Panasonic’s sonic booming surround
Two-speaker ‘cheat’ surround is all well and good but it’s hard to escape the feeling that you’re compromising your ‘lounge Odeon’ dream. Fear not – y
Two-speaker ‘cheat’ surround is all well and good but it’s hard to escape the feeling that you’re compromising your ‘lounge Odeon’ dream. Fear not – your visions of sky-scraping speakers, booming amps and wireless trickery are alive and well in Panasonic’s new all-in-one trio.
The SC-HT990 (pictured) is particularly gifted in the audio department – it features a new tech called 360-degree Sound. While a run-in with Pearl Harbor is usually to be avoided at all costs, listening to it on this system almost excuses Ben Affleck’s gormless face – planes zoomed in not just from behind but from above and below to create an immersive, if bass-heavy, sonic experience.
The system’s 1000w output ensures a room-vibrating experience and there’s also another new feature, the Music Port, for hooking up your MP3 player. It’ll be out in April for an as yet undecided price.
Panny’s also making strides towards culling the number of remotes home-cinema systems usually scatter around your lounge with its HDAVI Control, which comes with the April-due SC-HT855 system. This offers handy features such as ‘One Touch Play’ to reduce remote rage but will sadly work only if the system’s all Panasonic-made.
Finally, there’s the wireless SC-HT545W, which improves your chances of passing the wife test by packing in five cable-free compact speakers. It has a 660w output, multi-format support and will be hitting the UK in May.
We’ll give you full reviews as soon as the courier arrives at our offices – for now, get your cursor over to Panasonic’s site.
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Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
