Customer Reviews

Panasonic SC-HT70 5-DVD Home Theater System

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

 

 

I bought this system Xmas 2001. ... There a few "nagging items" I'd of like done differently but overall I'm very pleased.

THE GOOD
1) Sounds great! The subwoofer & (5) satellite speakers are nice looking & compact. And the output is plenty for our 12' x 16' room.
2) Plays virtually ALL TYPES of CD's perfectly. I use DVD, CD-audio, CD-R & CD-RW with MP3s. I've encountered no skipping problems.
3) I plugged my existing CD changer & my HiFi VCR into it's RCA jacks. These components were integrated well.
4) 5.1 Dolby Digital DVD output.
5) DVD playback features are adequate. Picture quality is perfect (of course - it's digital).

THE BAD
1) No DVD zoom or similar features I've seen on other players. Not a real big deal to me...
2) No built-in DTS decoder. Again not a big deal to me as Dolby digital kicks!
3) It takes approx 5 sec to "read" a disc before any playback can begin.
4) There is no text display for MP3 files & the unit doesn't "chapter" folders the way some units I've seen will. For instance if you have individual albums in separate folders, you can't "chapter" from folder-to-folder. This unit only skips tracks although you can type in a "go-to" track #.

THE UGLY
1) Very slow disc changes. I timed it at about 12 sec. Almost best to consider it a single disc player.
2) MP3 playback seems to be limited to a MAXIMUM of 160 kbps encoding rate. This is annoying to me as I have many recordings at 192+ kbps and this unit will jump/skip at high bit-rates.
3) The unit tends to get hot seemingly due to it's "Energy Star" compliance that cycles the fan ON/OFF. I actually returned the 1st unit I'd purchased thinking the fan wasn't working. After getting the 2nd one and watching the fan, I realized it cycles. Take heed and install in a ventilated area with good air flow!

The only reason I didn't purchase the scht-80 is because it wouldn't read audio CD-R's. I waited for the the scht-70 and have had it for a week, its a fantastic compact system with the same features as the scht-80 plus the ability to play CD-R's. DTS support is a bit confusing because some advertising I read says it supports DTS however in the manual it states it doesn't, and I have not had any DVD's with DTS to test it. Its not a problem as the Dolby Digital sound is amazing considering the size of the speakers. There is not much difference in the SFC (Sound Field Control) settings as a reviewer of the scht-80 found and the speakers are still hard wired but with plenty of length to get to the back of the room. Overall a terrific system that I would recommend to anyone, well done Panasonic.

This is an excellent piece as long as u have a pretty smaller living room. The speakers are just 30W and are not all that powerful enough to deliver through out the hall though the clarity of the sound is great.Leaving the power of the speakers aside it has got all the positive points - MP3 plays with zero defect. The looks are lovely and relatively occupies lesser space and easy to connect and handle. I would suggest this piece for guys who do not love loud sound or with a smaller place to set.

BAD:
- The box says 400 Watts but that's not it
- Hardwire at the sat. speaker's end; if you want to hang sat. speakers at corners of a big room, the included wires are too short and there's only one way to do it is to "hand" connect your extended wire to the ends of included wires
- It takes quite a while to change discs; the disc indicate lights run back and forth between 5 of them to just change from disc 1 to 2
- Cannot play MP3 songs randomly; by default, most MP3 files are sorted ascendingly by artist's name in the CD therefore the MP3 songs are played in that order only
- Once in a while you would want to adjust bass and treble; this cannot be done

GOOD:
- Good surround sound when playing DVD movie
- With 5 disc changer and MP3 playback, it plays all 5x150 MP3 songs all day/night long
- Made in Malaysia which lasts longer than made in China or Taiwan
- Great sub-woofer
- Looks real nice, especially sat. speakers hung on corners of room

I'm a real Panasonic fan and usually love their products, but if I had my choice again I'd buy something else. I'm not angry I bought this, but I'm sure there's better out there.

I'm not a real audiophile, so I don't feel qualified to rate the sound on this system. Suffice to say I've been very happy with that aspect.

The features, however, leave a lot to be desired.

First, pretend that this is a single-disc player. You cannot change a disc while doing anything else. You cannot change a disc while playing another disc, while listening to the radio, your vcr or auxilliary channel. Add to that the fact that changing from one disc to another takes around ten seconds (easily twice the time I'm used to for changing discs). It also stops after each disc - you can't set it to play all discs through.

Second, this is the only cd-player I've seen in years that skips regularly. On discs that play fine on all my other cd players, this one skips, stutters and sometimes stops entirely. It seems about as good as the first generations of cd players, back in the late 80's. I intend to call customer support about this - hopefully this is not normal for this system.

Third, the controls are confusing and difficult to use. I'm a technical person who usually dives into all the settings on everything, but the controls for the various surround modes seem ill-thought-out and generally difficult to commit to memory.

I just bought one of these without the benefit of actually having seen it plugged into a TV. (after buying an Apex model that I loved except for the fact that it broke down after an hour of use!) The panasonic works well for DVDs, although it lacks some of the wizardry of the Apex unit (for example, the ability to zoom the picture). But I think most "mainstream" players are behind on things like this, at least those in the lower-end of the market.

The system plays MP3s well in terms of audio, but be warned -- it doesn't seem to have a user interface for MP3 or CD playback. When I put a CD-R with a number of MP3s in folders in, it played it as if it were a CD, one track after another with no screen display. This means it's great if you have a lot of songs and just want to play them one after another, but not good if you want to be able to select songs arbitrarily.

I was also disappointed by the lack of video in jacks on the unit. Instead, the system requires that you route all video directly to the TV, and then use the audio out jacks on the TV to feed to the DVD/home theater. This got pretty complicated in my situation. (TV,VCR,Cassette Deck,Digital Cable Box, and the HT70.) Basically the only way I could make it work use the s-video port on the TV for the dvd player, and use the RCA video port for the VCR, which unfortunately requires using a menu on the TV to switch between the inputs. Would be simpler if my TV had more aux video ports, but it would be nicer if the home theater unit could act as a central hub for all other components.

(Am also frustrated by the fact that I now have three remotes that all claim to be "universal," yet am finding no matter how much twiddling I do with them, I still need all three to actually manipulate the entertainment system! But Panasonic only gets 1/3 of the blame on that one.)

Overall, I think the unit is probably a pretty good bet if you want a simple box that is competent at many things. But if you're looking for fancy features, this may not be the best choice.

-David Dwiggins

I went to a store to listen to this system in person before ordering it (it was sold out at every store I went to, but Amazon had it). One of the features that was very important to me was that the system play my MP3 CDs clearly. After hearing it, I was quite satisfied, and extremely anxious to get one.
Setting it up was a cinch. I need to get some speaker stands for the satellite speakers, but otherwise its completely set up.
As soon as I got my DVD rentals off of NetFlix, I popped one in the system and I was blown away!! It was exactly like being in a movie theatre (especially that part in the beginning where the letters, "THX" show up on the screen and you hear the sound and rumbling all around you) the subwoofer is incredible.
I still need to learn how to use a lot of the features, there are so many features. But there are some features that Panasonic should have added:
1.) Here's a big one; treble and bass control. At the time you can only control the bass level by upping the subwoofer level, and the treble is adjusted by selecting from a choice of pre-set sound levels called "Rock, Flat, Live..." and so on.
2.) When you playback MP3's you have to go through them one by one, there should be a "skip 10" or "skip 20" option.
That's it though. I love my new system, it makes TV shows more exciting (I enjoy watching "Alias" with my home theatre system turned on to TV mode), the radio is simple to use, the CD playing feature is excellent, and of course the DVD's play just like the movies.

This system, together with the integrated remote, provides a single point of control for VCR, TV, DVD and CD & radio (through the remote). (I've got a panasonic VCR and Sony TV.) I've done a bit of research, and for the price, it just can't be beat. Furthermore, the integrated approach makes it much easier to control all of the different components. It's nice to be able to quickly & easily leverage investment in the receiver & speakers across DVD/VCR/CDs.

Picture and sound are terrific. I've tried it out on several DVDs and CDs, with no problem so far. The change time between discs is not fast, probably average.

The remote is a fairly good universal version, with special controls for the receiver (e.g., sub-woofer level,etc.). My only complaint is that the TV volume buttons are contained at the end of a slide-out panel, making access difficult.

The receiver contains standard 5.1 surround, Dolby Digital stereo and surround systems, inputs for TV audio, VCR audio, AUX audio, inputs for AM and FM antenna and standard video and S-Video outputs.

This system is a great way to get into DVD on a limited budget.

It took more time to figure out where to put my speakers then it did to actually set up the system. It was quick, easy, and the instructions were simple and to the point.

The surround works great and the volume levels are fine.

My only disapointment is that MP3 CD's cannot be randomized, either with other CD's or on a single CD. So you have to listen to them in the order that they appear. The screen lists # but gives no title etc, so it can be a little difficult if your looking for a specific song.

But that said, it is a great system and for the buck you get a lot of features. I would buy it again given the chance.

This is a really good system for someone on a budget. The player itself is pretty easy to set up and is quite user friendly. The Dolby Digital output is very clean, especially on DVDs. The audio is a little low for movies but I've never had to go past the middle volume setting. It's sound is great for bedrooms or other small rooms. I don't know if 30 watts per channel is enough for larger room like living rooms or dens. The video output is also good. It comes with settings and hookups for S-video and component. The reciever is pretty standard overall but for under ... you could do alot worse. The speaker wires are also pretty long so you'll have some extra to use in case you have to spread those speakers out. The only thing I don't like about it is the changer does take a while to load new discs and the radio pickups on the reciever seem a little weak. But that's really not that bad and it's a great system for people on a budget or if it's your first home theater system.