Panasonic SC PT750 (home theater system - 6.1 channel)

Pros: Good volume, mids and highs were clear and crisp, low-end bass was surprisingly defined

Cons: Lack of ANY digital or 5 channel component inputs is a joke, system lacks punch at lower mid range, wireless speakers nuke other wireless components, no real EQ, speakers are hardwired

Summary: During my recent move, the surround speakers for my Kenwood 300 Watt 5.1 channel surround system (purchased in 2001 for ~$300 new) were misplaced. After searching through the remaining boxes for hours on end I finally resolved to purchase a new surround system (since buying speakers separately is nearly the same cost as purchasing an entire system). After reading generally good reviews about the the Panasonic SC-PT750, I brought one home. Although excited at first, the excitement quickly faded to disappointment shortly after I began unpacking.

The first thing that came to my attention was that the speakers are hardwired. There are no terminals on the back of the speakers to connect your own wires. While cutting and splicing is simple, I would prefer they put terminals on the back like most other surround systems so I can replace wires when they get worn (or chewed by a new puppy). Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of what I found to be a very poorly designed system.

After unpacking the speakers, the receiver was next. More problems. I immediately noticed there a NO (not ONE!) digital or 5 channel component inputs. Can I be seeing this properly? A surround system that has no inputs for surround sound? I guess you are relegated to watching "upconverted" standard def DVDs through the theater system itself if you want surround sound.

I should have stopped while I was ahead, but for some reason I kept going. I unpacked the system and started plugging things in. Whats next? Well, the unit is BIG... Too big to fit on the shelf where I previously had a 5 disc changer and receiver stacked. Not wanting to rearrange my entertainment center components to move the unit to a larger shelf, here it is, perched precariously with the front three inches hanging off of the shelf. Shame on me for not measuring first.

Onward I go, already feeling buyers remorse. Perhaps the sound quality will make up for other shortcomings. I hardly own any blu-ray movies anyhow, so living with SD DVDs for a little longer certainly won't kill me. Unfortunately, as soon as I turn on the system, my Playstation 3 (acting as a streaming media player) immediately loses wireless connectivity. Crap. I start troubleshooting network issues, and on a hunch, turn the receiver back on. BING! Wireless network connected. The issue is, the wireless transmitter on the receiver is 2.4GHz... The same as 802.11B/G wireless. Due to the somewhat close proximity of the PS3 and the wireless speaker transmitter, the wifi connection on the PS3 is nuked immediately. I start fiddling with the channel settings on my wireless router, I find one that finally works (sort of). Connections are slow and drop from time to time, but at least I can stream some music over to test out the system.

I fire up Incubus' "Miss You" and "When it Comes." This is probably the only good thing I can say about the system... The little sub does an excellent job of reproducing the low-end bass notes. Clarity was very good for the mids and highs, and I turned the volume up as loud as I dared with little detriment to sound quality. I did notice that their seemed to be a bit of a "hole" in the lower-mid range. Undaunted, I look for the eq so I can adjust to my liking.

All I can put here is a frowny face The EQ on this system is basically non-existent. There is a button to change the level of the subwoofer from 1-4, 3 presets, and a couple miscellaneous settings. Wow... This is bad. Settings 1 and 2 on the sub make the system sound like a clock radio. The choices for presets are Flat (Yuck), Heavy (OK), and soft (Yuck), which pretty much leaves you with two levels of bass and one EQ preset. Time to put this thing back in the box.

Bottom line: My basis of comparison was a 6 year old Kenwood surround system-in-a-box. The cost was almost identical, and the panasonic puts out 700 additional watts. In terms of features, sound reproduction, and fullness across the entire sound spectrum, the Kenwood is by far the all out winner in every category. I hope walmart will take this thing back. If not, and after reading this review you are still interested, check Ebay over the next few days because that is where this system is headed. I spent an hour trying to convince myself to keep the system, and just can't find a reason to. You will never watch blu-ray disks with true surround sound due to the lack of inputs. The wireless speaker transmitter kills your wireless network connects, so you can either run wires to the speakers or your media center, you can't replace the speaker wires without splicing or disassembling speakers, the unit is bigger than one would like it to be, and there is no EQ to adjust out a big gap in the lower-mid range.

I am not an audiophile, and I am not expecting a $3,000 system for $300, but one could expect a system in this price range to have decent quality and intelligent features. Features it has, but I certainly question the intelligence of whomever wrote the design spec. All in all, there are definitely better alternatives out there.