CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 08/05/2003
- Updated on: 12/22/2009
- Released on: 04/15/2003
Panasonic clearly meant the system's silver, plastic finish to complement that of similarly styled plasma and flat-screen TVs. Each 42-inch-tall tower, or tallboy, has three separate parts: a weighted circular base, a stand, and a slender column speaker. The relatively squat, 9.75-inch-wide center also comes with a small stand. Wall-mounting is another option with any or all of the speakers. Wiring and assembly consumed an hour of our time. The subwoofer is the bulkiest component, measuring 6.5 inches wide, 17.5 inches high, and 16.75 inches deep.
At first glance, you'd never guess the 2.5-inch-tall receiver could possibly house a five-disc changer, but the unit's 17-inch depth is a major clue. We could quibble about the tiny, black buttons and their barely legible labels, but we didn't have any problems over the long run. The nifty-looking remote tested our dexterity at times, but it's no worse than average.
The receiver/carousel changer can hold five DVDs and offers the usual selection of Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, and DTS Neo:6 surround-processing modes. It also plays DVD-Audio discs, but it lacks bass and treble controls. You can, however, tweak the subwoofer level from the remote.
The HT900's speakers and subwoofer bear more than a passing resemblance to those of Panasonic's $1,000 kit, the ST1. The four towers each use a single 2.5-inch woofer and a tweeter of unspecified size. The center bears the same complement, plus a duplicate woofer. The sub has a 6.75-inch driver and houses the system's six power amplifiers. The front- and rear-channel amps are rated at 35 watts each, the center receives a strangely disproportionate 140 watts, and the sub's amp pumps out 150 watts.
All our MP3 discs played, and the HT900 always displayed complete file information. The changer also readily handled DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD+Rs, DVD+RWs, and DVD-RAMs of all kinds.
The connectivity suite will satisfy basic needs. You get three sets of stereo inputs; one line output; one optical digital input; and composite, S-Video, and progressive-scan component outputs.
Our home-theater trials ran the gamut from straightforward drama DVDs such as The Godfather to the more-challenging, recently released Phone Booth. The latter film's gritty urban feel and creative multichannel mix fully exercised the HT900. The sound was quite detailed, but it never broke free of the towers--we were always aware of the speakers' locations. The HT900 did best at low to moderate volume levels; cranking them up had a hardening effect.
Can the HT900 rock out? It sounded passable on White Stripes' mellower tunes, such as "In the Cold, Cold Night," but it turned spitty on our favorite track, "Ball and Biscuit." Meg's thumping drum kit kicked with conviction, but the beanpole speakers couldn't muster enough energy for Jack's vocals and thrashing guitar licks. So we lowered the volume and explored Linda Ronstadt's big-band-inspired What's New DVD-Audio disc. That came across much better--so sweetly we had to remind ourselves we were listening to a $500 kit.
After listening to both the HT900 and the ST1, we preferred the lower-priced HT900. The two systems' speaker packages are almost identical, but the HT900's is a bit more powerful. Maybe that's why it sounds a little bigger and fuller; it certainly gave Radiohead's Amnesiac CD more texture and space. The HT900's superiority is due in part to its center speaker, which isn't as wimpy as the ST1's ultrathin one. Both kits will perform best in rooms smaller than 250 square feet.
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