Panasonic SC-HT990 surround sound system review
It’s all very well having a fabulous plasma or HD TV set up in your living room, but for the full on home cinema experience what you need is a good sound system. Panasonic provide that but makes sure they do it with style and panache so you don’t feel embarrassed about the monstrosity pumping out music. The Panasonic SC-HT940 looks good at the same time as having HDMI output for up-scaling DVDs through the built-in DVD changer and speakers that have adjustable size settings. Design |
| If we had a choice of having Elle McPherson sitting next to our HD plasma TV at Unbeatable, or hooking up with the Panasonic SC-HT940, we really would go for the later. It’s not that we don’t like Elle, she’s gorgeous, we just think that the SC-HT940 works better towards satisfying our needs. Let’s separate things up and talk about the DVD changer to start with. The Panasonic SC-HT940 has a combination receiver/DVD changer in the fetching silver colour which measures 17 inches wide and deep and just under three inches high is. The disc tray glides open and very quietly. And this quite, low volume theme continues with the workings of the machine too. Then you’ve got the two front tower speakers. These measure 40 inches and are the tallest speakers in the family. And these babies can either be wall mounted or attached to the stands which can be adjusted to suit the height you want anywhere between 45 and 53 inches high. The middle speakers are only 10.5 inch high and slightly wider at 12.5 inches and can also be mounted on the wall if you want. Finally there’s the diddy subwoofers which are 17.5 inches tall, 9.25 inches wide and 15.5 inches deep and comes fully dressed in silver plastic. The remote control is nothing special but does have incredibly large labels so even the extremely short sighted out there won’t have problems knowing what the buttons do. |
| Features |
| The Panasonic SC-HT940's receiver/changer comes with a five-disc changer and will pretty much any DVD or CD format including DVD-Audio discs, DVD-RAM; CD-R/RWs, MP3, JPEG, and WMA files. The best thing about the SC-HT940 is its HDMI up-scaling which allows you to get high definition quality images from the DVD player. And there’s a S-Video, as well as composite-video and component-video outputs but unfortunately doesn’t have video inputs which means you have to connect up all your peripherals straight into your plasma or LCD. And there are also two stereo analog inputs and at the front there’s a minijack which Panasonic have called the “Music Port” which lets you connect up your MP3 player or iPod. According to the company the Panasonic SC-HT940's receiver/changer digital amplifier delivers 120 watts per channel to both front speakers, 60 watts to the surround speakers, and 250 watts each to the center speaker and subwoofer. |
| Performance |
| The overall performance of the Panasonic SC-HT940 was pretty good. DVD quality was alright, we wouldn’t say it was outstanding, but above acceptable. DVD audio sound quality was a bit like the images, nothing special but not bad. However when listening to CDs the sound quality from the speakers was weighty and very rich and were belted out with more power than Aretha on form. And with the force of Tom Jones the subwoofers chucked out raw power. And it wasn’t just the music that came out clear, but dialogue too which sounded crisp and enunciated. Setting up and using the HT940 was fairly painless and even the mother-in-law didn't take too long to come to grips with the technology. |
| Overall Opinion |
| This isn’t the finest sound quality on the market and there are ones out there like the Onkyo or the Sony that are better but for the price, the Panasonic SC-HT940 is really something worth having and will lift your room by its mere presence. |
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Pros + Looks great + Good sound + Plays variety of discs |
Cons - Sound can get distorted when on full volume - Better products on market |
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Overall Rating 
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By Babita Wakelin
30/10/2006 at 3:06:16pm
30/10/2006 at 3:06:16pm
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