Panasonic SC-BTT775 Blu-ray 5.1 home theatre
A Blu-ray-in-a-box surround sound system, you do get the convenience of having the whole kit and caboodle configuration. In the case of Panasonic’s SC-BTT775, you get a good range of features too, with 5.1 sound backed by a built-in 1,000W amplifier, 1080p upscaling, 3D Blu-ray disc compatibility and a slide-out iPod dock.
The set-up consists of a Blu-ray player with built-in amp, a subwoofer and five slimline speakers which you’ll need to screw together. The 102cm high tower speakers are lightweight but the large circular feet ensures they’re stable and the thinness helps them to blend into the background, despite having a jet black finish.
Wiring for the speakers uses Panasonic’s idiot-proof colour coding to make sure you plug the correct wires into the amp at the back. Also at the back of the slimline player/amp are three HDMI slots – one out, two in – for running games consoles or media streamers through the SC-BTT775. You get Ethernet too, for internet use with BD-Live, USB for Panasonic's Skype camera, optical in, RCA phono analogue audio in and video out.
Flip down the front panel reveals the disc tray as well as SDXC memory card reader plus another USB slot, with this one functioning with storages devices to provide more ways to get your films on screen. DLNA compatibility on the SC-BTT775 allows you to stream content from your computer from your home network.
Next to that front panel is a section that slides out to reveal a dedicated iPod dock, which will also charge your device while it’s plugged in and allow you to control it using the Panasonic remote control. There’s also an FM radio on board.
The identical front and satellite speakers each include a pair of 3.5 x 10cm oblong cone bass/mid drivers, surrounding a 2.5cm semi-dome tweeter – the centre channel uses the same configuration, minus the stand. The subwoofer, meanwhile, uses a downward-firing 16cm driver. Incidentally, the sub doesn’t require an extra power port – everything runs off the main player.
The graphic interface is easy enough to find your way around, and conceals plenty of settings options for the jiggery pokers among you, including 3D settings to adjust depth and border and individual volume levels for each speaker. There’s also an option to convert 2D images to 3D if you really want to get some more use out of that new 3D screen.
Panasonic’s Viera Live internet portal covers the basics with YouTube, AceTrax film downloads, and EuroNews, as well as Skype and Twitter, weather, Picasa and DailyMotion video clips. Not an extensive line-up by any means, but getting better, and access using Ethernet was quick and hassle-free.
The player/amp looks sleek and slim, the speakers on their exquisite towers look classy and the sound is astounding.
Front, centre and surrounds offer crisp and clear film soundtracks, with clearly intelligible dialogue, even finding its way with little difficulty through Clint Eastwood’s grunted lines in Gran Torino.
The sub hit the mark more often than not too, with meaty low-end rumble always on tap and tightly controlled thumps when required.
Top-drawer picture and sound
The Panasonic’s excellent picture and lusty, well-integrated sound impress.
There’s plenty of scale and weight to the balance, and speaker-to-speaker cohesion is excellent, despite the apparent sonic mismatch between the hulking front speakers and the ultra-slim centre channel.
Excellent motion handling
Panasonic’s Blu-ray players have romped to success after success, so it’s no surprise that the SC-BTT775’s picture is full of life and colour too.
Its grasp of motion is excellent, detail definition is outstanding and images appear at once beautifully crisp and indulgently lush, even in 3D.
NB one speaker wire has been connected using wago inline connectors, having been cut.