Test of Panasonic SC-PT860EE-K home theater

Built-in dock for the iPod player. Excellent functionality. High quality of sound for this price category.

Not quite correct transmission of the dialogs in the rooms.

Panasonic SC-PT860EE-K home theater system

DESIGN FEATURES

The Panasonic SC-PT860EE-K speaker system includes four floor-standing speakers, a small shelf center speaker and, of course, a subwoofer. By the way, its diaphragm is made of bamboo fiber.

The USB interface allows the system to read information directly from various portable devices. The SC-PT860EE-K can also be easily connected to an i-Pod portable player thanks to its connector.

The remote control is very useful and very easy to use, because the keys are very logically arranged.

You can connect a couple of additional surround sound speakers to the system wirelessly. A special wireless module bought separately , connected to the connector on the back panel, is used for this. So, instead of the system of format 5.1 you by simple steps get system 7.1.

SOUND QUALITY

Music records were tested in stereo mode with subwoofer. The system produces rather detailed, clear and pleasant sound. Saxophone parts are reproduced quite good. Acoustic guitar sound is also very detailed: you can hear how the musician extracts each note. On the percussion side, you can hear the cymbals really well. The sound of the drums fades out a bit faster than I would have liked. Because of slight lack of bass component we had to increase a little the subwoofer level – by default it is level 1, but for us the sounding seemed more optimal at level 2 3 levels in total . Besides, we were listening to a home theater with SW BOOST function turned on, which allows getting a more powerful, firmer bass.

Vocals are quite decent, but I would like to hear a little more warmth and emotion in them. Very powerful and driving sound from live recordings. You feel the live energy and the space of the hall.

Movie Sound. The system coped quite well with the responsible task entrusted to it. I especially liked the home theater work with the soundtracks to the adventure films and action movies: different special effects, explosions, etc. are reproduced very good.d. You get a very realistic sense of being among the characters on the screen.

Tear yourself away from watching it almost impossible, just a couple of minutes later, you stop noticing everything that’s happening around, in the real world, there is only one world – the world created on the screen. Small details, sounds in the background are reproduced quite well. the sound is not quite correctly transmitted in certain rooms. For example, if the heroes negotiate in a large hangar, you do not always hear the echo characteristic for such a room – the voice sounds the same as in a normal room. The voices of the actors sound quite natural, with the right intonation.

You can also use the dialogue enhancement function. This is optional off by default . When you activate it, the dialogs sound more focused and clearer.

FUNCTIONALITY

Before listening to the set, of course, it needs to be tuned.

Perhaps the most demanding part is the tuning of the speaker system. You can, of course, manually adjust all the loudspeakers: signal delay, signal level, etc.p., but for many people this is a very non-trivial task. And that’s why a special auto-calibration system is provided in SC-PT860EE-K in order to facilitate the process of speaker system adjustment. All you have to do is plug in the calibration microphone, place it where you are listening and go through the process and everything will be done automatically. However it is worth remembering that though autocalibration system is a rather advanced thing, it is still worth checking it and, if necessary, making appropriate corrections.

The DIALOGUE ENHANCER function is provided for the dialogues to be reproduced more clearly. If you feel you’re missing out on bass, SW BOOST can help by enhancing the bass.

For more realism, the center channel speaker can be set so that the sound it plays seems to be coming directly from the TV screen – to do this, you need to turn on the R function.C.FCS Real Center Focus .

Surround Enhancer enhances the surround sound effect, giving viewers a more immersive experience.

VIERA Link’s “HDAVI Control” feature allows you to control your TV and system together using the same remote, of course if you have a Panasonic TV which also supports this feature.

Good news for iPod owners, you don’t need to buy a separate docking station to connect your player to the theater, because the docking station is already built into the main unit. All you have to do is put a player in it and enjoy your favorite music or video.

Price

: 12 800 Dollars.