Panasonic SCHT05 Home Theater System

Other products by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [2.31mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 23.9 x 7.4 inches ; 40.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 49 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002472IM
• Item model number: SC-HT05
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,805 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 27, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
The SC-HT05 home theater system from Panasonic makes it easy to bring the cinematic experience into your home. The SC-HT05 packages a home theater receiver with six surround-sound speakers. Connect your TV and a DVD player to the SC-HT05 and you have an instant home theater. You can take advantage of the receiver's versatility by connecting other audio and video components, as well.

At the heart of the SC-HT05 is a sophisticated, flexible, easy-to-customize core component for both audio and home theater. The receiver's Dolby Digital and DTS decoders provide crisp, clear sound, and Dolby Pro Logic II Surround yields richness to movies and music. The SC-HT05 has three surround modes: movie, music, and panorama. The adjustable music and panorama settings add surround effects to stereo sources. These settings can be altered to fully customize your audio experience.

Panasonic's Sound Field Control gives your sound further definition with six preset modes for music and an additional six settings for movies and television audio. With Sound Field Control, you can make adjustments based on what's important to you. You can enhance the dialogue in dramatic movies, enhance the crowd noises for sporting events, or simulate a live club sound for your favorite music. Dynamic range compression allows you to listen to content recorded with Dolby Digital at low volumes while maintaining audio clarity. It's a perfect option for late-night viewing or listening.

The SC-HT05 receiver supports a wide array of audio and video components: CD players, DVD players, DVD recorders, VCRs, and more. An AM/FM tuner is built into the unit with 30 presets for your favorite stations. The unit features a variety of audio and video inputs, including composite audio/video inputs, and a digital audio input connection.

The speaker set includes two front speakers, two surround speakers, a center speaker, and a subwoofer. The front-channel speakers put out 30 watts per channel and the subwoofer kicks out 110 watts per channel.

The SC-HT05 features a unique set of controls to completely customize your speaker placement and configuration. When you set up your speakers, you can optimize the sound by selecting the appropriate speaker size. The large speaker setting reproduces a full sound range, especially the lower levels of bass. For small speakers, the setting makes automatic adjustments to the bass range reproduction to avoid distortion and speaker damage. The pre-set adjustments can also be manually changed. The receiver's versatility allows you to configure an array of both large and small speakers in a surround-sound setup. You can also focus the sound of your home theater by inputting the distance of your front, center, and surround speakers from your primary seating location. The easy setup can be adjusted quickly if you change the layout of your room, or if you add speakers.

The universal remote control included with the receiver allows you to control the other components in your home theater, as well as all six speakers in the multichannel audio array. The SC-HT05 also includes a sleep timer to shut off the unit at the end of the evening.

What's in the Box
Home theater receiver, 5 satellite speakers, 1 subwoofer, speaker cables, system cable, AM loop antenna, FM indoor antenna, remote control, 2 AA batteries, owner's manual.

Product Description
PANASONIC SC-HT05 Home Theater Receiver / Speaker System - Buying a large TV screen alone does not make a home-theater system. Having a 5.1 channel surround sound system to complement your DVD video and HDTV programs is more than just frosting, it's essential. This very affordable system is easy to install, fun to use, and delivers really good sound. It consists of a slimline receiver and AM/FM radio tuner, 5 surround speakers and an active subwoofer with a total sound power output of 520 watts (1kHz 6ohms 10% THD). Simply add a DVD player and your TV and you've got home-theater. 4 A/V inputs 2 Optical and 1 Coaxial digital inputs 4-step subwoofer level control (1/2/3/4) accessible via Subwoofer Level key on remote 5 Selectable Soundfield modes Digitally-tuned AM/FM radio with 30 programmable presets Unit Sizes (W x H x D) - Receiver - 16-15/16 x 2-11/16 x 11-9/32; Front (2) and Surround (2) Speakers - 3-1/2 x 7-14/32 x 3-17/32; Center (1) Speaker - 3-11/16 x 4 x 4-5/8; Subwoofer (1) Speaker - 8-7/32 x 14-7/32 x 18-7/32 1-Year Limited Panasonic Warranty Includes Remote Control

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Bang for the Buck, June 23, 2004

By A Customer

We settled on this system because:
- We already owned a 5-disc progressive scan DVD player
- The size of the room and seating position eliminated 6.1 systems as a possibility
- Two optical inputs
- Two-way front and rear speakers

This system sounds great with both the Pro Logic II applied to PCM stereo content (like the Band of Brothers reruns on the History Channel) as well as quality 5.1 content. We watched The Last Samurai with this system last night and were very impressed. If having your dogs constantly jumping up thinking someone/thing is outside is a measure of system quality, then this one is a beauty. The rear surrounds got them started every time. As for power, I haven't had any need to crank it past 50% volume yet.

The only other consideration you may want to make is that the power supply and amp are within the subwoofer, and the control and power cord from the sub to the receiver is only ~6ft, which does limit sub placement.

One tip if you decide to purchase this system: go out and get yourself a roll of 16-gauge wire. They supply ~105 ft of pre-cut wire (5 sections) with this system, but it is a bit thin. You'll need connectors if you want to go 14 gauge or thicker based on the speaker connection size.

If you've got a smallish room and already own a DVD player, consider this system.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best HTIB in its Price Range, January 16, 2005

By	M. Vora (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this system a week ago, and I love it. The sound is excellent, and thanks to its 3 digital inputs (not 2 total inputs as another review claimed), I have my DVD, Satellite receiver, and PS2 all connected digitally. The receiver also has a number of analog inputs. The receiver also comes with video jacks, but I don't recommend using them, since they are only RCA jacks. I use S-Video and Component connections for my video, which are much higher quality.

When you're watching TV, the receiver will automatically switch between Dolby Digital when it is offered and Dolby Pro Logic 2. For DVDs, the receiver will also decode DTS.

All of the speakers attach to the sub, which is quite sizable. The other speakers are small, and pack a lot of power for their size. The receiver is more compact than any other I have seen, and is actually smaller than my DVD player. A lot of receivers are bloated with a lot of empty space inside, thankfully Panasonic didn't follow that trend.

As noted in another review, definitely DO NOT use Panasonic's speaker cable. It is really thin, and will kill the quality of the audio. Buy some speaker cable and also tips, which make life a lot easier.

My only (minor) complaint is the remote, which needs a better layout. At the bottom of the remote, there are 4 rows of 5 identical-size buttons.

For $200, this is a great system. Most systems at this price point don't have as many digital inputs, and the speakers are great. I highly recommend this system.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Home Theater Won't Disappoint, April 10, 2005

By	RP (New England, USA) - See all my reviews

We've been wanting to get a home theater audio system for some time so when our anniversary came around, we decided it was the perfect time to purchase one.

I went online and did extensive research on different home theater options. We opted for an HTIB due to its cost and ease of installation/use. Since we already own both a dvd/vcr combo unit as well as a dvd recorder, we didn't want to purchase an HTIB with an included DVD player and in essesce, pay for another DVD. We narrowed it down to the Sony HT-DDW760 and the Panasonic SCHT-05. They are both good choices for an HTIB without an included DVD player. While the Sony HT-DDW760 has more inputs that its little brother HT-DDW660, it still only has two digital inputs which had us leaning towards the Panasonic. We went down to our local electronics store to listen to them. Unfortunately, they only had the Panasonic hooked up but it was enough to convince us. We purchased an SCHT-05 that evening.

The setup was relatively simple. All of the speaker wire goes into the subwoofer and out into the satellites. Panasonic sets up many of their home theater systems this way with the sub containing the amp for the whole system. Then, there is a single proprietary cable that connects the slim silver receiver to the sub. Several people recommend that you spend money to upgrade the speaker wire. We had some 14ga stranded speaker wire that we wanted to use. However, the connection slots for the speaker wire proved to small to use the 14ga. Be aware of this if you want to use heavier wire than what was supplied. We ended up using the wire provided with the system.

The three digital inputs were a huge draw for us to get this system and we haven't been disappointed. There are two optical and one digital coaxial. We had purchased cables on eBay and it made hooking up our a/v components a breeze. There are also generous RCA stereo inputs as well, if your components don't have digital audio outs. We used the three digital inputs for our digital cable, dvd recorder, and dvd part of our dvd/vcr combo unit. We then hooked up the vcr via the stereo RCAs.

There are four levels of subwoofer output. It's very simple to change. While I know there are more powerful subs out there, the one included in this system rumbles, shakes and vibrates the house capably. Also the speaker setup mode makes it easy to ensure that the speakers are balanced for your room.

We have an open concept floorplan which means that our living room area is quite large. The Panasonic SCHT-05 can amply fill the space with sound. The Dolby Digital and DTS decoding are excellent. We still are shocked at times to hear all the sound effects when we watch a DVD. It freaked out our poor dog to hear sound coming from so many directions. The system adds immeasurably to the movie watching experience.

You can fine tune the sound settings if needed but we didn't find it necessary. The Dolby ProLogic II works great. Since so many programs on cable/satellite are in stereo, the PLII converts two channel sound into surround. It makes the system much more usable.

In short, you can't go wrong with this system. While it doesn't have component video switching or similar high end features, it does an excellent job of what it's designed to do. The low cost and easy setup makes it a perfect addition to any home that already owns a DVD player. We couldn't be more please with our purchase.