Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic SC-HT900 Home Theater System with 5-Disc DVD Changer

Good sound, easy to install and use. However it does have a build defect. After prolonged use it may overheat. As a result you will hear a very loud popping through speakers or system will shut down. Panasonic will not discuss defect, however my local Panasonic service center did comment they had seen a number of these returned for repair. There is also mention of individuals experiencing this issue on eCoustics.com. My service centers quote a 7 - 15 day wait to even look at the product, then additional time to fix. So I would look for a different product.

I have owned this system for over three weeks now -- one word I am very pleased. Picture quality is great and sound is exceptionally crisp for the system under $400 price tag. You will have to master the manual and remote to fully appreciate the system. This comes frustration as few examples below.

I agree with many reviews on the web -- manual instructions need major improvement. I don't mind it is being long and intensive however in addition to afore-mentioned problems, few keys aspects of the system are not explained throughly in the manual. For instance, the system allows you to adjust the volume of the speakers, but only when you set the system in particular mode. It would be nice to tell consumer when this function will not work (speaker volume adjustment won't work when you turn on Super surround function, etc).
Many other functions are the same. It will work only if you set things properly. Unfortunately, there are not extra explanations in the manual.

Good sides are many useful convenient functions such as my favorite CSM, which allow you to memorize your customized sound to each disc (up to 30). Those present sound fields are quite surprisingly good as well. I normally hate those preset things, but this system is exception.

Currently, when I play music CD I set Super Surround Movie and choose SFC as per type of music (heavy for rock, etc.). I use Super Surround Music and SFC as per type of music whenever I play my concert DVD. For movie DVD, I always turn off Super Surround function and turn on Digital PL-II, Movie then adjust speakers volume, change the delay time for speaker setting depending on how I position myself in the room. SFC is chosen according to how sound from the movie is edited and recorded. Boy I have been in the heaven thus far.

I am now thinking about upgrade the speaker wires. The factory ones are too small. I will check if I by pass the connection from the stand to speakers directly with bigger wires will make any big different.

If you are having a limited budget, I highly recommend this system. Amazon merchant is great as well. I received my system full three to four days sooner than I anticipated. Make sure to read and UNDERSTAND the manual prior to use. It will only make you feel worth for every pennies spent.

I got it yesterday and as soon as I got it I installed it to unleash the magic of it. And it was a wonderful experience. I mean totally amazing. I tried my "LORD OF THE RINGS - TWO TOWERS" on it and it played it like I was watching it in the cinema hall. For the price of Amazon.com I must say it's worth it. I am a sony product lover but with this Panasonic Home Theatre I broke that rule!! Only go for the BEST!! Recommended to all....Go Get It while the prices are low!!!

(...)Setup is a breeze(you do need a screw driver). The speaker stands are cool. It's not light and tip over easily like someone said in an earlier review. The 4 tall speakers can be either the height shown in the picture or half as tall. The speakers have plenty of power, for me at least. The bass is really powerful too, unlike what two other reviewers said. There are two levels of control for base. One is under channel setup, sub output from -6 to +6. The other is under bass level, from 1 to 4. I'm only setting the output to 0(factory default), and already at night I feel bad even for using a level three. I tried the other day max out everything for a few seconds. The whole building feels like shaking. People are different. I guess I'm just not a bass head. I also placed the sub at the corder near the wall, where bass sounds the best(It actually makes a pretty big difference).

As for the dvd changer, I have no complain either. It's really nicely designed. Somebody complained it takes 30 seconds to switch DVD, which I dont observe. For me the whole thing takes about 10-15 seconds. You hear the disc changer moves inside, then you 'll see on the screen says reading. It's very reasonable. unless You expect a 2 second switch time.

the overheat noise mentioned by two other reviewers. Sorry man, I don't get any of that either. I leave it on all day long playing mp3, never heard of any unexpected noise or observed any overheat problems. I felt the speakers after a whole day's use, it's not even WARM. The guy who said who only observed this when he played mp3 cds, are you sure it's not the mp3 cd? I noticed, with this system, 128kb mp3 and 192kb mp3 make a huge difference. sound quality from my 192kb mp3 cds is super, while 128kb isn't.

region code, i'm still not sure. I only have one region 2 dvd and it actually played no problem. Although the menu said region 1 only. I'm asking my friend for more asian dvds and will test out later.

One thing I agree with many other users, is the engineering notebook manual, and the remote. Quite some functions are hard to use(let you use under some settings but will give error under others and there's pretty much no way you can find out from the manual). All those fancy functions have this problem. for example, some functions you can only adjust when the disc is NOT playing. Other functions you can only use when SURROUND is turned off. etc. The screen will only give you error message but it doesn't explain why you cant use it. The manual is pretty much useless. But I pretty much figured everything out within one day. So it's not that bad.

Overall, great system, go get it.

Great looking speakers and they sound nice, too. The only reason that I am giving this product four stars is because of its manual. It definitely reads like some engineer wrote it. It will take me a while to figure out each button on the remote control. Other than that, I am really happy with the system.