Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic SA-HE100S Home Theater Receiver (Silver)

I bought this based on Consumer Reports "Best Buy" recomendation despite what some people said in reviews on Amazon. I'm not real sure why there were complaints about setting this thing up. If you have ever had to set a stereo receiver up, this one works just like every other receiver I've ever setup, even easier actually. I had no problems with the manual and am very impressed with the sound and ease of use. I highly recomend this for the price.

My friend own's this unit and I beleive he is fairly happy with it. One major complaint about this reciever is though...It does not proccess HDTV through the component video input. I feel that it is highly important for this problem to be discussed before the purches of your reciever. I own a Yamaha htr-5640 (about the same price) and it handles this task very well. Alse this Panasonic does not support DOlBY DIGITAL EX (Matrix 6.1). It does however have I believe two more digital inputs for sound. As of right now I have my HDTV cable, my dvd player and my xbox all running through my reciever and switch between them is a breeze.

I have owned this receiver for almost 2 years and it is used Daily. I bought this receiver for one reason ... It had a tape monitor function. I could not find another HT receiver with this. My old speakers are very fussy and I really need a graphic EQ to adjust the sound to my liking. It was also rather reasonbly priced. In daily use, and occacionsal abuse, this receiver sounds good to my ears, and i like it's looks. kind of a throw back to the 70s in some respects. It has plenty of inputs, and should serve you well. Some of the complaints are valid, the remote looks like a throwback to the 80s .... and is a little flakey, but once you get used to the quirks it is not a big deal. You can't change from digital to analog with the remote, and you can not turn tape monitor on and off with the remote. People also complain about the surround speaker connectors, as they are guillotine connectors instead of 5 ways... personally I like the guillotine connectors better. The manual could be better, but for $200 ... this is a great receiver. these are no longer made, but if you are looking to get one on ebay or something I hope you find my input usefull.

Tons of features!
Decent price for all that
Distinctive looking....but I'm reaching
Everything works fine, but combinations are cumbersome. Some require remote, others at the receiver. Too bad you cannot save your settings (dvd/music).
Speaker connections kinda weak
Radio reception varies from stinks to marginal at best

Poor Speaker Hook up thin wires only spealker nut for main speaker thin wire push pins for surround.
2. No co-ax hook up for ant if you neek a Terk power antenna no way. Fm reception poor.
3. Dumb hard to use manual
I sent mine back and for a few bucks more bought a decent Sony.