener to be unhappy with this setup for the price and ease of operation. Really improved my HDTV experience.

One note regarding TV audio: If you want to listen to TV audio from this unit/speakers (as opposed to using the Blueray source) your best bet is to connect your cable or satellite box to the unit with an optical audio cable. I got a short (3') one on sale at CompUSA for $9 and it works great. If you don't do this then you will get the surround sound only when watching movies on the Blueray and I am sure you want the sound quality of this unit while watching TV as well.

I bought this Panasonic SC-BT730. It integrates great with my Panansonic 42 Plasma TV.

The only issue I had was setting up the rear wireless speakers. The main unit (blu-ray dvd player) had a flashing "W" and the wireless system had a red light showing. I called the Panasonic customer sevice. They were fast and helphul. I needed to "pair" the wireless system with the main unit. To do this:

1) power on the main Home Theatre unit

2) power on the Wireless Receiver

3) hold down the "Stop" button on the main Home Theatre unit, and at the same time, hold down the number "2" on the remote until the letter "P" shows up on the main unit's display.

4) while "P" appears on the Home Theatre display, press the "ID Set" button on the rear of the Wireless Receiver, using a pointed object such as a ball point pen or paper-clip.

My light turned green on the wireless reciever and the "W" stayed solid on the main unit.

Why this simple instruction is not in the manual or on the internet is beyond me.

Good luck. :)

This is my first Home Theater system. I have an LG Plasma TV that I purchased a few years ago and was never happy with the sound. I selected this Panasonic Home Theater System because I got a coupon with my Avatar DVD/Blu Ray disc. The set up was very easy with step by step instructions. The sound is very nice. I purchased an optical digital audio cable separately which improved the sound quality, in my opinion. My environment required wireless rear speakers which came with the SC-BT730. I also wanted the Blu-ray player (my first) which came with this model. For under $500, this set up is fantastic. The sub-woofer will rattle windows. It sounds much more like sitting in a theater now. My wife says she knows when I am in the Man Cave watching a movie because she can feel the vibration throughout the house.
Bottomline: This is an awesome system for a reasonable price. You can still afford to purchase some Blu-Rays and popcorn.

The main reason I bought this system is for the wireless surround speakers which I never was able to use in my bedroom due to difficulties in wired rear speakers. Easy to setup and wireless speakers worked perfectly! Sounds great but not as loud as my older Panasonic system even though they are both rated 1000w. The blu-ray player worked great, playing recently released Avatar w/o having to do firmware upgrade. The 1080 upconvert isn't as nice as my PS3 but not too bad either. I like the fact the the front speakers can be mounted on the wall which looks better to me than having them on a stand taking up unnecessary space. Wish it had AM since my favorite sports station is on AM but I can do w/o. Glad I went wit this model.

With all the reviews I knew what I was going to get:
Easy set up
Good front sound
Weak wireless speakers even with optical cable
Great picture
Good looks
Overall sound is decent
So no surprises!!!!

sound and video are fine. A little difficult to set up. Annoying part is having to purchase a proprietary wireless lan for the internet. When somethig is advertised as "wireless internet ready" and then demands an optional, nearly $100. part it leaves a bad taste for the brand.