Panasonic SC-HT743 Theater System

There's a lot to like about the Panasonic SC-HT640W DVD Home Theater Sound System. The entire system costs less than what a decent quality side or rear surround speaker would cost in the average home theater system. While it doesn't have the heart-thumping bass and sound volume of a more expensive home theater system, it is a very noticeable improvement over the speakers of the average TV. The subwoofer - the largest piece of the SC-HT640W - adds a noticeable punch. We have a "full-size" home theater installed in our family room, but for casual viewing like the news, weather and the occasional weekly program, we use the TV in the living room. However, because we do have a home theater, listening to the tiny, tinny TV speakers made me cringe. As a way to beef up a basic TV in a small room, the SC-HT640W does the job well.

The unit comes with a wireless rear assembly containing both the left & right rear/surround speakers. This was appealing to me because the layout of this particular room doesn't lend itself to running wires around it. The combo unit has surprisingly good sound separation as long as you are physically near and more or less directly in front of it. Surprisingly, it doesn't come with any holes for mounting it on a wall, which would be something I would think a lot of people would probably like to do. On the other hand, it is fairly large and heavy, so a shelf might be a better solution. In my case, it's on a small table in the middle of the rear of the room. The wireless unit switches itself on and off automatically when the DVD/receiver is switched on and off.

The front left, center and right speakers are small, but have decent sound. They have a couple different mounting holes on the back. I used standard universal speaker mounts for the left and right speakers. The center sits directly on top of the TV (which is against the recommendation of the manual). The wire that comes with the (wired) speakers is permanently attached (i.e., the wires feed directly into the speaker boxes), but the length of the provided wire is decent. I would have preferred to be able to use higher quality wire, but that's not possible. I'm sure this was a cost-saving measure on Panasonic's part, and it's quite forgivable.

The five DVD/CD changer, which doubles as the receiver, is very versatile. It plays DVDs and audio CDs well. It even plays "tricky" DVDs that I've had trouble with in some DVD players. It also handles MP3s on CDRW's. My only complaint against this part of the system is that it's quite large due to the five DVD carousel. It may not fit into a small cabinet. This component also has rear exhausting fan which might not work out well in a cabinet either. Mine is in a cabinet - just barely - and I've had no problems thus far. The unit doesn't seem to get hot. One item to note is that there are no rear surround speaker outputs for wired speakers on the receiver, so one had better like the wireless speaker unit as it comes. Wired surround speakers are not an option. Again, no doubt a cost-saving measure. The remote that comes with the unit is pretty logically arranged. It's the only way to get at a number of the SC-HT640W's features, so don't loose it.

Make no mistake, though. The Panasonic SC-HT640W is not a true home theater system, but rather a 5-disc DVD/CD player with built-in surround sound. Any "true" home theater system will include a receiver capable of switching both audio and video inputs to the surround sound audio and various video outputs. The Panasonic SC-HT640W offers no such connections. The dearth of connections on the receiver include speaker connections (less the surround speaker connections) and component, composite and S-video video out connections. The single input connection is Aux. Audio, which offers only stereo sound input. This is my the biggest disappointment with the Panasonic SC-HT640W DVD Home Theater Sound System. I understand that the goal was to keep the cost low while providing decent utility, but the lack of any digital or optical surround sound input is almost unforgivable. There's no way to use the surround sound capability of the SC-HT640W from an external component; surround sound is only available when playing DVD's. Audio and video inputs to the receiver could always be switched externally using a fairly inexpensive A/V switcher if only Panasonic had provided a single surround sound input. In fact, I am using an A/V switcher to switch audio and video between the DVD player, VCR and a set-top broadband TV box. Unfortunately, this setup is stereo only. I would have preferred to be able to use the optical or coax surround sound that the set-top box offers. Still, the sound improvement for over the TV's speakers is very good, and the price is excellent. I would have been willing to pay a bit more to get that surround sound audio input though.