Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic SC-BT300 1250W 7.1 Channel Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Sound System

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.

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!!

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.

The Panasonic SC-BT300 1250W 7.1 Channel Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Sound Systemis not ready to have wireless side and rear surround sound speakers. I bought this product expecting to be able to use the rear and side surround sound speakers without wires, but the only recommended wireless transmitter and receiver kits (you would need two kits), Panasonic SH-FX70 Wireless System, is not available. When I called Panasonic to ask about this I was told they did not have them in stock. I finally got an email message from Panasonic telling me that I could try to find the SH-FX70 at a retailer who sold "hard to find and discontinued" items. This seems very strange, as the Panasonic SC-BT300 1250W 7.1 Channel Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Sound System only itself became available in April 2009.

If you expect to be able to use wireless rear and side speakers I would recommend NOT buying this system.

Strange that there are very few reviews on this product. I find it just unbelievable. I got a professional to set this up for me and also upgraded the speaker cables and find it just amazing.

Picture quality is brilliant and audio quality is even more mind boggling. I watched Prince Caspian on it and it just blew my mind away. Load times for discs are also impressive.

Only complaint I have is that DVDs do not looks so impressive on it. But thats probably because blu rays looks so much better than a dvd upconverted.