 Small Price, Big Sound! |
| Review Date: July 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Chris Boylan, Astoria, NY USA |
It's a crying shame that many people who plunk down their hard earned cash on a flat panel HDTV never bother to add a high quality sound system, or even attach a true high definition 1080i or 1080p source. Some are put off by the added expense, some by the complexity of setting it all up. Panasonic's SC-BT200 Blu-ray Home Theater system addresses all of these issues: it's inexpensive, easy to set up and offers full 1080p high definition Blu-ray playback with matching high definition surround sound. And I didn't even mention the integrated iPod dock or IPTV features! (OK, I did now).
This year's crop of Blu-ray HTiB (home theater in a box) systems from Panasonic, the SC-BT200 and its big brother the SC-BT300 have made big improvements over last year's more basic models, while lowering the cost of admission. The SC-BT200 under review here supports BD-Live (BD-ROM Profile 2.0), and offers excellent DVD upconversion as well as sweet sweet 1080p Blu-ray playback. If you like to get your content online, the built-in VIERA Cast feature allows you to view streaming videos from YouTube or Amazon, online photo albums from Picasa, stock quotes and local weather info. Also, almost unheard of at this price point, the BT200 and BT300 include on-board decoding of all the latest "HD" surround sound codecs, including multi-channel PCM, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio.
And unlike similar systems from Samsung and others, the BT200 and BT300 come with 7.1 channels right out of the box for the most immersive surround experience. We were surprised how good these little speakers and their matching subwoofer sounded, considering how small they are. And in case set-up and calibration seems like too daunting a task, both systems come with color-coded speaker wires of varying length (10 feet for the fronts, 26 feet for the sides, 40 feet for the rears) to make it as easy as possible to connect all the speakers. and once they are all plugged in, you can use the included microphone and auto-calibration software to set all the speaker levels and delays automatically (it's like having a geeky friend come over with his sound meter, but without having to share your beer and pizza with him as payment).
As far as connections go, this really isn't an "A/V receiver," in fact the unit's receiver doesn't have any video inputs other than the integrated iPod dock. But if you have a Wii, PS3, XBox or HD cable or satellite box you can connect the video outputs of these to your TV directly and use one of the BT200's two analog or digital inputs for the sound. This means you can get true 5.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound from your cable, satellite or over the air HD tuners, in addition to the built in CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc player.
If you like to carry your music and iTunes videos around with you on an iPod, you'll love the integrated iPod dock which pops right out of the center of the BT200 or BT300's faceplate. While you're listening to your iTunes or watching iTunes videos on your big screen (and controlling all the action with the BT200's remote), your iPod is replenishing its internal battery with the built-in charger. As far as iPod compatibility, the BT200 will work with pretty much any iPod other than the shuffle with its non-standard pin outs. The iPhone is not officially certified, but if you put it in "airplane" mode, it will work fine with the BT200.
The system does have some limitations: there's only so loud and so deep you can get with a sub-$500 system, and some of the video processing (including noise reduction) is weaker than in Panasonic's standalone Blu-ray players. But for its price, the BT200 offers an impressive mix of performance, features and convenience. Highly recommended!
BTW, if you want something with a little more power, the SC-BT300 offers slightly higher power output, and larger, more powerful speakers for the front left, right and center channels.
A complete review of the SC-BT200 is available on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com). |
Simply Fantastic!
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| Review Date: August 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: DiabeticMan, Tennessee, USA |
| I got this baby at the same time I ordered the Panasonic 50g10 plasma television. The sound is incredible, but like some of the other reviewers have said, there are certainly better sound systems, but for the money I have no complaints. I read several expert reviews that gave very positive evaluations and that was it for me. I also heard the sound it produced at couple of retail stores, and that sealed it for me. Of course Blue Ray is awesome, but frankly I think the upconverting on the DVDs are fabulous too. The speakers are really small, which I wanted. Some may prefer the extra power of the BT-300, I thought about it too, but the extra power is not needed for me. If only it were wireless, but at the price on this unit it is more than I anticipated. Really makes having a great television a very enjoyable home theater system. Very easy to unpack and hook up. Highly recommended. |
Great System!!
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| Review Date: November 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Shotgun, BFE SW Missouri |
| I did quite a bit of shopping around and for the price, you can't beat this system!! Very rich full sound, clear as a new brass bell. Internet connectivity, Ipod dock built in, this system is wonderful. The one issue I have with this system is the same issue I have had with previous Panasonic systems, that silly proprietory plug on the chincy speaker wires provided. I have spent the money to get good, oxygen free 12 guage copper speaker wire to replace theirs, and I will have to do good soldering to attach the appropriate wire to the plugs, but I do tend to be a bit retentive. Of course I knew this is how it would be going in, but Panasonic is a great brand despite this one issue. Still all in all, a novice could set up this system in a manor of minutes and enjoy great sound right out of the box. If your going to invest in a great 1080 system, don't short the sound and, for the money, I couldn't find a better system with all the features out there. |
Things you should know.
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| Review Date: January 21, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Teacher T, Louisiana |
This is a great deal.
1. It is wireless ready but you must use 2 of the wireless tranceivers for wireless, 1 for rightmiddle/rightback and 1 for leftmiddle/leftback... it will NOT work with just one tranceiver for left/right rear.
2. It sets it's self up okay with the setup mic. First you need to set the sublevel to 4. You can adjust it through the speaker setup db setting to adjust the volume of the sub. By putting the sublevel to 4, it increases the mid-bass in all other speakers and eiminates the tin sound that occurs when the sub is adjusted below 3-4. By turning down the db setting in the speaker setup, the mid-bass of the other speakers are not effected.
3. Put the middle speakers in the correct locations. They are part of the rear sound and do not give the correct feild when in front.
4. Order a fiber optic cable to go from your tv to the system. It is the best option for sound from anything else connected to the tv. By connecting the tv with the fiber optic when the tv input is changed to any component, the sound will still be sent to the system through this cable. |
Great for smaller rooms!
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| Review Date: September 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Timothy Dejoris, Mauldin, SC |
| I used this in my bedroom with my Panasonic 42G15. Awesome sound and picture for the price. I was able to use an optical cable from my HD cable box to the Blue Ray player, now I have 7.1 sound instead of TV speakers. This is an excellent deal for the price. It sounds just fine for a room the size of a bedroom. I have a high end Onkyo 7.1 reciever in my family room, this entire package was cheaper so now I have Blue Ray and a 7.1 sound system for less than a reciever. This is an excellent bargain, we're very happy with it. |
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