Review: Panasonic SC-PT770

Written on Aug 17, 2009 by Thomas S. and filed under Panasonic, Reviews

The Panasonic SC-PT770 is an energy efficient home theater in a box system offering iPod integration and a built-in 5 disc DVD-player. Packed with floor standing front speakers and wireless surround speakers, the SC-PT770 can be easily setup to work in most rooms without the need for extra clutter. With a list price of $399, it is aimed at someone who wants a little more out of an all-in-one system, but doesn’t want to spend a lot for it.

Specifications

• Dynamic & Clear Sound Kelton Subwoofer, Bamboo Cone Speakers
• Smart Setup with Auto Speaker Setup
• Low Power Consumption – Main Unit in Stand-by: 0.1 W, Wireless System with Power off: 0.2W, Power Consumption of the Main Unit in Use: 43W (20% under previous model)
• Total Output Power of 428W in Home Theater Mode
• Front: 75W x 2 (120Hz-20kHz, 3 ohms, 1 % THD)
• Center: 105W (120Hz-20kHz, 6 ohms, 1 % THD)
• Wireless Surround: 34W x 2 (120Hz-20kHz, 3 ohms, 1 % THD)
• Subwoofer: 105W (45Hz-120Hz, 6 ohms, 1 % THD)
• Dolby Pro Logic II for Disc/iPod/ Digital In/FM/AM/AUX (for Movie, Music)
• Super Surround for Disc/iPod /Digital In/FM/AM/AUX
• Optical Drive Compatibility: DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW/-R/-R (DL), DVD+R1/+R(DL)/+RW, CD, CD-R/RW
• Apple iPod Docking Connector (Support for music, video, and photo playback)

Setup

Unboxing the SC-PT770 was rather simple, with one box housing all components of the stereo. Opening the box didn’t bring surprises of additional boxes; only foam strapped together that held the speakers and receiver. The only part I didn’t really enjoy was the Styrofoam tied together with thick nylon straps that needed a razor or a sharp pair of scissors to slice through. If you are the type of person that sticks with a pair of car keys to open all your boxes, this may present a problem.

The assembly stage was easy, with the front channel speakers screwed to a tower section and base, and the wireless receiver plugged into the back of the stereo. Each speaker had its own pre-cut and color matched section of wire. The subwoofer, center, and two front speakers plug into the back of the main receiver, and the rear-speakers connect to the wireless amp.

The wireless amp presented a few configuration problems; which may or may not be an issue depending on your room layout. The wireless amp is powered via a short AC cable, with 10 foot wire sections included that need to connect to each speaker. If you have a room layout consisting of chairs or a couch in the middle of your room, chances are you don’t have an outlet nearby. This is how my room is setup –  meaning I would need an extension cord strung across my living room to connect the amp to an outlet. Another option would be splicing longer speaker wire to the included sections, and connecting the wireless amp to a location closer to the main receiver. I think providing normal surround speaker hookups on the receiver itself in this case may have been the better option, though your success will vary based on room layout.

Panasonic has included a somewhat standard DVD player with the system. You don’t get Blu-ray, but you do get a 5-disk tray, which is actually kind of surprising, we don’t see many systems with multi-disk optical players. The player does support several disks though including DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW/-R/-R (DL), DVD+R1/+R(DL)/+RW, CD and CD-R/RW.

Once the speakers are connected and everything is powered on, you can use the Smart Setup feature to calibrate the speakers to get them all at the same volume level. Panasonic includes a wired microphone that plugs into the front of the receiver underneath an access panel. The process takes about 30 seconds after which you are ready to use the system as intended, with fully calibrated speakers.

Usability

The Panasonic SC-PT770 was designed to be easy to use for tech junkie and casual home theater user alike. The on-screen display and simple remote control layout make navigating the primary features easy. Since this home theater system isn’t designed to handle as many inputs as a larger system, you have three main mode buttons on the remote. Users can select DVD, iPod, or Ext-In (which cycles through Radio, Aux-in, and Digital-in) to go to the desired function. Depending on the item selection, the on-screen display shows relevant information for each area. In the DVD mode it waits at the screen until you insert a movie, which then it loads up the DVD-menu. In the iPod mode you get full access to the music, movies, and photos available. The radio mode shows the station that is being tuned in, as well as if a preset is selected. The auxiliary modes only show a static waiting screen, since the stereo is only outputting audio from that source.

Performance

Compared to other systems we have tested, the speaker’s build quality was’t the best. They felt incredibly lightweight, and not in a good way. The subwoofer, which is usually the heaviest component of an entire HTIB setup, was one of the lightest, not counting the surround speakers. The front speakers used metal reinforced plastic feet with hollow plastic piers, which couldn’t have weighed more than a couple of pounds. While I understand that lower cost models need to cut costs in certain places, I really feel that Panasonic could have gone with shorter satellite style speakers, giving them thicker and sturdier casings.

While the speakers could have felt or looked better, they actually sounded surprisingly good. My first test of the system was hooking my game console to it with the optical audio in, and playing Call of Duty. Gunshots and explosions sounded great; with a solid thumping impact coming through as grenades were tossed nearby or as I tripped over a Bouncing Betties. Sound quality stayed crisp even at higher volume levels that I found almost too loud to be still enjoyable. Surround audio came through clearly, with soft footsteps heard as enemy players snuck up behind me.

The next test was playing music through the iPod dock, which also sounded very good. I think the default treble setting could be adjusted down slightly, but for the most part right out of the box it sounded great. Bass wasn’t overpowering, andwith the surround speakers enabled for stereo sound, the system could easily fill most of my home with music.

iPod Support

The Panasonic SC-PT770 fully supports almost all features of the Apple iPod. In this review I paired the stereo with my 2nd generation iPod Touch. To connect the iPod to the stereo, you slide out a tray from the center of the stereo, and drop the iPod in place. The iPod Touch was a loose fit in the universal dock, but it was secure, even when I left it in a small silicone slip-case.

Panasonic really covered all their bases with this stereo, supporting music, photo, and video playback with onscreen menus. The music integration is excellent, and to date the most advanced control I have seen outside of connecting it to a computer. On your TV you can navigate down the list which includes artist, tracks, genres… basically everything you can do on the iPod itself. Once you start playing a song, it displays the title, artist, and album name on the screen with an indicator bar showing how far through the song you are. For music the onscreen display shows up over the HDMI connection, as well as other outputs.

Video and photo playback are also supported, but with limitations. Video will only output over composite video out, which is a limitation of the iPod. Another issue is mostly cosmetic, as the output resolution is limited, looking at or below standard definition broadcast quality. This is the same as if you had the iPod plugged into a dock that passed composite video out, not a problem of the stereo. You get the same playlist navigation as the music playback, but without the progress bar and other information displayed. You can use the remote to pause, stop video, rewind, and fast forward. Overall on a stereo in this price range, the iPod integration is well above what I had expected.

Conclusion

Initially the Panasonic SC-PT770 didn’t really impress me with the lightweight speakers and frustrating wireless rear surround speakers. Once I got over those issues and actually started to use the system my ideas changed, since it actually worked very well. Audio performance was very good for what could be considered a budget oriented all-in-one system, and the iPod integration was great. The onscreen iPod navigation might not have looked as nice as its Apple-designed counterpart, but it offered basically the same features, allowing you to track down the song, video, or image you wanted to play. I think you would be hard pressed to find another system in the same price-range with as many features. If you can work around the wireless surround limitations, I see no reason why you shouldn’t purchase this home theater system, as long as you don’t need a lot of high-end features.

3.5 out of 5 stars