Summary: I purchased 12/2006, so far I like it very much. I give it 4/5 (or 8/10) stars b/c the quality/product for the price I paid was worth the cost (I am not comparing other similar products but comparing price to product ratio: value).
I purchased from a retail store (C.C.) for $169.99 on sale and I did buy a 3yr full warranty for $39.99 (total $209.98 + TX sales tax of $17.32 = $227.30). They also offered a 5yr warranty for $75.99+tax. These warranties are concurrent w/ the incl 1yr manufacturer?s warranty. I purchased the warranty b/c people mentioned the unit overloading, blowing speakers, etc. after 1 month to 1 yr. I called Panasonic b/c they offer a similar warranty that starts after the 1yr incl man war: 2yr=$84.95, 3yr=$119.95 (if you call fast you get an "early bird discount" of 10%). With 10% off: 3yr(1yr+2yr)=$76.45, 4yr(1yr+3yr)=$107.95.
Here are a few pros and cons for you if you are looking at this model (everything I could think of)!
Pros:
1) Great sound for my size room (about 14 ft front to back & 15 feet wide) and good quality output/input: example Dolby Digital/DTS, etc. (read the specs for more details).
2) Everything included, nothing else needed (except maybe speaker stands if you like, but not really needed). Speaker wire is nice white, high quality 22 gauge copper wire.
3) MANY input options: 1 COAX digital, 2 optical digital and 2 RCA stereo (Red/White) analog sets and they can all be programmed in any order (ex. 1 coax digital w/ 1 RCA, 2 optical, 1 optical w/ 1 RCA, etc). Three is one output option for the DVR/DVD player input that is a RCA stereo (Red/White) analog set for recording (I have never used it, but it says you could take the DVD player sound back to the TV, etc).
4) Good color display screen
5) Easy setup and programming (just read the manual and then you can do it months later--that easy to remember and only took me 5 minutes to program everything).
6) AWESOME subwoofer: slim, strong, shielded well, wood, speaker protected.
7) Panasonic is very honest about the power (wattage) output and low power consumption (even says when powered off it will use 1W).
8) Direct FM/AM tuning: enter the exact station number w/ remote (no need for scrolling up/down by .1, though you can do that too).
9) 30 FM/AM presets programmable in any combination of AM/FM (easy to program).
10) Great look, durable, nicely made and buttons seem strong (I don't think this model will break easily--that is as far as the physical structure).
11) Multiple wireless options: rear speakers w/ rear music port AND/OR 2nd room speaker w/ music port. You can purchase the SH-FX60 to have rear speakers and a rear music port that sends audio from the port back to the unit (could be used for say computer output, etc.). You can also purchase the SH-FX80 to have a single speaker in the rear middle OR in a second room (also has a music port but does not send back to the unit, from what I have read). If you purchase both, they will both work, so you can have dual rear wireless speakers (SH-FX60) and also branch to a 2nd room (SH-FX80).
Cons:
1) The speakers come w/ cables attached! This is really annoying b/c if you need longer speaker wire you have to splice&solder on more to the existing/attached cable which could lower quality. They fit my size room (barely, but I have the cable run around the outside perimeter/edges of the walls--not straight back), so if you have a room about 14x15ft then you are okay or if you want to run them straight back (diagonally) such as under the carpet or a rug, etc.
Speaker wire is white, high quality 22 gauge copper wire--nice quality.
I couldn?t find the speaker wire lengths documented, so I measured and here are mine (probably at most 1 ft from average):
1 Center: SB-PC40: 6.5 ft
1 Subwoofer: SB-W40: 13 ft
2 R/L Front: SB-PF40: 13.5 ft
2 R/L Rear/Surround: SB-PS40: 26.5 ft
2) Speakers have a cloth cover (no plastic mesh/checkerboard shield to protect the speaker). So if you drop, puncture, etc. the cloth you go straight into the speaker (I like the mesh so if a speaker is ever hit, dropped, etc. the mesh can protect the important part--the speaker). THERE IS ONE EXPECTION: the subwoofer is VERY well shielded and is MUCH better than most designs that use the side output w/ just cloth. The subwoofer has a plastic cover on the front (a front facing speaker cone) that protects the cone and the only access to the actual speaker surface are slits on front (both sides) that are about 6-7in tall and at the widest point is 1in wide (see picture for better understanding of my measurements here).
3) The speakers appear to be cased/caged/held/mounted/shielded using ONLY plastic (w/ exception of the front where there is just cloth...read above). The plastic is very solid and appears to be very hard (so I believe it to be very durable and will hold up). I would have preferred wood (to enhance quality) but that doesn't always add THAT much to the smaller speakers. Again THERE IS ONE EXPECTION: the subwoofer case/cage is solid wood on every side but the front (just painted silver to match other speakers); the front is thick/heavy duty plastic.
4) The system only allows you to select 2 inputs from the 5 possible rear inputs (1 COAX digital, 2 optical digital and 2 RCA stereo (Red/White) analog sets). Select options ?menu? automatically include Tuner AM, Tuner FM, Rear Music Port (used for the digital transceiver?s digital audio port IF you purchase and install/setup Panasonic SH-FX60), Front Music Port (for the audio port on the front of the unit?works great), TV and DVR/DVD-P. The TV and DVR/DVD-P options can be set to ONE of any of the 5 possible rear inputs. So for example, TV could be 1 of the RCA stereo (Red/White) analog set inputs and DVR/DVD-P could be 1 of the 2 optical digital inputs or the COAX digital input. This is a pain, BUT it only took me 10 seconds (at the unit) to change the option using its very easy menus.
5) Remote can only select between TV, DVR/DVD-P, and Tuner AM/FM. It cannot select the Front or Rear Music Port options. The remote also ONLY works w/ Panasonic devices. So, for example, if you had a Panasonic TV, you could turn it on/off, do TV/VIDEO selections and volume (possibly channel w/ the numeric inputs, but I am not sure); or if you had a Panasonic DVR/DVD Player you would have more options too. BUT if you do not have any other Panasonic devices the remote ONLY works for the Home Theater Audio System (SC-HT40) receiver. This is not that big a deal, but would have been nice if it could have been programmed to my Sony TV and Sony DVD Player.
6) FM/AM antenna wire lengths are short (but are normal lengths when compared to other systems?not any shorter). The unit does not seem to get the best FM/AM reception/signal quality either (or at least for my setup and location?DFW metroplex).
7) The unit seems to get hot after a while, but this is probably normal, and I know many other units put off the same amount of heat.
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Panasonic SC-HT40
