Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #29694 in Home Theater
- Color: Stainless Mesh Design
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: SC-HTB15
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.92" h x
32.00" w x
2.28" l,
3.00 pounds
Features
- Powerful down-firing subwoofer
- Two HDMI inputs/one HDMI output
- 240 Watts
- Clear Mode Dialog
- 3D Compatible
Panasonic SC-HTB15 Home Theater System
Product Description
Clear-mode DialogClear TV Sound Reproduction
With clear-mode dialog, the voice will sound more from the center of the TV display. With more precise linking between the picture and the sound, the dialog voices and vocals in movies and music can be enjoyed with clearer sound.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Best one yet.
By Richard Smith
I have a Sony soundbar (SS-MCT100), a Yamaha soundbar (YAS-71) and, now, this Panasonic. The Panasonic is the best of the three. The sound separation is amazing, dialogue is clear and not muffled by sound effects or music. The volume is also superior to the Sony and the Yamaha (with the Yamaha being superior to the Sony). Hookup, to a Vizio 42-inch edge-lit LED, was simplicity itself. As the Vizio does not have an ARC HDMI, I used an optical sound cable (which came in the box, as did an HDMI cable). I am also running a Samsung BluRay DVD and a Roku XD box though it - with the same excellent results. Total set-up time: about eight minutes. (And I'm no wiz at these things.) After programming the Panasonic into the Vizio remote (use code: 31275),I put the Panasonic remote into a drawer. Last but by no means least, the Panasonic is considerably slimmer than either the Sony or the Yamaha which means it doesn't get in the way of the television's remote signal receiver. Plus, the Panasonic soundbar can be split into two and used as separate speakers on either side of your television (or hung on the wall either side of the television). I paid $199.00, on sale, at Costco.
24 of 28 people found the following review helpful.Normalizes the dialog volume
By Ivy
You know how, with some movies, you can't hear the dialog for all the sound effects? This normalizes (or levels) the sound, so you can. It provides a better-than theater quality sound experience, for those of us who like to hear the dialog, experience the rich tones of the score, and not go deaf. Oh, it can get mighty loud if you want too. User's choice. It delivers a grand sound experience at any setting.The setup is the "impress your kids" kind. It's easy, but it looks hard. You will need a Phillips head screwdriver, an AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters) - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Audio Return [Newest Standard] and possibly (unless you have HDMI ARC) an AmazonBasics Digital Optical Audio Toslink Cable, 6 Feet. Get them on Amazon. Most places charge a lot more for these. My TV didn't specifically state it was HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) but it worked anyway. I'm connected via an HDMI switcher, no problem. I just have the switch put out to the sound system, then the sound system put out to the TV. Everything is labelled and color coded, and it just couldn't be any easier. The only "gotcha" is make certain you're on the right input setting. Sometimes it wants TV instead of one of the HDMI ports.It comes with a remote, in case your remote boat isn't already overflowing.This is pretty much the top of the line. It's beautiful. It delivers awesome sound. It's perfect. I'm using my TV instead of my stereo to listen to music, because the sound quality of these speakers is that good. Oh, and you can turn the TV off and the speakers on, and the sound will still work.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Was hoping it would replace my slapped-together speaker/receiver Setup... no such luck.
By M. Kim
Just received my order for this product today. To put some context to my review and why I gave it 3 stars, let me preface by saying that I purchased the HTB15 to replace a recently purchased receiver/speaker setup of a Yamaha receiver, 2 x Polk RTi4 bookshelf speakers, and 1 Polk center channel speaker (note that I do not have a subwoofer or rear speakers, this is because I live in an apartment and don't like to disturb my neighbors). The source is a Windows 7 Media Center HTPC (Home theater PC) acting as both my cable box/dvr and my media server (i.e. this is what my Cable TV runs through). At the end is an LG 55LW5600 TV.While I was happy with the performance of my previously purchased setup, after getting it home, I was thinking I didn't need that much power and features for my needs. I'm basically just looking for improved sound out of my cable channels, and for streaming/downloaded movies. I have no need (nor the room configuration) for a 5.1/7.1 setup. All I want is higher quality audio, clear dialogue, and some decent surround immersion via the L/R channels. Thinking I probably could have saved some money going the sound bar 2.1 route, I researched and researched, and chose the Panasonic SC-HTB15 primarily for it's clear dialogue feature as well as the ability to split the bar into a more traditional L/R setup for better sound imaging.---Build Quality ***** (5 stars)Overall build quality is very good for the price. The design is as basic as it gets, no weird accoutrements. Just nice, solid slabs of black.---Sound:Music **** (4 stars)This is probably what impressed me the most, but the sound quality for music was surprisingly good. Not sure if it was actually the quality of the speakers, or the fact that the speakers were split apart for a better sound stage, but it was very pleasant to listen to. Tested it with some Andy McKee (an acoustic guitarist), Muse, and then some movie soundtracks (Howard Shore, Lord of the Rings).---Sound:HDTV **** (4 stars)HDTV was good as well. Nothing mind blowing from my perspective, but dialog was clear and everything sounded fine.---Sound:Movies ** (2 stars) (and potentially other sources considered PCM or analog to digital)This is where my review get's not so good. First off, I will say my movies probably WOULD sound good, if they were simply BluRay's coming from a player. However, I'm using an HTPC with ripped movies (i.e. movies put into digital format on a hard drive). The problem with the HTB15 is that it relies on the source to determine whether or not to put out Dolby Digital. Meaning, you can't force it into Dolby Digital mode if it determines your source is "PCM", and if it determines the incoming source is PCM, then it only outputs 2 channel audio. The big problem with this is, the 3D surround sound, AND the clear dialog feature (the primary reason for my purchase), ONLY works in Dolby mode. This was painfully evident when I fired up my movies, and the dialogue was so muffled on some of the movies, I had to crank up the volume all the way to hear it. As a baseline test, I tediously hooked up my other setup (receiver/speakers/center) back and forth, back and forth, watching the same scenes. The advantage of the receiver is that once you put it into Dolby 5.1, it can at least derive the mid range frequencies that dominate dialogue, and run them through the center channel. Even basic receivers have this ability. Unfortunately, the HTB15 is too "stupid", so to speak, to do this on it's own.The frustrating thing is that this has the ability to force into it's various sound modes, but it only works one way. Meaning, if the incoming source is Dolby, but you want to go to PCM or 2 Channel, you can. But if the incoming source is 2 channel, you cannot have it "translate" it into Dolby, thus getting the clear dialogue benefit.there's a very good chance that I could be missing something, but I read the manual back and forth several times (its not that thick), and this is how it works.---Subwoofer *** (3 stars)Sub is good and bad. It's good in the sense that it creates a decent amount of resonating bass. It won't make your heart skip a beat, but for cozy setups in medium to small rooms and/or apartments, it's great.The bad? The crossover frequencies don't seem paired very well to the speakers. Meaning, there are times where I expected to hear bass, but all I heard was the mid and high's from the speakers with no support from the subwoofer. There were some music tracks that started with vocals, then the instruments would come in progressively, but the sub only chimed in once the obvious bass set in, and seem to ignore entirely the bass nuances coming from the rest of the track. Another example, was when I was watching Lord of the Rings:Return of the King. In the big battle scene with the Rohan army, all I heard was the trebley clashing of swords through the L/R speakers, but the subwoofer was completely absent. It took something big, like the crashing of one of the elephants to get some bass out. In my opinion, this system could do a better job of melding the subwoofer and the speakers together for a more seamless sound.---Distortion (n/a)Overall, the sound was clear, but the speakers definitely distort if pushed slightly. When I was struggling to hear dialogue in Lord of the Rings, I had to up the volume, and when there were sudden volume changes, the speakers distorted quite a bit.---Remote Control ** (2 stars)Okay, I have to say, this remote is not horrible, but at the same time it's not terribly good either. It has buttons to switch inputs, volume up/down,sub volume up/down, mute, and a power button. In order to switch the sound modes and settings (DTS/3D/PCM/turn clear dialog on/off, etc.), you have to use the existing mute and tv input button, by holding them down for XX seconds, then toggling through the selections by keeping an eye on the tiny LED's on the subwoofer. Honestly, would it be that hard to just add the 3-4 extra buttons on the remote? Granted, it wouldn't have been a big deal for me since I have a Logitech Harmony, but being that this is for casual tv/movie watchers, it's safe to assume a lot of people won't have a highly configurable universal to run this system.I was really, really hoping this would be an acceptable replacement to my current setup so I could return all that stuff and save about 220 bucks.Unfortunately, the lack of being able to manually choose sound modes out of 2 channel PCM is a deal breaker for me. To be fair, I know I'm probably in the minority. If I was running this through a normal BR player instead of an HTPC, and had no digital movies, then I'd probably give it a 4 out of 5 stars.I'd hate to compare this to my current setup being that it's 220 bucks cheaper, but I can say with confidence that a 150 dollar receiver, coupled with 60 dollar bookshelf speakers and an additional center bookshelf or center channel would produce much cleaner sound, and you have the flexibility and power of an actual receiver. Granted, if aesthetics is important to you, this is all a moot point because it won't be as sleek or sexy (another motivation of mine to get this system), but ultimately, the trade off in overall sound quality and options is worth it to me to not use this sound bar system
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