Panasonic SC-BT235 Blu-ray Disc 1000W Home Theater Sound System with True Cinema Surround and Advanced Bamboo Cone Speaker - Full HD 1080p Playback Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this system at Costco after reading good reviews for the BT230. I was also impressed with the sound of the system at Costco, compared to the other displays. But after setting it up, several problems arose.
The good:
-Excellent sound
-Sleek design. My wife was a little put off by the tall boy speakers but tolerated them.
-Online content. Access to YouTube, netflix, etc.
The bad:
-Blu-ray player has problems. It was not able to play Baraka without locking up and rebooting. I thought it might be a problem with the disc, but I cleaned it and saw no scratches, and still the same problem. I read that Baraka has some of the most data-rich graphics, and the player always jammed up on very busy scenes with lots of movement and sound, like the panoramic views of waterfalls with roaring sound. This leads me to believe the blu-Ray player cannot handle it.
-Unit shuts down in the middle of movies, radio, etc. This has consistently happened - the unit just powers off automatically in the middle of a movie or while listening to the radio. Very frustrating.
-No wireless compatibility. Before I bought it I read that some of the panasonic systems have an upgrade for wireless rear speakers, but after contacting support, it does not work with this system. And the wires are way too short for stretching across any but the smallest of rooms.
That's too many bads for me, so I'm returning it to Costco today.
**Update: I got the Sony home theater, and Baraka (the exact same disk) played just fine. So there was a problem with the Panasonic blu-ray player handling the data load. And that was after updating the firmware.

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Samsung HT-Z510T 5.1-Channel 5 Disc Home Theater Surround Sound System (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Amazing sound at a great price! I really like the wireless rear speakers.
I connect my mp3 player directly to the receiver and BAMM! great sound all through the house. I also have connected my Samsung BD-P1500, which makes the Blu-ray experience incredible.
It is extremely easy to set up, and its upconverting feature makes any movie look good at 1080p resolution.
I recommend this product, if you want a great surround sound system at a good price.

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Yamaha RX-V567BL 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Each, Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When my old TV died I replaced it with a new HD LCD. One of the things that bothered me was audio sync with the picture. I started checking into the problem and found that the sound being sent to my faithful old Technics receiver was being decoded faster than the video sent to the TV was. After some research and listening at local retailers I decided on the Yamaha RX-V567.
Here is why:
-HDMI 1.3 compatible. Syncs audio and video for high definition sources.
-Passive HDMI switching. Switches sources even when the receiver is off.
-Scene settings. Allows you to set an input, sound field program, initial volume level, etc for each of 4 scene buttons.
-YPAO. Makes setup of speaker levels a snap. Not so great for setting equalizer settings though - but that's just an opinion.
-Sound delay. Up to 320 ms sound delay that can be set manually.
-Direct Sound Processing Mode. Shuts off all unused portions of the receiver and processes surround stream using only the DAC and amplifier.
-Customizable Input labels. Set a custom label for any input.
-Tons of customizable options from setting speaker impedance, to allowing the use of multiple remotes, to an 8 band parametric equalizer that can be set differently for each input. As a matter of fact there are so many options that after a month of owning the receiver I don't think I have seen them all. Don't feel intimidated by this though, the receiver is configured so you won't need to mess with a whole lot of this stuff if you don't want to.
-Yamaha amplifiers. Awesome sound and plenty of volume.
-DAC processes a ton of digital standards up to and including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD and switches automatically or can be set for each source.
Things I didn't like:
-The only thing I didn't like was the fact the manual came on CD.
-The remote has lots of smallish buttons and no back light. A bit disappointing as it is expected to be used as a universal remote.
Also Available:
-Optional IPod dock and Bluetooth receiver. These are available but I myself don't own either. I have a Logitech Squeezebox for playing digital music as I don't care for compressed music sources.
-Sound Field processing. Again something I don't use but its there.
I am very pleased with the receiver so far. It has surpassed my expectations in many ways not the least of which is the ability to customize just about everything about every input on the thing. Sound quality is excellent and setup is quick and simple - it took longer to straiten out the YPAO cable than it did to set it up, and the sound field setup is excellent.
This is the first Yamaha electronics device I have ever owned and I am very impressed with it so far.


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The Yamaha RX-V567BL 7.1 Channel AV Receiver is a powerful receiver to help take your home theater experience to the next level. It features the latest HDMI specifications (4 inputs/1 output) with Audio Return Channel and 3D-readiness (with firmware upgrade), 1080p HDMI compatibility, an onscreen display, and renowned Yamaha technologies like SCENE and CINEMA DSP. Expand your options even further with optional docks (sold separately) to add your iPod, iPhone, or Bluetooth sources.

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Samsung HT-TX72 DVD Home Theater System Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I recently purchased this system when it's price was sub $300 and I'm glad I didn't pay any more for it.
The system kicks out a MAJOR PUNCH in the sound department, with deep bass that will rumble the room thanks to it's HUGE subwoofer. It's as big as a PC tower case and blasts!
Sadly, you have to have it blast if you want to hear anything. There are few controls for the sound levels and trying to listen as low volumes was worse audio quality than listening to the TV with it's built in speakers.
The system is either too quiet to hear anything but voices, or too loud to hear anything other than boom.
Also, when in stereo mode, the back speakers shut off. There is one option that will do stereo with them on (Matrix Mode) but it tries to separate sounds and ends up with the speakers just making some noises sometimes and is a bit disconcerting.
The upconverting DVD player looks pretty poor on a high def television. There also is no difference with upscale from 480p to 1080i, it's just as blocky. If you've not seen a better upscaler (as found in the PS3 for example) then it might look okay, albeit blocky, but if you have seen a better one you won't be able to watch DVD's on your HDTV with this without feeling as if you're missing something.
Lastly... the fan. After a while a fan inside the receiver will kick in. This thing is LOUD. That shouldn't happen on a sound system - having something that makes listening to things worse.
Overall, I'm very dissapointed in this product and suggest you look elsewhere for a home theater system. I'm considering returning this item and wished I'd read a review like this first, so I'd know to stay away.

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Imagine the allure of 1200 watts of audio power.Samsung's elegant HT-X72 Home Theater Audio System offers industry leading power, enhanced by Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic decoders.The full-featured unit offers the convenience of a 5-disc changer, as well as improved USB Host Play, which lets you plug and play your portable digital devices without loading software.You will be delighted with the superior non-interlaced images sent to the latest digital television receivers giving you unparalleled image quality.Additionally, with the ability to go wireless you can expand your system to achieve the ultimate surround sound experience without the need to figure out how to hide those unsightly wires.

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