Product Description

HDTV is easy. Home-Theater sound systems used to be hard but Panasonic has made it easier than pie (ready-made pie). Blu-ray extends beyond HDTV in sound. HDTV has 5.1 channel ability but Blu-Ray offers 7.1 channels. The SC-BT300 boasts seven speakers to envelop viewers in a remarkably true-to-life surround sound experience. The front and center channel speakers are made with a bamboo diaphragm which provides a tightly intertwined fiber to deliver greater rigidity and accuracy, resulting in clear reproduction of sounds over a wide frequency range, from massive explosions to metallic clangs. The subwoofer features a Kelton system with a dual diameter structure to deliver a deep powerful bass. The Smart Set-up guide uses the help of GUI navigation to allow users to set up their SC-BT300 home-theater system for optimum performance. The result is being able to stay at home while enjoying a thrilling, incredibly lifelike audio performance that rivals a movie theater. The appeal of Panasonic Blu-ray products goes beyond the breathtaking pictures and sound; the networking functions open the door to new kinds of entertainment fun. The SC-BT300 can connect to the Internet for downloading bonus content available with Blu-ray Discs and for playing Internet games via BD-Live. This connectivity is further enhanced with the addition of VIERA-Cast. VIERA-Cast integrates the Amazon Video-on-Demand (VOD) online movie rental service. The Amazon VOD service joins other content options already available on VIERA-Cast, including videos from You Tube, access to online photos via Picasa Web Albums, financial information from Bloomberg News, as well as local weather updates. The possibilities are virtually endless. It comes with a Universal Dock for iPod, making it easy for iPod users to play their favorite music or video downloads. This system is also Green-friendly. It has a power-save mode to protect the green in your

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #413 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: SCBT300
• Dimensions: 20.00" h x 36.00" w x 16.00" l, 46.70 pounds

Features

• Complete Blu-ray home theater package bundles Blu-ray player, AV receiver, iPod dock, and speakers
• Charge your iPod and enjoy full music and video playback with a full title list and on screen display of your iPod's contents
• 1250 watts of sound distributed among 7.1 channels
• VIERA Cast internet functionality for enjoying online entertainment from YouTube, Amazon VOD, and more
• One-year limited warranty

From the Manufacturer
From the Manufacturer Manufacturer's Review (June 20, 2009)
In order to truly appreciate the Blu-ray Disc experience, many have to upgrade the audio portion of their system. Recognizing this, Panasonic created their Home Theater Systems. Bundling a Blu-ray Disc player, AV receiver, and speakers, the SC-BT300 makes it easy for you to step up to Blu-ray and to 7.1 channel, 1250-Watt surround sound for incredible home cinema. Easy to set up, the SC-BT300 offers a high quality picture, dynamic and clear sounds, easy operation, advanced networking and connectivity, and plenty more. Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Systems give you everything you need to experience all the emotional impact of a movie in your own home.

A complete Blu-ray home theater system with tower front speakers. Click to enlarge.

Premium Sound Quality
With features like front and center Bamboo Cone Speakers, a Kelton Subwoofer, and a simple setup process, the SC-BT300 delivers 1250 Watts of 7.1 channel sound in a snap. Speakers include:

• Front: 125W x 2 (1 kHz, 3 ohms, 10% THD)
• Center: 250W (1 kHz, 3 ohms, 10% THD)
• Surround: 125W x 2 (1 kHz, 3 ohms, 10% THD)
• Surround Back: 125W x 2 (1 kHz, 3 ohms, 10% THD)
• Subwoofer: 250W (100 Hz, 3 ohms, 10% THD)
• Home Theater Mode: Total Output Power of 600W

High-Def Audio
Feautures a high definition audio decoder (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio Essential) to take advantage of the exceptionally high quality 7.1 channel surround sound now integrated in Blu-ray Discs.

Universal iPod Dock
Charge your iPod and enjoy your favorite tunes with the SC-BT300's built-in Universal iPod Dock. Enjoy full music and video playback, and view a full title list and on screen display of your iPod's contents.

Integrated Universal iPod dock. Click to enlarge.

A Kelton subwoofer delivers 125 Watts of booming low-end.

All the benefits of Blu-ray plus up-conversion for DVDs.

BD Live and BonusView
Take full advantage of interactive features like downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more. Download additional content from the internet or even chat with friends when watching the same movie.

Format-Friendly
Play back Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs, whether retail or writeable/re-writeable; enjoy your favorite high-def JPEG photos from disc or SD Card, complete with slideshows/transition effects. You can even enjoy AVCHD, MPEG2 and MP3 content from disc or SD Memory Cards.

SD Memory Card
Like all Panasonic Blu-ray players, the SC-BT300 features an SD Memory Card slot that allows the consumer to view and share digital photos, as well as HD video recorded on a SD card.

PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus
The PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus is a high quality image-processing technology that precisely processes each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc video signal in the vertical direction. It reproduces color data with twice the accuracy of conventional systems, resulting in faithful and sharp colors.

4:4:4 Technology
In order to produce the ultimate picture quality, Panasonic's Blu-ray players employ high precision 4:4:4 signal technology, which working in tandem with PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus processes each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc video signal in the horizontal direction, to compliment vertical direction processing. P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD) is another technology that contributes to the superior picture quality of the Blu-ray players. P4HD processes more than 15 billion pixels per second and applies the optimal processing to every pixel. Panasonic's Blu-ray players further utilize 16-level motion detection to categorize the image motion of each pixel into one of 16 levels; diagonal processing to detect diagonals and correct the pixels accordingly; 1080p up-conversion to up-convert content recorded in the 480i/p or 720p format to 1080p. The Blu-ray players also provide 1080/24p output, thereby reproducing cinema images from a Blu-ray Disc and DVD in their original 24p form with no need for conversion. This allows the user to enjoy cinema images in the same format used in cinema with a 1080/24p compatible TV.

VIERA CAST
VIERA CAST technology is now available in Panasonic's 2009 Blu-ray players. The internet enabled technology lets the consumer access the internet without the need of either an external box or a PC and enjoy entertainment from sites like Amazon VOD, YouTube, Google's Picasa Web Album, Bloomberg and more. The DMP-BD70V also includes an SD Memory card slot and USB slot, so you can view and share both digital still images and HD video recorded with an HD camcorder in the AVCHD format.

VIERA Link
With VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. VIERA Link is a function that lets you easily operate various AV devices that are interconnected with your VIERA TV, using only the VIERA remote control. You can choose the connection method--either an HDMI cable or a LAN cable--to match your devices and applications. You don't have to keep switching remotes to operate each device, so there's no more hassle and operation is easier than ever. Networking your devices with VIERA Link adds both convenience and fun to AV entertainment.

What's in the Box
Panasonic SC-BT300 system, Remote control (batteries included), FM antenna, AC power supply cord, two speaker stands, speaker cables, two speaker bases, HDMI cable, AM loop antenna, Auto speaker setup microphone

Customer Reviews

A Great System, especially for the price
I was unsure if I should get this system due to the lack of reviews online. Most of the negative reviews I saw complain about the lack of in box wireless but say little about the sound/video.

After watching Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Planet Earth, I can tell you that the video looks great and the sound is really impressive. Planet Earth looks amazing on it. The surround sound works very well. So far I am really satisfied with the whole setup. I highly recommend the whole unit.

The only negative I can find with it is the manual. I rarely read manuals, however, there are a lot of features that are not explained real clearly for non-audiophiles. Therefore, I am not totally sure if I have it setup for the best possible sound/picture. Besides that, I am extremely satisfied.

Amazing "Bing, Bang, Boom" for the Buck!
First off, this system can get L-O-U-D! It will be perfect in a standard household/apt and I would even say it could fill up a large living room with ease. I don't even have the sub turned all the way up in fear of getting a noise complaint. That's a good thing.

The system offers a lot of dynamic sound settings. Here are some of a few:
HEAVY - added bass/good clarity
CLEAR - More Treble/less bass
FLAT - All levels straight across
SOFT - More subdued/less treble/a little bit of added bass

The system also has a couple of Easter eggs that I was not expecting. There is a nice feature of being able to "re-master" the sound of any Blu-Ray/DVD to give it the user more control over the specific sound they want to hear. Additionally, one can manipulate the visual aspect to create a more refined picture.

The down side is that the system offers a limited amount of inputs, but in its defense, it is not a standalone receiver. The good thing is that it offers two optical inputs which can easily accommodate your XBOX/PS3/Wii and you Cable/Satellite TV receiver.

There is a nice smart setup feature which calibrates your sound from a specific device. In my opinion it worked quite well and the levels were automatically adjusted.

Extra features include the IPOD adaptor which has been done well and easily allows the user to access the IPODs songs/playlists etc. There is also a SD card which can play pictures/video files. The speakers are wireless capable.

Ultimately, I am a stickler for being able to manipulate every aspect of the sound/video to make my experience the best it can be. This system does not offer every little nuance, but for the money it comes pretty darn close with a lot of extra features. Most importantly, I have been quite impressed with the sound and visual clarity of the system and have been quite pleased with the purchase. Give it a look!!

Great all in one home theather system
I rate this system 5 stars for its nice sound and great value. Panasonic can still improve its system by making it more user friendly though. A lot of details can be improved.

Before buying this system, I hesitated between the Samsung HT-BD1250 Blu-ray Home Theater System and this model. Although the samsung system has more features such as netflix streaming, a side by side comparison leaves no doubt: the panasonic sound is richer and deeper, and it's the whole point of a home theater system !

I liked the easy installation, with the color coded connectors (proprietary), and the auto setup with the microphone provided. There are also a lot of advanced options that enables you to tweak each speaker volume and delay for example. However the user manual is not beginner friendly. It lacks explanations on some technical details. Also advanced setup is available only in BD mode, and not when you have selected another input like Digital In or AUX. This was confusing at first and a bit annoying now. More annoying is that selecting another input source with the remote is incredibly slow.

It's also integrating with my samsung TV through the hdmi cable. When I power down the TV, the BT-300 powers down too. This saves a lot of stand-by power ! Also the system doesn't heat much while active (the Onkyo home theater systems are notorious for that). I just wish it turned on automatically too when powering the tv on. Also it would be nice if it could mute the tv automatically when TV source is selected... I don't have a TV compatible with VieraLink, so it was actually a good surprise that there is at least some interaction between my TV and the BT300.

I was worried that the only 2 digital inputs (optical cable) were going to limit adding more devices to it, but I realized that when hooking up an optical cable from my TV to the BT300, my TV was transferring the audio of my cable box through the cable, or antenna, or whatever tv source was selected. So I just need a single digital port on the BT300 !

I didn't try the blu-ray player yet. I'll update my review as soon as I do.

I wanted to comment on the wireless ready issue other reviewers highlighted. I agree, don't buy this system expecting it's wireless. To make it somewhat wireless, you will need to buy 2 (hard to find) wireless receivers at $100+ each. Each receiver hooks to 2 back speakers through wires ! So the only wireless part is between the BT300 and the couch...

An issue I had trying to hook-up a Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player to my BT300 is that it doesn't seem to decode DTS sound through a bitstream signal on the digital inputs, although DTS decoding is on its specifications. Is it only for blu-ray or DVD ? I emailed panasonic technical support on this issue. I didn't get any reply after a week now. In the mean time I could convert my audio to AC3 as a work around...


I highlighted a lot of details to be improved, but I'm overall very satisfied with the product. A 7.1 system with a blu-ray player and awesome sound for under $600 is a deal !
I recommend getting a hdmi and optical audio cable on amazon too as they are not provided by panasonic.